The Sittaford Mystery (Agatha Christie Signature Edition) by Agatha Christie

by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is more than the most popular mystery writer of all time. In a career that spans over half a century, her name is synonymous with brilliant deception, ingenious puzzles, and the surprise denouement. By virtually inventing the modern mystery novel she has earned her title as the Queen of Crime. Curious? Then you're invited to read....THE SITTAFORD MYSTERYM-U-R-D-E-R. It began as an innocent parlor game intended to while away the hours on a bitter winter night.But the message that appeared before the amateur occultists at the snowbound Sittaford House was spelled out as loud and clear as a scream. Of course, the notion that they had foretold doom was pure bunk. Wasn't it? And the discovery of a corpse was pure coincidence. Wasn't it? If they're to discover the answer to this baffling murder, perhaps they should play again. But a journey into the spirit world could prove terribly dangerous-especially when the killer is lurking in this one.

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Fiction, Crime, Classics, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller

Paperback

First published September 7, 1931

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stand-alone without Miss Marple or Poirot.



Major Burnaby attends a dinner party at the Willett's that gets out of hand when someone suggests they try table-turning to spice up the evening.
Table-turning was what people used to do before Ouija boards were all over the place.
After the usual giggling and hijinks from some of the younger guests, the table spells out MURDER in reference to his friend, Captain Trevelyan.
Naturally, the mood of the party is ruined by what is assumed to be a joke in very bad taste. But Burnaby, normally the pinnacle of English good sense, can't seem to quite shake it off and tells the group that he plans to walk to Trevelyan's home.
Miles away. In a snowstorm.



The stoic Burnaby ends up at the local police station to get help gaining entrance. They arrive at his old friend's house and discover what looks to be an attempted robbery and the body of Captain Trevelyan cooling on the floor.
The time of death matches with the time the spirit spoke during the table-turning.
Did Agatha write a horror story?



Don't count on it.

When Trevalyn's nephew, James Pearson, is arrested for his murder, Pearson's fiance decides to use her considerable skills to suss out the real killer. Is Emily Trefusis a professional detective?
No.
But she is the sort of girl who can get things done.



She teams up with the young & hungry journalist Charles Enderby, who was just in town to give a prize to Major Burnaby for winning a contest with his newspaper. That he had the happy accident to stumble onto a murder case in progress and a beautiful damsel in distress was too good an opportunity to pass up.
Although, she may be playing up the distress angle a bit...



Together with the unflappable Inspector Narracott, they uncover the shocking truth behind who killed the old man and why.
Another fun Christie mystery that turns everything you think you know on its head.
Recommended!

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic Agatha Christie where she makes you suspect most of the characters during the book and then it turns out to be the person you least suspected - and then it seems so obvious they did it.

How does she do this and how come I didn't spot the clues?

The writing is so effortless and simple to read.

There's a little love mystery in the book too.

I find myself reading her books from beginning to end in perhaps four installments - what a pity I have to sleep, eat, and go to work!

[Piyangie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Sittaford Mystery is another enjoyable standalone murder mystery by our queen of crime, Agatha Christie. Set in an isolated small village in Dartmoor, the story begins with a "table-turning" ("séance") hosted on a wintry night by the newcomers to the sittaford house. At the sénance, a murder is pronounced which turns out to be true. The police make an arrest, but the fiancée of the suspect firmly believes in his innocent and partners up with a journalist to clear him up of the charge.

It was a thrilling story where more than one aspect is on play. Two investigations, one carried by the police, and the other carried by the amateur duo shed contrasting viewpoints on the murder. It was nice to have different views presented from different angles. And I put in a third with my point of view, so there were enough viewpoints to solve the mystery. :)

The criminal was easy to guess. I knew him from the beginning. Yet the knowledge didn't stop me from enjoying the story with its various twists and turns. In fact, I enjoyed the twist and turns, being firm in my conviction of the criminal. Sometimes when you are firmly convinced of the truth you can enjoy all the falsehoods with relish. :)

I enjoyed the setting. The winter season of Dartmoor where the story unfolds gave the eerie and dismal feeling which is the right kind of setting to a murder mystery. I also enjoyed the set of characters, chosen from a variety of ages and stations. Their different personalities added colour to the story. Out of them, I liked Emily the best. Her courage and determination to prove the innocence of her man were praiseworthy. She shows that a woman in love would go to any length to safeguard the one she loved.

