Life in Japan for a transplanted Californian with a fledgling antiques business and a nonexistent love life isn't always fun, but when the flower arranging class Rei Shimura's aunt cajoles her into taking turns into a stage for murder, Rei finds plenty of excitement she's been missing.

Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, yet there were five other suspects: Philip Blake (the stockbroker) who went to market, Meredith Blake (the amateur herbalist) who stayed at home; Elsa Greer (the three-time divorcee) who had roast beef; Cecilia Williams (the devoted governess) who had none; and Angela Warren (the disfigured sister) who cried 'wee wee wee' all the way home......

The Siegfried Plan.........In a bleak airport lounge, a bored diplomat believes a frightened girl's fantastic story.....In a Whitehall office, worried politicians talk of terrorism and anarchy.....In a German castle, an old woman plans a new world.....

A macabre recurring dream.....revenge against a blackmailer....jealousy, infidelity and a tortured conscience....a stolen gemstone....the haunting attraction of an ancient relic....a race against time......a tragic love triangle......a body in a box....an unexpected visitor from beyond the grave....Here are nine quintessential examples of Agatha Christie's brilliance

Mary Ashley, a bright young professor and mother of two, is appointed US ambassador to an Iron Curtain Country. But even before she takes up her post, unseen and powerful enemies - including the sinister Angel, assassin par excellence - plot her destruction. From the White House to the romance of Paris, from Rome to the shady menace of Bucharest, the action races.

Late one evening, a car accident leaves Tory - daughter of a prominent history professor - stranded near a ring of stones in the English countryside. She resolves to spend the night at the sacred site; a black belt in tae-kwon-do, Tory holds little fear for her safety...... But across the vortex of time and space she is being watched. The Merlin knows of the legend Tory is to become, and through the wisdom of the Old Ones, teleports her back to the Dark Age. Prince Maelgwn of Gwynedd and his band of nights stumble across this mysterious woman dressed in jeans and a leather jacket. Believing she is the witch of the stones, they threaten to kill her............

Dead Beat' introduces Kate Brannigan, a female private detective who does for Manchester what VI Warshawski has done for Chicago. As a favour, Kate agrees to track down a missing songwriter, Moira Pollock, a search that takes her into some of the seediest parts of leads and Bradford. But little does she realise that finding Moira is a prelude to murder...

One million dollars - that's what Harvey Metcalfe, lifelong king of shady deals, has pulled off with empty promises of an oil bonanza and instant riches. Overnight, four men - the heir to an earldom, a Harley St doctor, a Bond St art dealer and an Oxford don - find themselves penniless. But this time Harvey has swindled the wrong men. They band together and shadow him from the casinos of Monte Carlo to the high-stakes windows at Ascot and the hallowed lawns of Oxford. Their plan is simple: to sting the crook for exactly what they lost. To the penny.

The single working mother's dilemma. Assailed on all sides by the politically correct view of single working mothers, the poverty trap looming, Rosie is presented with an unusual way out of her predicament - reconciliation with the handsome but unreliable Rory, whom she divorced years ago. Her friends are horrified, her mother is thrilled. Rosie knows it's a gamble, but becoming part of a couple again could make the world treat her as a human being once more. 'What's sex got to do with it?' she demands. 'This is the Nineties. This is business.'

Before her marriage, Catherine Fox had been a successful features writer, within an ace of taking over the editorship of Australia's most glossy magazine. Then she met Paul Grant. Attraction had been mutual and the time was right. Four years later, and with three young children, Catherine feels like an unequal partner in their life together. Paul's body seems untouched by fatherhood, but hers is like a stranger's - with lines and marks and bulk where none had been before. Resentments hidden behind politeness do more to poison their relationship than outright anger. Into the domestic drama walks Andromeda, the spiky-haired nanny, Janie the glamorous former girlfriend, and Henry.....dear Henry