Ordeal by Innocence (Queen of Mystery)

The Queen of Mystery has come to Harper Collins! Agatha Christie, the acknowledged mistress of suspensecreator of indomitable sleuth Miss Marple, meticulous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and so many other unforgettable charactersbrings her entire oeuvre of ingenious whodunits, locked room mysteries, and perplexing puzzles to Harper Paperbacksincluding Ordeal By Innocence, one of her own ten favorite novels and most popular psychological thrillers. Review Family tensions and suspicions are adroitly handled, and the solution is characteristically surprising. (New York Times ) Agatha Christie is grade A fun. (Phillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of Supreme JusticePhillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of Supreme JusticePhillip Margolin, New York Times bestselling author of Supreme Justice ) From the Back Cover According to the courts, Jacko Argylebludgeoned his mother to death with apoker. The sentence was life imprisonment.But when Dr. Arthur Calgary arrives withthe proof that confirms Jackos innocence, itis too lateJacko died behind bars followinga bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctorsrevelations reopen old wounds in thefamily, increasing the likelihood that the realmurderer will strike again. Soon to be a limited streaming series s tarring Anna Chancellor and Bill Nighy Considered by critics the one of the best of Agatha Christie's later novels, and a personal favorite for Christie herself, Ordeal by Innocence is a psychological thriller involving crimes from both past and present. According to the courts, Jacko Argyle bludgeoned his mother to death with a poker. The sentence was life imprisonment. But when Dr. Arthur Calgary arrives with the proof that confirms Jacko's innocence, it is too late—Jacko died behind bars following a bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor's revelations reopen old wounds in the family, increasing the likelihood that the real murderer will strike again. Recovering from amnesia, Dr. Arthur Calgary discovers that he alone could have provided an alibi in a scandalous murder trial. It ended in the conviction of Jacko Argyle. The victim was Jacko's own mother, and to make matters worse, he died in prison. But the young man's innocence means that someone else killed the Argyle matriarch, and would certainly kill again to remain in the shadows. Shaded in the moral ambiguity of murder, the provocative psychological puzzler of guilt, vengeance, and blood secrets is among Agatha Christie's personal favorites.

According to the courts, Jacko Argylebludgeoned his mother to death with apoker. The sentence was life imprisonment.But when Dr. Arthur Calgary arrives withthe proof that confirms Jacko’s innocence, itis too late—Jacko died behind bars followinga bout of pneumonia. Worse still, the doctor’srevelations reopen old wounds in thefamily, increasing the likelihood that the realmurderer will strike again.

While serving a sentence for killing his mother--a crime he insisted he didn't commit--Jacko Argyle dies in prison. Two years later, the man who could have supported Jacko's alibi suddenly turns up. It appears that Jacko was innocent, and that the murderer is part of the surviving family An adoptive son dies in prison after being convicted for the murder of his mother, but when Arthur Calgary proves the boy's innocence, the family becomes surprisingly nervous and hostile Jack Argyle has died in prison, wrongly accused of the murder of his adoptive mother Rachel, and now everyone in the Argyle family looks suspicious