Book Preview One THE UNEXPECTED GUEST I have met people who enjoy a channel crossing; men who can sit calmly in their deck chairs and, on arrival, wait until the boat is moored, then gather their belongings together without fuss and disembark. Personally, I can never manage this. From the moment I get on board … Read more
Book Preview Foreword By Agatha Christie This book of Christmas fare may be described as ‘The Chef’s Selection’. I am the Chef! There are two main courses: The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and The Mystery of the Spanish Chest; a selection of Entrees: Greenshaw’s Folly, The Dream and The Under Dog, and a Sorbet: … Read more
Book Preview Foreword by Captain Arthur Hastings, O.B.E. In this narrative of mine I have departed from my usual practice of relating only those incidents and scenes at which I myself was present. Certain chapters, therefore, are written in the third person. I wish to assure my readers that I can vouch for the occurrences … Read more
Book Preview Epigraph There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose … Read more
Book Preview Praise to the Yule Log! Leap, Flames, merrily. Hail to the Wassail Bowl! Bubble, Wine, rosily! In the Manger lies the Child; Asses, Oxen, braying, lowing, Cackling Hens and Cocks a’crowing. Overfull the Inn to-night, Up above a star shines bright, Shepherds kneel beside their fold, Wise Men bring their gifts of Gold, … Read more
Book Preview Chapter 1 Copplestone Court, the elegant, eighteenth-century country home of Henry and Clarissa Hailsham-Brown, set in gently undulating hilly country in Kent, looked handsome even at the close of a rainy March afternoon. In the tastefully furnished ground-floor drawing-room, with French windows onto the garden, two men stood near a console table on … Read more
Book Preview Iris Marle was thinking about her sister, Rosemary. For nearly a year she had deliberately tried to put the thought of Rosemary away from her. She hadn’t wanted to remember. It was too painful—too horrible! The blue cyanosed face, the convulsed clutching fingers. . . . The contrast between that and the gay lovely Rosemary … Read more
Book Preview One A HOUSE Gwenda Reed stood, shivering a little, on the quayside. The docks and the custom sheds and all of England that she could see, were gently waving up and down. And it was in that moment that she made her decision—the decision that was to lead to such very momentous events. … Read more
Book Preview Epigraph Come away, come away, death, And in sad cypress let me be laid; Fly away, fly away, breath! I am slain by a fair cruel maid. My shroud of white, stuck all with yew O prepare it; My part of death no one so true; Did share it. Shakespeare Epigraph Come away, … Read more
Book Preview PROBLEM AT POLLENSA BAY The steamer from Barcelona to Majorca landed Mr Parker Pyne at Palma in the early hours of the morning – and straightaway he met with disillusionment. The hotels were full! The best that could be done for him was an airless cupboard overlooking an inner court in a hotel … Read more
Book Preview MAINLY CONCERNING BOOKS “Books!” said Tuppence. She produced the word rather with the effect of a bad-tempered explosion. “What did you say?” said Tommy. Tuppence looked across the room at him. “I said ‘books,’ ” she said. “I see what you mean,” said Thomas Beresford. In front of Tuppence were three large packing cases. From … Read more
Book Preview About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in 100 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. … Read more
Book Preview THE ADVENTURE OF “THE WESTERN STAR” I was standing at the window of Poirot’s rooms looking out idly on the street below. “That’s queer,” I ejaculated suddenly beneath my breath. “What is, mon ami?” asked Poirot placidly, from the depths of his comfortable chair. “Deduce, Poirot, from the following facts! Here is a … Read more
Book Preview About Agatha Christie Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English and another billion in 100 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. … Read more
Book Preview Introduction The Author speaks: The first question put to an author, personally, or through the post, is: ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ The temptation is great to reply: ‘I always go to Harrods,’ or ‘I get them mostly at the Army & Navy Stores,’ or, snappily, ‘Try Marks and Spencer.’ The … Read more
Book Preview Chapter 1 A Fairy in the Flat Mrs Thomas Beresford shifted her position on the divan and looked gloomily out of the window of the flat. The prospect was not an extended one, consisting solely of a small block of flats on the other side of the road. Mrs Beresford sighed and then … Read more
Book Preview Author’s Foreword One day, having lunch at a Corner House, I was enraptured by a conversation on statistics going on at a table behind me. I turned my head and caught a vague glimpse of a bald head, glasses, and a beaming smile–I caught sight, that is, of Mr Parker Pyne. I had … Read more
Book Preview One I It was dusk when he came to the Ferry. He could have been there much earlier. The truth was, he had put it off as long as he could. First his luncheon with friends in Redquay; the light desultory conversation, the interchange of gossip about mutual friends—all that had … Read more