It was altogether a good mystery with a good character set. And the setting too, though dismal had a charm of its own. However, I wasn't too happy with the ending. It was yet another instance of a rushed-up ending. The story was well spaced out and was gradually unfolding when the final chapters ruined the graduality by quickly summing up the facts and closing the story. It also left some of the side stories unexplained giving the overall feeling of an unfinished business. If not for that, this standalone mystery would have earned a higher rating.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sittaford Mystery is a neat little whodunit with an intrepid heroine who solves the case because her fiance, who is sort of a twit, is accused of the murder. There is a smart detective on the job who doesn't quite believe that they have the right man, but can't prove the fiance didn't do it either. An ambitious and savvy reporter rounds out the interesting characters.

Beginning with a spirit reading in the midst of a winter snowstorm, a homicide is announced from the afterlife. The man named as the victim ends up dead and the last man known to have visited was his nephew, the aforementioned fiance. I probably enjoyed this more, because for once I guessed who the murderer was, but not how he got there so quickly. Aye, there's the rub.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty entertaining mystery, although a little excessive as to coincidences and red herrings.
The human element would have been stronger if we had ever met Jim -- or would it? Maybe he would have proven to be just as wimpy and dull as he sounded second-hand.

[Dr. Laurel Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just for maximum confusion, many of Agatha Christie's novels have different titles in the British vs. American editions. What I actually read was entitled Murder at Hazelmoor, but it is aka The Sittaford Mystery. Whatever one calls it, this novel typifies why Dame Agatha is the Queen of Mystery to me. I love many of her contemporaries--Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Josephine Tey, Patricia Wentworth, and (especially) Mary Roberts Rinehart--but it is rare for them to stump me with the solution IF the author plays fair. Dame Agatha, however, puts me firmly in my place, and I revere her for it. She often provides hints to anything up to half a dozen solutions of fiendish ingenuity, and we alert readers may figure them out...only to have her hit us with the ONE solution that somehow we didn't see coming!

Such is Murder at Hazelmoor. I really thought I had it, and I was really wrong. However, I don't feel at all cheated; I bow to the superior detective, in this case one of Dame Agatha's charming "flapper"-type young women amateurs. Emily could be the sister of Tuppence (as in Tommy & Tuppence, Dame Agatha's "Partners in Crime"), and she's delightful. Unless of course she's the murderer, but I won't tell.

This isn't one of Dame Agatha's best-known novels, but I highly recommend it. Classic Christie, with the clues there but somehow so hard to spot, and an above-average number of red herrings to throw you off! I also love it when she does the trick of having an apparently supernatural occurrence--in this case a seance that appears to predict a murder--and then provides a solidly real explanation. So, so clever.

Finally, this is a great "Christie for Christmas" along with "Hercule Poirot's Christmas" and "4:50 from Paddington" (Miss Marple's Christmas case). The setting is a snowy English village described on the very first page as looking like the pictures "on Xmas cards". (Side note: I didn't realize the abbreviation "Xmas" was common in 1931, but I looked into it and found it actually goes back to the 1600s!)

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 3 out of 5]

A group of neighbors in a remote village decide to hold a séance during which a spirit announces that Captain Joseph Trevelyan, the owner of the house they’re in, has just been murdered in a neighboring village. The best friend of Captain Trevelyan, Major Burnaby, needs to know if his friend is alright. So he decides to walk six miles through a snow storm, to get to Captain Trevelyan’s current residence. And when he arrives there, he finds his friend has indeed been murdered.

The inspector who investigates the murder uses a very simple but effective method: follow the money. He goes to all the murder victim’s family members who stand to inherit his money, to see if anyone could have killed him. And since only one family member visited the murder victim at the day of his death, the inspector concludes that the victim’s nephew must have done it.

Emily Trefusis, said nephew’s fiancée, does not agree with the inspector’s conclusions though. She takes a journalist under her wings and sets out to find the truth.


Emily Trefusis is quite a fascinating protagonist. The thing is, she’s quite a cunning, intelligent, strong and independent woman. And we see the gender stereotypes she has to fight against in her life on a daily basis. Now, she wants to take control of her own life in a time where that was easier said than done. And it quickly becomes clear that she wants to marry the murder victim’s nephew not necessarily for love or money. The reason she picked him in the first place is because he’s so softhearted and easy to manipulate. And she thinks that the nephew simply wouldn’t be able to commit murder, because it’s just not in his nature.


Agatha Christie’s inclusion of supernatural elements definitely seems to have been inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Since there are quite a few references to The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Arthur Conan Doyle himself is even briefly mentioned here.


The murder mystery plot in this stand alone novel is very solid. Though it’s not always the most exciting. And it takes quite a while for the plot to really get going. There’s a subtle hint of the supernatural to create a more atmospheric setting and elevate the book as a whole. Though it’s the character of amateur sleuth Emily Trefusis who stands out the most to me here.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Agatha Christie does it again.

No Marple or Poirot in this one. Instead, Emily Trefusis is our plucky heroine. Christie adores creating a smart, attractive, sharp female character.

