Hercule Poirot's first adventure. The time is World War I. Hercule Poirot is one of a small group of Belgian refugees sheltering in a rural English village. With his egg-shaped head and his well-groomed moustache, Poirot enters and soon becomes one of fiction's best-loved detectives.

Captain Arthur Hastings, Poirot's cohort, is recovering from a war injury at the upper-class household known as Styles Court. When the mistress of the manor, Emily Inglethorpe, is murdered. The family members occupying the house all become suspects -- including her newlywed young husband. Hercule Poirot faces a Sherlock Holmes-style mystery -- complete with numerous suspects, a sheaf of seemingly misleading clues, and lots of intrigue. Poirot's keen logic and impressive sleuthing skills display themselves well, here; it's little wonder that he came to dominate Agatha Christie's career.