Hercule Poirot returns in yet another excellent murder fiction that can only be solved by the titular Belgian detective and his "little grey cells." "What I am about to tell you will shock you..."

Lady Athelinda Playford has scheduled a party at her home in Clonakilty, County Cork, but it is not an ordinary event. As the guests arrive, Lady Playford calls her lawyer to make an urgent change to her will – an announcement she intends to make during that night's dinner. She has decided to exclude her two children from her estate and leave her fortune to someone who has only weeks to live…

Among Lady Playford's guests are two men she does not know – the famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, and Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard. Neither of them knows why they have been invited… until Poirot begins to wonder if Lady Playford is expecting a murderer to strike. But why does she seem so determined to provoke, in the presence of a potential killer?

When the crime is committed despite Poirot's best efforts to prevent it, and the victim is not who he expected, will he be able to find the guilty party and solve the mystery?

Following the stunning worldwide success of The Monogram Murders, which was published to critical acclaim in September 2014, internationally best-selling crime writer Sophie Hannah has been commissioned by Agatha Christie Limited to write a second fully authorized Poirot novel. The new book marks the centenary of the creation of the renowned detective Hercule Poirot, who was introduced in her first book The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Pages: 400, Dimensions: 12.9x12.9cm