This edition published 6th November 2025 by Harper Collins. Originally published 1931.
From the cover of the book:
Mystery and suspense surround a seance in a snowbound house on the edge of Dartmoor, where the prediction of a grisly murder is only the precursor to an ingenious deadly crime and one of Agatha Christie’s most gripping thrillers…
In a remote house in the middle of Dartmoor, six shadowy figures huddle around a small table for a seance. Tension rises as the spirits spell out a chilling message: ‘Captain Trevelyan… dead… murder.’
Is this black magic or simply a macabre joke? The only way to be certain is to locate Captain Trevelyan. Unfortunately, his home is six miles away and, with snow drifts blocking the roads, someone will have to make the journey on foot…
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In the tiny village of Sittaford, on the edge of Dartmoor, newly arrived from South Africa, Mrs Willett and her daughter Violet have rented Sittaford House from retired Captain Trevelyan. As a snow storm sets in, the Willetts invite four local people to tea - one of whom is Trevelyan's long-standing friend, Major Burnaby.
They decide to indulge in a little table turning (aka a séance), and at 5.25pm the spirit of Captain Trevelyan apparently appears. Major Burnaby, concerned for his friend, trudges off 6 miles in the snow to find out if Trevelyan is indeed dead. When he arrives in Exhampton, he finds his pal murdered, with his head bashed in.
Various members of the Captain's family come under suspicion of the dastardly deed, and his feckless nephew, James Pearson, is charged with the crime, despite proclaiming his innocence. Fortunately for him, his plucky fiancée Emily Trefusis is on hand to investigate on his behalf...
The action takes place in and around Sittaford, with Emily recruiting reporter Charles Enderby to her cause by using her femine wiles (she does this a lot), and they do a great job delving into the private affairs of a host of suspects - alongside Inspector Narracott, who is leading the investigation. The main thread works beautifully, and, as usual, Christie completely blindsided me with the truth when Emily works out who killed Trevelyan from a clue in plain sight! Nicely twisted on the psychological front too!
There are a boat-load of red herrings in this one, most of which work well, but there is an unnecessarly large cast of characters considering the crime focuses on such a tiny community - it didn't really need them all... for example, why is the mostly unseen Mr Duke there, other than to be mysterious???
Great female characters in this mystery though, with some interesting relections on domestic staff, and marriage to strong women!
This was a fun book to round off #ReadChristie2025 and a great pick to explore the theme of the MILITARY.
The Sittaford Mystery is available now in multiple formats.
About the author:
Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.
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