Emily is determined to get her fiancée, James Pearson, out of jail. He's accused of murder - but Emily knows there's no way he could have done it. "Jim is a frightful idiot. But he doesn't murder people.”

Once again, Christie's wit and humor blow me away. She is such a funny writer! I would almost classify her books as comedies.

Of course, Sittaford is populated with a number of colorful characters. A curmudgeon of an old military man who is perpetually grumpy. Another military man who's an invalid. He's always complaining about 'civilized people' and their tendency to hurry. He's got the hots for young Emily and claims she needs a “real man”, meaning himself – even though he's thirty years her senior. There's the old woman invalid, a sharp-witted nosy busybody in the vein of Miss Marple who knows all the goings-on. There's the young man, Charles Enderby, a journalist who is helping Emily to solve the case – while falling hard for her. Inspector Narracott, the clever and resourceful policeman assigned to the case. Mrs. Willett and her daughter Violet – who very suspiciously moved to Sittaford's cold winter climate from sunny South Africa – if what they say is true. Etc. etc.

Another gem in this novel is Christie's choice to start out the mystery with a 'table turning'. This 'old-style' form of playing Ouija board involves six or so people sitting at a table and asking spirits to 'knock' on the table to indicate 'yes', 'no', and letters of the alphabet. The ghost tells the players of the murder. Of course, there's no real supernatural element and everything is explained to satisfaction by the end.

The vocabulary was wonderful. Also worth noting was the mountain of 1931 slang that was colorful and highly amusing.

Emily Trefusis is a gem – plucky, smart, funny – and able to get any man, woman or child to do what she wants through subtle manipulation, praise and occasional tears. Her tactics work wonders on all – especially the hapless males who cross her path. She has no less than 4 men chasing after her in this novel. Actually, Christie creates a brilliant and gradual love triangle with Emily, the jailed Pearson, and the intrepid reporter Enderby. Who will Emily choose? I was on tenterhooks wondering how this triangle was going to resolve itself.

Last but not least, Christie fooled me again. I never suspected the true murderer in the least. I was shocked. My two or three running theories and suspicions were all for naught. It's very rare that I'm able to solve a Christie novel correctly and this one is no exception.

YA novels with Mary Sues and love triangles have NOTHING on Christie's Mary Sue of Emily and her intense yet chaste love triangle in this novel. These Agatha Christie novels were probably the very thing teenagers were consuming by the dozen in 1931. Pretending to be Emily Trefusis instead of Katniss Everdeen.

Published as Murder at Hazelmoor OR The Sittaford Mystery.

[Obsidian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's weird for me to dislike Christie books, but this one did nothing for me. It was a struggle to finish. I think the main issue was that I just found the why behind who murdered an eccentric and misogynistic man (Captain Trevelyan) to be boring due to one of the main character we follow through most of the book.

Captain Trevelyan is found murdered after a weird seance tells the group who is holding it that he is dead. Trevelyan's long time friend and neighbor Major Burnaby goes to his home during a heavy snow and finds Trevelyan dead. Trevelyan's will leaves things to his sister and to his niece and two nephews. Questions quickly emerge about was it one of Trevelyan's family members that finally did him in for their inheritance.

I was more interested when we had Inspector Narricot investigating things. He reminded me a lot of Poirot in his thinking, but the way he acted with people reminded me of Superintendent Battle. When Christie switched over to the fiancee of a man suspected of the murder (Emily) I just didn't care anymore.

Christie tried to throw some romance via Emily and two men during the course of the book, but in the end Emily chooses the one who I considered to be a waste. This is a common theme in Christie books though. She always has the bright young thing seemingly throwing her life away on some man that is not perfect since she will bring him up to scratch.

I also didn't like how we get the perspective of the person who murdered Trevelyan but with a cheat (you don't know that you are not getting the full picture until the end). Usually it seems so obvious when Christie reveals the who and the why since she props up clues along the way. This book felt very muddled to me.

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021 Review:
The Sittaford Mystery (or The Murder at Hazelmoor), a standalone by the Queen of Crime, first published in 1931, is a quite perfect read for the season with a murder in a snowed-in English village difficult to navigate, a fair few suspects, and a touch of spookiness!

Our story opens in the small village of Sittaford in Dartmoor, where a retired Navyman, Captain Joe Trevelyan had built six cottages, one, Sittaford House for himself and five others which he has sold to others, among them his best friend Major Burnaby. Captain Trevelyan is very fond of money and never loses an opportunity to make some, so when Mrs Willet and her daughter, Violet, recently arrived from South Africa, offer to rent his home, the Captain is happy to oblige and himself moves to a smaller house, Hazelmoor down the hill in Exhampton, making a tidy profit. The Willets who are fairly social invite others from Sittaford for tea and bridge, and among their guests is Major Burnaby. For entertainment, one of the guests suggests a ‘table turning’. But after some fun messages, one of the ‘ghosts’ that visits them announces that Captain Trevelyan is dead—murdered, leaving all the guests unsettled. Major Burnaby is shaken as well, and decides to walk down to Trevelyan’s cottage (despite the impending snowstorm) and take a look. He finds that Trevelyan has in fact been murdered.

