An old woman in a nursing home speaks of a child buried behind the fireplace& When Tommy and Tuppence visited an elderly aunt in her gothic nursing home, they thought nothing of her mistrust of the doctors; after all, Ada was a very difficult old lady. But when Mrs Lockett mentioned a poisoned mushroom stew and Mrs Lancaster talked about "something behind the fireplace", Tommy and Tuppence found themselves caught up in an unexpected adventure involving...

Amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin is going through a man-hating phase after being left by her husband, is bored with tottering around Carsely, and wishes men would just sod off, so she is unmoved by news of a captivating new curate. But when she meets the golden-haired, blue-eyed Tristan Delon, she is swept off her feet--along with every other female in the village. She is positively ecstatic when he invites her to dine with him, but the next day Agatha...

"Toni and Agatha are in the car on the way to Officer Bill Wong's long-awaited wedding when, much to their shock, a naked young man bursts through a hedge on the side of the road and comes running toward them. Terrified, he explains that he has just seen a dead body in the woods. Toni lends him an old t-shirt to cover himself, Agatha calls the police, and the young man takes them to the spot where he saw the body, across from a meadow where the Mircester...

"Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Swinburn, in the middle of the green--with the body of an old man lying at their feet. The man, who the coroner determines died by poisoning, was known as 'the Admiral,' a gardener notorious for his heavy drinking, and Chief...

"Among the towering red cliffs of Petra, like some monstrous swollen Buddha, sits the corpse of Mrs. Boynton. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist is the only sign of the fatal injection that killed her. With only twenty-four hours available to solve the mystery, Hercule Poirot recalled a chance remark he'd overheard back in Jerusalem: 'You see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?' Mrs. Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman he'd ever met...."...

Is it a gesture of good will or a sinister trap that lures Rupert St. Vincent and his family to magnificent estate? How desperate is Joyce Lambert, a destitute young widow whose only recourse is to marry a man she despises? What unexpected circumstance stirs old loyalties in Theodora Darrell, and unfaithful wife about to run away with her lover? In this collection of short stories, the answers are as unexpected as they are satisfying. The Queen of...

From the stunning title story to the rarest gems in detective fiction, these tales of baffling crime and brilliant deduction showcase Agatha Christie at her very best.

Flighty but good-hearted Victoria Jones craves love, intrigue, and adventure. She strikes gold in Edward, a handsome and mysterious traveler whom she's vowed to follow to the ends of the earth. Yet no whirlwind affair can prepare Victoria for what unfolds once she lands in Baghdad. Not a day in Edward's shadow, and she hears whispered warnings of danger and witnesses the murder of a secret agent in her hotel room. And when she discovers that a romantic...

"Gloria French was a jolly widow with dyed blonde hair, a raucous laugh and rosy cheeks. When she first moved from London to the charming Cotswold Hills, she was heartily welcomed. She seemed a do-gooder par excellence, raising funds for the church and caring for the elderly. But she had a nasty habit of borrowing things and not giving them back, just small things, a teapot here, a set of silverware there. So it's quite the shock when she is found...

The tiny Caribbean island of St. Honoré is a tropical paradise. But for Miss Marple, enjoying a well-earned rest from her busy life in the village of St. Mary Mead, it is a place where nothing ever seems to happen. That is, until old Major Palgrave tells her the strange story of a suspected double murderer. Just as Major Palgrave is about to show the murderer's picture to her, he looks over her shoulder, appears startled and, and changes the subject....