Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign countries. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.

‘Agatha Christie’s masterpiece.’Spectator‘One of the very best, most genuinely bewildering Christies.’Observer‘The most astonishingly impudent, ingenious and altogether successful mystery story since The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.’Daily Herald‘One of the most ingenious thrillers in many a day.’Time Magazine‘There is no doubt that this is a highly ingenious jigsaw by a master of puzzling.’Books‘There is no cheating; the reader is just bamboozled in a straightforward way from first to last… The most colossal achievement of a colossal career. The book must rank with Mrs Christie’s previous best – on the top notch of detection.’New Statesman‘The whole thing is utterly impossible and utterly fascinating. It is the most baffling mystery Agatha Christie has ever written.’New York Times