The police led by Inspector Narracott investigate. It seems at first that the Captain had no enemies, but it emerges that he was tight with his money because of which many in his own family bore him grudges. Soon his nephew James Pearson, who was in the village at the time (and had in fact visited Trevelyan to seek a loan) is arrested. But James’ fiancée Emily Trefusis knows he is innocent (for he doesn’t have the guts to kill) and teams up with enterprising reporter Charles Enderby to prove James innocent. The two begin to talk to Trevelyan’s relations and others in the village, and uncover some secrets. But do they track down the killer?

This was an enjoyable mystery with plenty of subplots and red herrings to throw one off track. Since this was a reread for me, I knew whodunit (I don’t think I guessed the first time around), and was keeping a look out for clues. Christie is fair and does give us various hints along the way. One incident though seemed the result of chance or coincidence, though, and I am not sure how things would have played out without it. But still, I had forgotten some of the subplots and threads, so it was interesting to follow those.

In the book Christie also gives us plenty of interesting characters. In Emily Trefusis we have a rather spunky Christie heroine, who undertakes to travel to isolated and snowed-in Sittaford and solve the mystery on her own. She uses not only her intelligence (which she has plenty of) and also ability to manipulate people (Charles, in particular) to do her bidding to manage to speak to various people involved and get help in the things she can’t do on her own. With Emily’s story we also have a romance thread, and a bit of a mystery as to whom she will pick for more than one character becomes interested in her. Another standout was the intelligent invalid lady Mis Percehouse, who might have a sharp tongue but turns out quite a likeable person. She takes to and helps Emily (she also has a bunch of cats, one of whom is called the Emperor of Peru).

But while Emily is investigating, Inspector Narracott isn’t turned into a background character, nor the typical policeman in mysteries who is lost or clueless. He too is fairly sharp and uncovers plenty of information; both investigations proceed side-by-side, complementing each other.

While not among Christie’s best mysteries, this was one I enjoyed a lot, for its atmosphere, characters, and plot too (aside form a few niggles).

3.75 stars

2017 Review
Major Burnaby who has gone to visit with his neighbours the Willets finds himself participating in “tableturning” but after a harmless bit of fun, the “spirits” inform them that Captain Tevelyan has been murdered. Navy Captain Joe Trevelyan had retired to the small village of Sittaford in Dartmoor where he built six houses, one of which he occupied himself, and the rest sold to others, among them Major Burnaby his closest friend. The Captain’s only flaws seem reclusiveness and a fondness for money, the latter having led him to let his own house to the Willets for the winter and take up residence elsewhere. When Major Burnaby trudges through the thick snow to put himself at ease and ensure Trevelyan is safe, he finds that the séance was in fact right, and the Captain has been murdered. Captain Trevelyan had no enemies but was a very rich man, so of course those who stand to inherit are in the net of suspicion. When the police find his nephew James Pearson visited him just around the time the incident happened and was desperate for money, they are not long in arresting him. But Jim’s fiancé, Emily Trefusis knows even if he isn’t straightforward in all his dealings, he is not capable of murder and sets out to clear his name, along the way enlisting the help of journalist Charles Enderby who was in Sittaford for another purpose but jumps at the chance of the scoop of a lifetime.

Emily is a very likeable heroine full of spunk and gumption, she knows what she needs to do and gets it done, not being above a bit of manipulation. Charles Enderby is eager to be of assistance (even when it means being outdoors in the middle of the night in frozen weather) and even the Inspector is happy to oblige with information which he wouldn’t probably reveal to any other. It was great fun “watching” Emily as she approaches the Captain’s relations and Sittaford residents finding out all she needs to know, and some that she probably doesn’t. Miss Percehouse was another character I thought good fun, shrewd and also in some ways like Emily, despite being an invalid.

