At the time Agatha Christie died, I was sure that I had read everything she had published. Fortunately, that wasn't true and I'm still making discoveries here and there. THE SITTAFORD MYSTERY embodies the best of Christie's storytelling powers though it's not one of her better known books. It's a one-off, not one of her popular series, but no one will miss Poirot or Miss Marple.

It's worth noting that this was also previously published as "Murder at Hazelmoor." Since titles should be important and appropriate pointers to a story's heart, it's worth noting that the dichotomy is explained by the fact that the action seems to simultaneously take place in two places, even though there is only one dead body. Up in a remote village atop a bluff in the moor region, Sittaford, neighbors gather during a snowstorm to amuse themselves. Someone suggests a séance, though few really take it seriously. At first. Then the message that no one expects comes knocking through, that the landlord of the house, who is wintering 6 miles away down in a real town, at Hazelmoor, has been murdered. His old military pal leaves the party to investigate, even though it means walking a couple of hours in the snow. Indeed, he finds the body, obviously murdered, and the coroner puts the time at approximately the moment the "spirit message" was delivered up at Sittaford. Enter the sensible police inspector. And then, enter the bright young fiancé of the silly young man the Inspector arrests for the murder, who wants to save him. And, a journalist hoping to crack a big story. Soon, everyone is sleuthing and ferreting out each other's secrets.

It's a riot. Christie has populated the two towns with delightful characters. Her wit is in full force. The plot twists and red herrings abound. She has created an airtight world between the two places and says some smart things about living in a tiny remote village. She captures England circa 1931 nicely, the mood still recovering from World War I and grappling with modern times.

Though this statement by Inspector Narracott resembles statements made by Agatha Christie's detectives in most of her other mysteries, there is MUCH more in this case than meets the eye. Perhaps the most complex and most beautifully developed case among all Christie's novels, The Sittaford Mystery, originally published in the US in 1931 as The Mystery of Hazelmoor, has at least half a dozen mysteries going simultaneously. Each of them is investigated separately until the conclusion, when all are resolved, with surprises galore. Clever, complex, and filled with unexpected twists and turns, this mystery is a classic of the genre.

Six people at remote, moor-side Sittaford House decide to pass the time on a snowy evening by calling up the spirit world while joining hands around a small table. A "spirit" tells them that Captain Trevelyan, a man known to them all, is dead--murdered. His best friend, Major Burnaby, alarmed, immediately decides to check on him in person, traveling on foot for six miles until he finds Trevelyan's cottage open and Trevelyan indeed dead.

Trevelyan, a wealthy but "close" man, has family, some of them greatly in need of money, and each member of the extended family is investigated in detail. One young nephew, who had visited his uncle just before his death, is arrested for the murder, and his fiancée, Emily Trefussis, believing him innocent, decides to investigate, with the help of a newspaper reporter, Charles Enderby. The Willett family, which has been leasing Sittaford House from Captain Trevelyan, is mysterious, their origins in question, and their reasons for occupying the house in the depths of winter are suspect. A jailbreak twelve miles away creates tension in town, and characters seemingly unconnected with the murder are discovered to have been lying about their whereabouts. Everyone in the community seems to have questions about everyone else. The six people involved in the table-turning at Sittaford are the only ones who seem to have airtight alibis.

As Inspector Narracott, Emily Trefussis and Charles Enderby all work to solve the case, each for different reasons, Christie's genius at plotting becomes obvious. Red herrings abound, as do true surprises, and when, at the conclusion, all the questions are answered and the murderer is unmasked, the precision with which Christie has developed this mystery is obvious. Arguably the best of the Christie mysteries. n Mary Whipple

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)
Murder in Mesopotamia: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)
Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
Agatha Christie: An English Mystery

The BBC Radio Agatha Christie audiobook series is to be cherished. The Sittaford Mystery is hands-down my favorite AC audiobook. You may have read the book, but this dramatized interpretation is just what the doctor ordered on a dreary cold afternoon when you're trying to finish that sweater you're knitting for your son's Christmas present. Peter Tompkinson is the voice of the reporter. Peter plays the lead in the delightful Ballykissangel UK television series (rent it if you aren't familiar with it), & he's cast perfectly in The Sittaford Mystery.

What better way to create a spooky atmosphere than by trying to communicate with the dead? That's how this story begins: with a group of near-strangers shut up together in a creaky old English country house on Dartmoor in the dead of winter as the snow lays thick outside (with more to come), the wind howls across the lonely moors, & the open fire crackles on the hearth. The young (& young at heart) of the group decide to try table-turning, a seance game similar to Quija but incorporating the use of a rickety table instead of a divination board.

The dead speak, & the group is warned of a murder that has happened to someone they all know.

If you buy this cassette audiobook, you will wear it out. Watch how your family members (yes, even the teenagers) are drawn into the kitchen as you chop & slice & prepare for dinner & listen to this pure escapism on your old cassette player.

This is a fine mystery, well thought-out and shrewdly conveyed.

It takes place in the English Boondocks (moors) and the chief question is, 'Who murdered an old curmudgeon in his own home?' There is also a secondary sub-plot regarding an escaped convict loose on the moor.

The chief suspect's fiance and a tabloid reporter investigate the crime (along with a sharp police inspector), even though they are forced to also battle the icy weather and deep snow, and the clues just seem to add up to less than zero. To make matters even worse, there is a supernatural aspect to the crime -- several locals at a seance were informed by the spirits that the old man was dead to begin with. It was only then that a close friend, disturbed by the prophecy, left in the blizzard to investigate and found his old pal murdered, sure enough!

This one's a real ringer!