The wealthy and vengeful Simeon Lee has invited his immediate family—including an estranged son, unloved by the other siblings, and an enigmatic granddaughter named Pilar—to stay at Gorston Hall for the Christmas holidays. When Lee is brutally murdered in a locked room shortly after announcing that he intends to change his will, suspicion falls on the newcomers, who find themselves in terrible danger. With the assistance of Superintendent Sugden, Hercule Poirot must sort out the truth and prevent the murderer from killing again. This is perhaps the quintessential Poirot mystery, a holiday favorite to read year after year.