As is usual with Christie, there are various plotlines side by side. Everyone has something to hide but which of these has something to do with Captain Trevelyan’s murder? One pretty much needs to read to the end to find out. This was another one where I didn’t guess the murderer or the motive, for that matter. (I tried thinking up the most fantastic solution I could come up with, but it turned out to be just that, and completely wrong, though there was a “secret” in that quarter as well). The atmosphere is icy, there are secrets galore, even an escaped convict loose on the moors, all together making for very entertaining reading.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying Agatha Christie novels! I like the way she has a sly laugh at crime detection. I like the way she includes red herrings. I like the way I can’t work out the culprit, dammit! I even like the 1920s language, and laughing at the cultural norms of the time and wondering what on earth Christie would make of life in 2017.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it the first time back in 2017 but forgotten everything. Really enjoyed the story and the cozy mystery vibe to it. Was the perfect read to start with sitting in the library and was a good one to try to read with out to much noice in the background

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very enjoyable Christie novel with yet another wonderful young woman in a starring role. Emily was delightful. Everyone acknowledges that if anyone will sort things out it's Emily.

All the tribute paid to Arthur Conan Doyle and The Hound of the Baskervilles really appealed to me as well. Beginning the story with a séance, something very dear to ACD, was a great touch. Then the choice of setting, on Dartmoor, plus the mists and the escaped convict emphasized the similarities. Emily gets set up as a female version of Sherlock Holmes with Charles the reporter as her Watson. He is certainly recording her story for posterity. I think someone (the fellow involved in psychic research?) even muses about contacting Conan Doyle with such “good proof" of spiritual contact during the table-turning.

As usual, Christie fooled me with regards to the culprit. She laid excellent red herrings, what with all the South African and Australian connections. She really likes to use us colonials to muddy the waters! But real crimes are most often committed for revenge, love, or greed and this would definitely apply to any of her distracting characters. That lead me down the garden path, easily ignoring that the real criminal shared the same motivations.

If you also enjoyed this novel, you may also like The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor (which includes Conan Doyle and one of his real researches) or if you like non-fiction, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach which has a good section on Victorian séances.

[Anna P (whatIreallyRead) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect winter read! I rarely read mysteries, but this was delightful.

The Sittaford Mystery is set in a remote village in England, which gets completely cut off from civilization when it's snowing. And it was snowing, you get what I'm saying? *eyebrows wagging*

I liked the village busy-body characters and the multitude of suspicious types. I was also glad to see so many strong women in the book. A number of female characters significantly further the plot, and even save the day.

It's the second time I read a book by Agatha Christie. And here again, she did a great job creating a distinct atmosphere. I enjoyed her writing. I didn't guess who committed the murder, and the book flew by in no time. This is a perfect book for some cozy reading under a blanket. Nothing too nerve-wracking, scary, or gruesome.

I feel like Agatha Christie books are in their own category altogether. Recommend!

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Trevelyan,who is very well off,owns an isolated house in the country.In the middle of winter,the mysterious Mrs.Willett and her daughter,from South Africa,rent the house from him.

He moves into a smaller place.His tenants host a seance.The table starts rocking and the word MURDER is spelled out.

Sure enough,the captain has been murdered at his new place.Stingy with his money,he never helped his poor relations during his lifetime.But in his will,he leaves them with substantial amounts.

Why have his mysterious tenants rented the house from him ? Are his relatives to blame ? Does he have other enemies ?

An exciting,fast paced mystery which kept me engrossed.Doesn't feature Christie's regular sleuths,but the star performer is a girl who outshines the police.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“People don't do things without a reason.”

The Sittaford Mystery is a 1931 detective novel set in a snowy English countryside. Despite an inspector investigating the murder, a female amateur sleuth solves the case.

During inclement weather, a mother and daughter, who have let the isolated Sittaford House for the winter, held a séance (called a table-turning in the book) for entertainment and invited the guests staying at the six cottages on the property. It is from the séance that they learn of Captain Trevelyan’s murder, owner of Sittaford House and who was staying at a house in town for the winter. Everyone thinks the message about the murder is just a distasteful joke. Without another way to check on Captain Trevelyan, a guest sets off for his residence by walking in blizzard conditions. Once the murder is confirmed, the police investigation begins.

I listened to the wonderfully narrated audio by Hugh Fraser. Everything about it makes it worthy of recommending. However, this book has a large cast. So, arm yourself with a character list before starting. I had to refer to my list frequently until several chapters into the book, then I rarely needed it again.

The victim, Captain Trevelyan, was an extremely wealthy man, so part of the investigation was focused on who would benefit from his will. That’s at least four family members, plus his servant (and wife and mother-in-law). There are numerous people who can claim Captain Trevelyan as their landlord. Could they have had a grudge against him? Could the escaped convict, from a nearby town, have committed the murder? What about the blizzard, who could have been outside in such conditions?

While the inspector (and various police and doctor) investigates the evidence, an amateur sleuth, Emily Trefusis, fiancée of a suspect, teams up with a journalist from the city to do their own investigation. Emily is convinced the police are targeting an innocent person.

