Murder in Three Stages

Charles Osborne, author of The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie, has adapted three of her original plays into full-length novels. Combining her typically beguiling plots and sparkling dialogue with his own faithful narrative, this trilogy of ingenious stories can now delight a new legion of fans. BLACK COFFEE: When a plan to recover a stolen formula ends in murder, Hercule Poirot must unravel a tangle of family feuds, old flames and suspicious foreigners and prevent a global catastrophe. SPIDER'S WEB: Discovering a body in her drawing-room, the wife of a diplomat attempts to unmask the murderer while convincing the local police inspector there has been no murder at all.THE UNEXPECTED GUEST: Agreeing to help concoct an alibi for a dead man's killer, an unwitting accomplice begins to wonder if he isn't shielding the wrong person after all.