Poirot is settling in England near Styles Court, the country house of his wealthy benefactress, the elderly Emily Inglethorp, as a World War I refugee. Poirot puts his enormous detective abilities to work when Emily is poisoned and the authorities are confused. The victim's considerably younger husband, her spiteful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London poison specialist who just happens to be visiting the adjacent village are all suspects. All of them have secrets they desperately want to keep hidden, but none of them can outsmart Poirot as he navigates the brilliant red herrings and narrative twists that have won Agatha Christie the welldeserved title of "Queen of Mystery.