This is a complex plot that had several mini story threads. It had interesting characters and multiple suspects. It had schemes and red herrings. The subplots added intriguing layers. I had no idea how this would end. The solution was cleverly devised. In fact, I think this is one of the most interesting and satisfying mysteries that I’ve read by Christie.

The Sittaford Mystery is a perfect choice if you are looking for a mystery to match the winter season. It has all the classic elements you’d find in a golden age mystery. And being a fan of book-to-film reads, my only regret is this novel wasn’t adapted to full-feature film.

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

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3.25 stars

“What an awful place to live in England is,” thought Emily. “If it isn't snowing or raining or blowing it's misty. And if the sun does shine it's so cold that you can't feel your fingers or toes.”

The Sittaford Mystery is one of Agathat Christie’s ‘cosier’ mysteries. We have a picturesque location, a wintry atmosphere, a seance or two, and liberal doses of Christie’s signature wit.
While I was certainly entertained by the cast of characters part of me would have enjoyed this more if the whodunnit had been a tad more complex. Here the focus seems to be Emily Trefussis, someone who is definitely unlike most of Christie’s female characters as she is very proactive and demonstrates a rather cunning awareness of her own charms. In order to clear her ‘sweetheart’s’ name she forms a partnership of sorts with a young journalist and they embark on their own investigation.
Witty dialogues aside, the mystery seemed secondary to Emily’s character.
Not Christie’s best, nor her worst.

[Veronique · Rating 4 out of 5]

“People don't do things without a reason.”

Another entertaining read. No Poirot or Marple in sight, which always means that you have no idea where the narration is going to go. I rather enjoyed following smart and manipulative Miss Emily, sleuthing to prove the innocence of her Fiancé, who yes, looked rather insipid. One ‘thing’ at the beginning gave me a clue that reduced the pool of suspects. Still, it is always fascinating to see what all that colourful cast had to say and more importantly, to hide ;0)

[Barbara K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but far from my favorite Christie. The premise was tempting but although there was nothing terribly wrong with the follow through, it rested so much on the surface that I never felt connected. I'm typically an enthusiast of well placed red herrings, but there were so many in this book that their effect was to dissipate tension rather than build it.

And I will admit to being a bit put off by Emily, the spunky girl ("woman" is not the appropriate noun in this context) who manipulates all the men she encounters in her attempts to prove that her not-very-bright boyfriend did not commit a murder. The rationale provided for her commitment to this guy who seemed incapable of navigating life on his own was that she was a strong woman and needed a weak man to manage. Ick.

All in all, a disappointment, but still written with Christie's wit and style.

[Vikas Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another blockbuster from the pen of Agatha Christie. This novel has the most eerie beginning amongst all her novels. The development of the plot is slow in the beginning but it soon picks up pace and you just cannot out it down in last hundred pages. And in the end when the murderer is revealed you are left wondering as to why you did not think of that before.

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3* of five

A classic-era mystery by one of the world’s most praised and revered mystery writers. First published in 1931, it was a stand-alone tale (no Poirot and his little grey cells! No Marple and her knitting!) of crimes thought buried rising up from their unmarked graves to feed, zombie-like, on the perpetrators in the present day. Sadly, the whole world they inhabit gets to suffer along with the perpetrators; after all, crime doesn’t pay so much as it pays back. The setting of a snowbound country house with bored wealthy guests is chilly enough. When the pieces of the criminal puzzle start coming apart (or together, depending on your perspective), the emotional chills go from the fridge to the freezer.

What an awful place to live in England is...If it isn't snowing or raining or blowing it's misty. And if the sun does shine it's so cold that you can't feel your fingers or toes.

By the time you’ve finished this modest-in-scope (288 pages) novel, you’re unlikely to feel your fingers for a few hours. Though in this case it will be from gripping the darn thing so tight in sheer desperation to see why anyone would kill the victim, shifting to a desperate need to know what took someone so long to kill the bastard. $9.99 for the Kindle edition, or free from your OverDrive-participating library.

Agatha Christie's Marple: The Sittaford Mystery

Rating: 3* of five

How in the goddesses' names do they get this story of the Wages of Sin Punished out of a pretty straightforward criminally greedy plot to snag money not one's own, and send its roots back to the Empire's hotter corners (an archaeological dig in Egypt), I do not know. This novel never featured Marple at all. They bookhorned her in to make weight, since the old girl appeared in only twelve books. (And twenty or so stories, but apparently those were largely deemed inadequate for adaptation.)

Since old Marple has to be given a reason to be there, her nephew Raymond West was blown through the keyhole as a resident neighbor of Capt. Trevelyan's. (He's the dead guy.) In the blizzard that occurs as the starting gun (!) for the plot, it's really incumbent upon Trevelyan to do the decent thing and invite Marple to shelter with him while the storm rages.

