 
Who poisoned the wealthy Emily Inglethorpe, and how did the murderer penetrate and   escape from her locked bedroom? Sus-pects abound in the quaint village of Styles   St. Mary—from the heiress’s fawning new husband to her two stepsons, her volatile   housekeeper, and a pretty nurse who works in a hospital dispensary. Making his unforgettable   debut, the brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is on the case. 
 “The key   to the success of this style of detective novel,” writes Elizabeth George in her   Introduction, “lies in how the author deals with both the clues and the red herrings,   and it has to be said that no one bettered Agatha Christie at this game.”