An actress is involved in a murder mystery.

When one of Sir Charles Cartwright's houseguests is poisoned, the master sleuth Hercule Poirot focuses his attention on the group of aristocrats and theater personalities gathered there for the weekend festivities.

"When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard's funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard's will, Cora was clearly heard to say, 'It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it ... But he was murdered, wasn't he?' In desperation, the family solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery"--Page 4 of cover.

When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered, the extraordinary remark she had made the previous day at her brother Richard's funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard's will, Cora was clearly heard to say, "It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it. But he was murdered, wasn't he?" Was Cora's accusation a dark truth that sealed her own fate? Or are the siblings' deaths just tragic coincidences? Desperate to know the...

"Nine short stories featuring Hercule Poirot"--

Even the greatest detective Hercule Poirot harbored a deep and abiding fear of the dentist, so it was with some trepidation that he arrived at the celebrated Dr. Morley's surgery for a dental examination. But what neither of them knew was that only hours later Poirot would be back to examine the dentist, found dead in his own surgery. Turning to other patients for answers, Poirot finds other, darker questions...

When Gordon Cloade is killed in the London blitz a few weeks after getting married, his new bride is suddenly in sole possession of the family fortune. Other family members, though, have suspicions about his demise, especially when "spirits" claim the widow's first husband is still alive.

Hercule Poirot and the recently widowed Captain Arthur Hastings return to the scene of their first investigation many years before. Joining them at the estate is a mysterious stranger linked to five seemingly unrelated murders. Poirot must work quickly to prevent the sixth murder.

"Hercule Poirot returns home after an agreeable luncheon to find an angry woman waiting to berate him outside his front door. Her name is Sylvia Rule, and she demands to know why Poirot has accused her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy, a man she has neither heard of nor ever met...Poirot is equally shocked, because he too has never heard of any Barnabas Pandy, and he certainly did not send the letter in question. He cannot convince Sylvia Rule of his...

The gruesome death of Mrs. McGinty provokes Superintendent Spence to seek the help of his old ally Hercule Poirot. The victim'a young lodger has been found guilty and is due to hang. But Spence is not convinced by the circumstantial evidence which influenced the verdict. So, at considerable personal discomfort, Poirot goes down to the sleepy village where the old lady lived and where, by chance, his good friend Ariadne Oliver is also staying There...