An amusing aside: Inspector Narracott, the policeman in charge of the investigation, has morphed into "Constable Narracott"! But the horror of Marpling a pretty average Christie novel isn't the worst sin the producers committed. It was the idiotic way a lesbian subplot gets plopped onto the proceedings from out of nowhere and to no good purpose. It feels like they were so bored, or became so befuddled, while Frankensteining the murder back together that they added this to make things more fun for themselves.

Timothy Dalton plays Captain Trevelyan, so it's worth watching for that alone. But really, in the cosmic scheme of things, is it necessary to search out so meager a pleasure when there are so many much more satisfying stories being told?

[Delee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Zena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tym razem w książce nie ma ani panny Marple ani H. Poirot, a śledztwo prowadzi młoda i inteligentna panna do tego "w opałach". Jest śnieżny zimowy wieczór, zgromadzeni na spotkaniu goście dla zabicia nudy próbują wywołać ducha. Udaje się, ale informacja z zaświatów wszystkich paraliżuje, bo duch przekazuje wieści o śmierci sąsiada biorących udział w seansie spirytystycznym. Okazuje się, że popełniono morderstwo i nie będzie łatwo odnaleźć prawdziwego winnego.

[Katie Lumsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read, like all Agatha Christie, and with some wonderful characters, although I think my reading was slightly marred by having seen a (very different) television adaptation of the story first.

[Lotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty standard Agatha Christie mystery. I liked the snowy winter atmosphere and the mystery was intriguing throughout. Emily, the amateur detective, felt pretty much interchangeable with any other young female detective in any other Agatha Christie novel though and I wasn't a fan of that.

[Vikas Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie Chopra and The Mystery of the Solang Valley.

Agatha Christie’s The Sittaford Mystery was first published in the US by Dodd, Mead, and Company in 1931 under the title The Murder at Hazelmoor and in UK by the Collins Crime Club on 7 September 1931 under Christie's original title. It is the first Christie novel to be given a different title for the US market.

Vishal Bhardwaj in the past has done brilliant adaptations of Shakespear’s play into Bollywood hits- Macbeth as Maqbool, Othello as Omkara and Hamlet as Haider. This time he comes up with brilliant adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Sittaford mystery as Charlie Chopra and The Mystery of the Solang Valley.

The six-episode series was shot extensively in Solang Valley which is very similar in look and eerie feel of the tiny village of Sittaford in the book. The city of Manali doubles up as Exhampton. The snowy Manali and the picturesque Solang Valley with its ski resort make for a chilling atmosphere, thanks to cinematographer Tassaduq Hussain who manages to create a desolate and haunted feel to the place.

Unlike some recent Christie adaptations, the screenplay by Vishal Bhardwaj, Anjum Rajabali and Jyotsna Hariharan remains faithful to the original story. Vishal has however added his own twist to climax which appeals to his loyal audience.

Paoli Dam plays the role of Sylvia (Saloni Dabral) who is married to author Martin Dering (Manas Dabral) played by Chandan Roy Sanyal. James Pearson who is an insurance agent (Jimmy Nautiyal) is played by Vivaan Shah. He is engaged to Emily Trefusis (Charlie Chopra) played by Wamiqa Gabbi). In the adaptation however Jimmy has a start-up which is facing financial hurdles. Brain Pearson, nephew of Mrs. Gardener is Billu Nautiyal, played by Imaaduddin Shah

Captain Trevelyan (Meharbaan Singh Rawat) who is murdered is played by Bollywood veteran baddie Gulshan Grove. Mrs. Gardner’s role is played by Neena Gupta. However unlike in the book, her husband is not invalid but rather retired Prof Mohan Rawat (played by Lalit Parimoo). Major Burnaby (Col Anand Barua) role is played by Baharul Islam. Charles Enderby who is correspondent for the Daily Wire in the book is journalist Sitaram Bhist for News Bharat in the adaptation. The role is played by Priyanshu Painyuli. Mrs Willet (Vilayat Hussain) is played by Lara Dutta and her daughter Miss Voilet (Wasima Hussain) is played by Bhagyashree Tarke.

The table turning in the book is replaced by Séance conducted by Bollywood veteran Nasiruddin Shah.

