'I want a change. To be in the midst of things - exciting things - even if I'm only the looker-on. You know, things don't happen in St Mary Mead.'

When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again - for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are missing.

The prime suspect is Ruth's estranged husband, Derek. Yet Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie re-enactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board...

"Masterly... the reader will not be disappointed."
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT

"The Queen of Crime's scheming ingenuity has been so much praised that one is sometimes inclined to overlook the lightness of her touch."