Just as boredom is setting in on his long trip by motor coach across the desert to Baghdad, Mr. Parker Pyne reads about the case of the missing Mr. Long, the famous defaulting financier who, as the papers would have it, is in South America. Another member of his party, Captain Smethurst, tells Pyne that he is worried about something. But before he can tell Pyne what it is, he is found dead, with no visible wound. Pyne must piece together what happened from various clues, including scraps of conversation overheard back in Damascus.

When civilian life proves too dull for Major Wilbrahams, he contacts Parker Pyne to escape his boredom. Pyne's assistant arranges a chance meeting with the beautiful Freda Clegg and the two join forces, but on leaving for Africa they encounter more than they had bargained for.

James has found himself at the fashionable resort Kimpton-on-Sea, all due to the persuasion of his girlfriend, Grace, who during the last few months of their courtship has become more difficult to deal with. Among the upper echelons of society, including the Rajah of Maraputna, James feels disgruntled and out of place. Eager to both irritate and win over Grace, James bypasses the queue to the changing rooms and ducks into the private huts on the beach so that he can be the first into the sea. It is only later that he realizes he has accidentally come into possession of a very valuable and sought-after object.

Mystery writer Anthony Eastwood is lured to the crime scene of a faked murder, where two individuals masquerading as police officers arrest him and charge him with murder. As the phony police officers escort Mr. Eastwood home, the true goal of the masquerade becomes apparent.

An alarming telephone call, in which the phrases “it’s life and death” and “the table with the yellow irises” are whispered, causes Hercule Poirot to rush to the luxuriant restaurant Jardin des Cygnes, desperate to stop an impending murder and find the person behind the voice on the phone. After bumping into an old acquaintance, he is invited to join a dinner party in full swing. But, just as the dancing and champagne are overflowing, a morbid announcement is made and the lights go out.

Maria Packington suspects her husband of having an affair. In an attempt to revitalise her marriage, she responds to an ad from Mr. Parker Pyne - who promises to provide solutions to unhappiness. Maria's life soon undergoes a rapid transformation....

Three critically acclaimed recordings are joined together in this dazzling Agatha Christie Triple Bill, read by award-winning narrators Alison Larkin and James Warwick, star of the Partners in Crime TV series on Masterpiece Theater.

At a séance, Sir Alington, a venerable expert of the mental condition, is pestered by Mrs. Eversleigh about the importance of the sixth sense. Soon, a young man named Dermot is drawn in and tells them both about the sixth sense he experiences, a red signal that spells danger. He is about to tell them of the last time he saw the red signal when he stops himself. The last time he had the signal was earlier that very evening. But how could there be danger at a simple gathering of old friends?

Mrs. Packington felt alone, helpless, and utterly forlorn. But her life changed when she stumbled upon an advertisement in the Times that read: "Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne." Equally adept at putting together the fragments of a murder mystery or the pieces of a broken marriage, Mr. Parker Pyne is possibly the world's most unconventional private investigator. Armed with just his intuitive knowledge of human nature, he is an Englishman abroad, traveling the globe to solve and undo crime and misdemeanor.

At Mr. and Mrs. Unkerton's party in Greenway's House, Mr. Satterthwaite learns of a haunted window: No matter how many times it is replaced, it always contains the image of a gentleman in a plumed hat. When gunshots are heard, Satterthwaite finds that two of the guests have been shot dead, which is shortly followed by a sighting of the gentleman in the newly-replaced windowpane. Can Mr. Quin shed light on the mystery?

Is it a gesture of goodwill or a sinister trap that lures Rupert St. Vincent and his family to a magnificent estate? How desperate is Joyce Lambert, a destitute young widow whose only recourse is to marry a man she despises? What unexpected circumstance stirs old loyalties in Theodora Darrell, an unfaithful wife about to run away with her lover?

In this collection of short stories, the answers are as unexpected as they are satisfying. The Queen of Mystery takes bizarre romantic entanglements, supernatural visitations, and classic murder to inventive new heights.

Hercule Poirot is about to tuck into a very traditional English supper with his old friend Bonnington when a lone diner sparks his interest. Like clockwork, the man has eaten at the restaurant on Thursdays and Tuesdays for the last 10 years, but no one on the staff knows his name. When "Old Father Time", as they have fondly nicknamed him, suddenly stops coming, Poirot believes that he might have picked up the one essential clue that could shed light on this mysterious man. Could what Old Father Time ordered as his final meal provide the key?

Jane Marple is an elderly lady from St Mary Mead who possesses an uncanny knack for solving even the most perplexing puzzles. Now, for the first time in 45 years, Agatha Christie’s beloved character returns to the page for a globe-trotting tour of crime and detection. Join Marple as she travels through her sleepy English village and around the world. In St Mary Mead, a Christmas dinner is interrupted by unexpected guests; the Broadway stage in New York City is set for a dangerous improvisation.

The Man in the Brown Suit is Agatha Christie at her best, as a young woman makes a dangerous decision to investigate a shocking “accidental” death she witnesses at a London tube station. In Agatha Christie’s classic crime adventure novel, They Came to Baghdad, a bright young adventure seeker in the Middle East finds more excitement than she bargained for when a wounded spy expires in her hotel room.

When Mr. Satterthwaite visits a new exhibit at the Harchester Galleries, there is one painting that bears an unusual likeness to a mysterious acquaintance of his, Mr. Quin. In one bold move he purchases the canvas on the spot, and in another invites the artist of "The Dead Harlequin" to dine with him that night, with an empty place at the table set for Mr. Quin. Dinner conversation soon turns to the setting of "The Dead Harlequin", the doomed and ghostly house Charnley, where many have perished under tragic circumstances.