In an interview Vishal Bhardwaj had once said, "I grew up devouring all Agatha Christie mysterious tales. Her plots, characters and setting remain unparalleled in the genre and continue to excite storytellers even today”. With this adaptation he has excelled once more as a master story teller.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

People don't generally move from somewhere warm in winter to somewhere wintry. But two of the characters in this story do, to everyone's puzzlement. But they're not even the most interesting characters in this mystery. That honour goes to Emily Trefusis who, after Captain Trevelyan is murdered and her fiancé is charged, embarks on her own investigation of all the potential suspects, roping in a reporter and using her wits, intelligence and lots of logic. This isn't a Marple or Poirot story, and this time the Police Inspector is a pretty smart guy. Emily and Inspector Naracott conduct their respective investigations, eventually pooling their knowledge together, and I was surprised by who the murderer was.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a stand-alone mystery by Agatha Christie. It begins when the new tenants of Sittaford House invite their neighbours for tea. During the visit, table turning is suggested instead of bridge and, during the seance a message says that Major Trevelyan (the man who owns Sittaford House and is renting it to Mrs Willett and her daughter Violet, the current tenants) has been murdered. One of the guests, Major Burnaby, is a close friend of Major Trevalyan, and despite the snow and bad weather, heads out to his friends isolated country house. The message was correct and Major Trevalyan's body is discovered dead.

When Major Trevalyan's will is investigated, it leads to the arrest of his nephew, James Pearson - who had been found to have visited his uncle looking for a loan. His girlfriend, Emily,, teams up with a young journalist, Charles Enderby, to investigate and try to clear his name. There are a good number of suspects and motives and a creepy feel to the setting, with the brooding, snowbound countryside. This was not one of my favourite Christie novels, but still an enjoyable mystery and I listened to this on Audible, with the wonderful Hugh Fraser narrating, which is always enjoyable.

[Leslye❇ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* ... I purposefully saved this one for the dead of winter, and I'm glad I did. The atmosphere is easily the book's strongest suit; the remote snowbound village and a spooky seance creates the perfect "chilly night" reading experience. While the wintry setting was cozy, the mystery itself feels almost secondary to the weather. The characters spend a ridiculous amount of time discussing the difficulty of travel due to the weather instead of focusing on the murder itself!

So yeah, I just found this book weirdly "meh" for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. For some reason, when the killer was revealed, I was just sort of "oh, okay." ... Don't get me wrong- it did all come together and made sense, but I didn't think it was an impactful reveal. The book is not bad, it just didn't hit hard for me. Still recommend ... just be prepared to hear A LOT about how impassable the roads are! ;-)

[Alan (the Lone Librarian on film festival hiatus) Teder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death Announced by Séance
A review of the William Morrow eBook (March 17, 2009) of the Collins Crime Club (UK September 7, 1931) and Dodd, Mead & Co. (US 1931 - released as The Murder at Hazelmoor ) original hardcovers.

But it’s too good to be true,’ he added despondently. ‘That sort of thing only happens in books.’
‘Nonsense,’ said Emily, ‘it happens with me.’

Emily Trefusis in 1931's The Sittaford Mystery is another of Agatha Christie's early female sleuths such as Tuppence Beresford (The Secret Adversary 1922) and Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent (The Seven Dials Mystery 1929), but who was not developed further as a series character.

Emily is stirred to action when her fiancé is accused of murdering his uncle. The unlucky man had been in the vicinity when the event occurred and appears to have a compelling motive. The death itself was announced at a table-turning séance at the Sittaford estate on a snowbound evening when the victim himself was miles away. A precise time of death is declared which later proves to be confirmed.

The reader's immediate deduction is that someone at the séance must have known the murder was taking place, but were they an accomplice or did they actually get a paranormal vision? The reveal comes when the suspects are all gathered in a room in order to recreate the séance. Emily's investigation in conjunction with an intrepid newspaper reporter was a delight to follow.


The front cover of the current 2026 HarperCollins / William Morrow eBook. GR does not permit you to add alternate cover editions (ACEs) for Kindle eBooks for some reason. Image sourced from Amazon.

I have extended my Agatha Christie binge from 2024 (when I read the Miss Marples) and 2025 (when I read most of the Parker Pyne, Inspector Battle, Tommy & Tuppence & Hercule Poirot books) into 2026 so that I can hopefully finish the remainder. I'm not yet sure about tackling the 6 novels published under the Mary Westmacott pseudonym as I understand that they are romance dramas.

I estimate that I have 23 novels (if I include the 6 Westmacotts), 7 short story collections, 16 theatrical plays (It will be difficult to source all of them, but I have the 8 collected in The Mousetrap and Other Plays which I already own) and 1 autobiography left to go. 😅

Trivia and Links
The Sittaford Mystery (UK title) aka The Murder at Hawksmoor (US title) will soon enter the public domain in the USA in 2027, 96 years after first publication in the USA.

The Sittaford Mystery was considerably changed in an adaptation for the Agatha Christie's Miss Marple (2004-2013) TV series, when they needed additional plots. Although several character names remain, their roles are different and Miss Marple has been added as the sleuth. The adaptation was The Sittaford Mystery (2006) in Season 2 Episode 4 with Geraldine McEwan as Miss Marple.