Arthur Hastings is convalescing at his friend John Cavendish’s home in Styles St. Mary. All John’s family is there: his wife Mary Cavendish, his brother Lawrence Cavendish, his stepmother Emily Inglethorp, his stepmother’s new husband Alfred Inglethorp, his stepmother’s ward Cynthia, and his stepmother’s assistant Eve Howard. However, before long Eve Howard and her employer have a blow-out and Eve leaves the house.

Hastings is routed out of bed one night by John, who says his stepmother is convulsing but has locked herself in! Hastings and the other men (Alfred Inglethorp is noticeably absent) break down the door, and they all rush to the stepmother’s side! But it’s too late; she gasps out, "Alfred, Alfred!" and dies. An autopsy reveals Mrs. Inglethorp has died from strychnine poisoning. Who could have done it? Every member of the family is acting guilty and obviously hiding something; every member of the family had the opportunity to put strychnine in Mrs. Inglethorp’s coffee. The mystery seems impenetrable.

Luckily for all, Hercule Poirot is staying in the village (he’s a refugee from Belgium), and Hastings convinces him to help investigate the murder. Through methods that will become his trademark after a few more books, Poirot unravels all the threads of the mystery and traps the murderer in a "family conference" scene.

Spoilers ahead! Scroll down for full spoilers of this book.

The murderers are Alfred Inglethorp and Eve Howard, who were secret lovers. But before Poirot reveals their crimes, he resolves a few minor issues:

• Dr. Bauerstein, Mary Cavendish’s friend, is actually a German spy
• John Cavendish was having an affair with a neighboring farmer’s wife
• Mary Cavendish gave a sleeping potion to both Mrs. Inglethorp and Cynthia the night Mrs. Inglethorp died, so that she could search Mrs. Inglethorp’s room
• Lawrence Cavendish is in love with Cynthia and suspected her of the murder

Here is how Poirot laid out what happened:

1. At some point, Eve Howard added bromide powders to a tonic Mrs. Inglethorp was taking, that contained strychnine. This caused the strychnine to drop to the bottom of the bottle—at some point, when Mrs. Inglethorp took the last dose of tonic, she would swallow an entire bottle’s worth of strychnine—enough to kill her.
2. Mrs. Inglethorp and John had a violent argument about John’s affair. Mary overheard most of this argument.
3. Later that day, Mrs. Inglethorp discovered a letter from her husband to Eve Howard, discussing their plan to be rid of "the old lady." Mary saw Mrs. Inglethorp holding that letter and, assuming it pertained to John’s infidelity, insisted on seeing it. Mrs. Inglethorp of course refused.
4. Alfred Inglethorp took special care to be out of the house that night.
5. Mary gave a sleeping dose to Mrs. Inglethorp and Cynthia (who had the room next door), then sneaked into Mrs. Inglethorp’s room in the night to search for the letter. The sleeping dose delayed the action of the strychnine Mrs. Inglethorp ingested from her tonic.
6. When Mrs. Inglethorp went into convulsions, Mary nipped back into Cynthia’s room while the men broke down Mrs. Inglethorp’s door.
7. Lawrence saw that the door between Cynthia’s and Mrs. Inglethorp’s rooms was not bolted; he determined to destroy what they all thought was the evidence (Mrs. Inglethorp’s coffee cup), to protect Cynthia.

Poirot’s vital clue was the letter Mrs. Inglethorp found, from Alfred to Eve Howard. Alfred Inglethorp had broken into the room to retrieve it, but rather than risk having it found on his person, he hid it in the room. Once Poirot found that letter, Alfred and Eve were busted.

This is without doubt one of Agatha Christie’s best books, despite the fact it’s her first book. The mystery is totally baffling, although there were clues throughout. It’s actually more fun to read this book the second time, because you can watch for the little clues and hints.

Hastings is one of my favorite Christie characters, because he’s so transparent and (in some ways) bumbling. Poirot teases Hastings for falling in love with two women at once, and establishes Hastings’s trademark "penchant for auburn hair." And yet Hastings gives Poirot the clue to finding the hidden letter that blows the case wide open.

This book has no gangs, no international intrigue, no super-villains. It's just a pair of lovers who think they've figured out a way to get rich. In my opinion, this is the type of mystery Christie does best.

Hillary's rating:

----back to the novels----