A teenage murder witness is drowned in a tub of apples... 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. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the 'evil presence'. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer...

在濒临海边的一间房子里，雷文斯克罗夫特将军夫妇双双毙命，是凶杀，还是自杀？两具尸体之间有一枝左轮手枪，枪上的指纹已经模糊，这件事情似乎与将军年轻漂亮的女秘书有关。
Crime novelist Ariadne Oliver again turns to Hercule Poirot, this time to solve a case the police consider closed. Olivers interest in the murder-suicide of General and Lady Ravenscroft is more than academic: Celia Ravenscroft is her goddaughter. This is one of Poirot's most daunting cases even he begins to doubt he can solve it since the investigation relies on memories from years earlier.

Captain Hastings recounts 18 of Poirot's early cases from the days before he was famous...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.

A wheelchair-bound Poirot returns to Styles, the venue of his first investigation, where he knows another murder is going to take place...The house guests at Styles seemed perfectly pleasant to Captain Hastings; there was his own daughter Judith, an inoffensive ornithologist called Norton, dashing Mr Allerton, brittle Miss Cole, Doctor Franklin and his fragile wife Barbara , Nurse Craven, Colonel Luttrell and his charming wife, Daisy, and the charismatic Boyd-Carrington. So Hastings was shocked to learn from Hercule Poirot's declaration that one of them was a five-times murderer. True, the ageing detective was crippled with arthritis, but had his deductive instincts finally deserted him?!

* Problem at Pollensa Bay
* The Second Gong
* Yellow Iris
* The Harlequin Tea Set
* The Regatta Mystery
* The Love Detectives
* Next To A Dog
* Magnolia Blossom

<strong>Hercule Poirot is joined by the mysterious problem solver Harley Quin in the pages of <em>The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories</em>—a collection of ingenious short masterworks of mystery and suspense that showcase the legendary Agatha Christie at her very best.</strong><br /><br />A grand treasure for fans of the grande dame of mystery, <em>The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories</em> brings together nine rare and brilliant Christie tales of murder and detection that span nearly half a century of her storytelling genius.<br /><br />In <em>The Mystery of the Spanish Chest</em>, Hercule Poirot unravels the psychological conundrums that motivate a killer. . . . In <em>The Actress</em>, a great star's shady past becomes the plaything of a blackmailer. . . . In <em>The Harlequin Tea Set,</em> Mr. Harley Quin helps a man save his loved ones from the greedy hand of murder. These and six other stories of danger and detection complete this stellar collection.<br /><br /><br />

Some of Agatha Christie’s earliest stories – including her very first – which show the Queen of Crime in the making…<br /><br />A macabre recurring dream … revenge against a blackmailer … jealousy, infidelity and a tortured conscience … a stolen gemstone … the haunting attraction of an ancient relic … a race against time … a tragic love triangle … a body in a box … an unexpected visitor from beyond the grave…<br /><br />Nine quintessential examples of Agatha Christie's brilliance are contained in this new collection of early short stories - including the very first one she ever wrote - and provide a unique glimpse of the Queen of Crime in the making.