An English country house at Christmas time should be the perfect place to get away from it all - but nothing is ever simple for Hercule Poirot, who finds a sinister warning on his pillow to avoid the plum pudding... This and four other baffling cases engage the 'little grey cells' of the great detective: the discovery of a corpse in a chest...an overheard quarrel that leads to murder...the strange case of a dead man's eating habits...and the puzzle of a victim who dreams of his own suicide.

Stenographer Sheila Webb expects to find a Miss Pebmarsh waiting for her services at 19, Wilbraham Crescent. Instead, she finds a room containing an unusual number of clocks - and the body of a man... When Miss Pebmarsh denies sending for her in the first place and declares that of the six clocks found, only two belong to her, it's clear they are going to need a very good detective. 'This crime is so complicated that it must be quite simple,' declares Hercule Poirot. But there's a murderer on the loose, and time is ticking away...

Three young women share a London flat. The first is a coolly efficient secretary. The second is an artist. The third interrupts Hercule Poirot's breakfast of BRIOCHE and CHOCOLAT confessing that she may be a murderer - and then promptly disappears. Slowly, Poirot learns of the rumour surrounding the mysterious third girl, her family - and her disappearance. Yet hard evidence is needed before the great detective can pronounce her guilty, innocent or insane...

At a Hallowe'en party, Joyce - a hostile thirteen-year-old - boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. The next day, Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer...

Hercule Poirot stood on the cliff-top. Here, many years earlier, there had been a fatal accident. This was followed by the grisly discovery of two bodies - a husband and wife - shot dead. But who had killed whom? Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder? Poirot delves back into the past and discovers that 'old sins leave long shadows'.

Hercule Poirot delighted in telling people that he was probably the best detective in the world. So turning back the clock to trace eighteen of the cases which helped establish his professional reputation was always going to be a fascinating experience. With his career still in its formative years, the panache with which Hercule Poirot could solve even the most puzzling mystery is obvious. Chronicled by his friend Captain Hastings, these eighteen early cases - from theft and robbery to kidnapping and murder - were all guaranteed to test Poirot's soon-to-be-famous 'little grey cells' to their absolute limit.

The crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle - they are back once again in the rambling country house where they solved their first murder together. Both Poirot and Styles Court have seen better days - but despite being crippled with arthritis, there is nothing wrong with the great detective's 'little grey cells'. However, when Poirot brands one of the seemingly harmless guests a five-times murderer, some people have their doubts. But Poirot alone knows he must prevent a sixth murder before the curtain falls...

In London a dense, yellow fog swirls through the streets. At 221B Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes sits in a cocaine-induced haze, deeply melancholic. His mood lifts when a young woman, Mary Morstan, visits regarding her father who had vanished ten years before. Four years later she began receiving a large, lustrous pearl every year. Now she has had an invitation to meet her unknown benefactor. She asks Holmes and Watson to accompany her, little knowing that others stalk London's fog-enshrouded streets: a one-legged ruffian with revenge on his mind, and his companion who places no value on human life...

Recently, there had been some strange goings on at Styles St Mary. Evelyn, constant companion to old Mrs Inglethorp, had stormed out of the house muttering something about 'a lot of sharks'. And with her, something indefinable had gone from the atmosphere. Her presence had spelt security; now the air seemed rife with suspicion and impending evil. A shattered coffee-cup, a splash of candle grease, a bed of begonias - all Poirot required to display his now legendary powers of detection...

An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course. But why is the dead man wearing an overcoat that is too big for him? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse...

For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman's throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses...and no corpse.

One minute, Heather Badcock had been gabbling on at her movie idol, the glamorous Marina Gregg. The next, Heather suffered a massive seizure. But for whom was the deadly poison really intended? Marina's frozen expression suggested she had witnessed something horrific. But, while others searched for material evidence, Miss Marple conducted a very different investigation - into human nature.

As Miss Marple sat basking in the Caribbean sunshine she felt mildly discontented with life. True, the warmth eased her rheumatism, but here in paradise nothing ever happened. Eventually, her interest was aroused by an old soldier's yarn about a strange coincidence. Infuriatingly, just as he was about to show her an astonishing photograph, the Major's attention wandered. He never did finish the story...

When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she's looking for at Bertram's Hotel: traditional decor, impeccable service and an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished veneer. Yet not even Miss Marple can foresee the violent chain of events set in motion when an eccentric guest makes his way to the airport on the wrong day...

In utter disbelief Miss Marple read the letter addressed to her from the recently deceased Mr Rafiel - an acquaintance she had met briefly on her travels. Recognising in Miss Marple a natural flair for justice, Mr Rafiel had left instructions for her to investigate a crime after his death. The only problem was, he had failed to tell her who was involved or where and when the crime had been committed. It was most intriguing...

Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernise the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs... In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they were to solve a 'perfect' crime committed many years before.

Miss Marple always makes a point of 'taking an interest' in other people's affairs, though nothing engages her curiosity quite as much as sudden death, scandal, blackmail or murder. A wounded man in a church, buried treasure, a fatal riding accident, a corpse and a tape-measure, a girl framed for theft, a suspect with a dagger, a gruesome murder in a rockery... All cases to be relished by the astonishing Miss Jane Marple - and two additional mysteries which remain unexplained...

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity over an advertisement in the local gazette which reads: 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.' A childish practical joke? Or a hoax intended to scare poor Letitia Blacklock? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, a crowd begins to gather at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out...

Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But unexpected visitor Mr Gulbrandsen is less fortunate - shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building. Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and vows to discover the real reason for Mr Gulbrandsen's visit.

Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his 'counting house' when he suffered an agonising and sudden death. On later inspection, the right-hand jacket pocket of the deceased was found to be full of grain. Yet it was the incident in the parlour which confirmed Miss Marple's suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme...