Family members gather from afar. Personalities clash. People bring up past offenses. Tensions run high. Should we be surprised when all this tinder catches fire? No, says the logical Belgian.

In this book, we have a houseful of family members, and it seems that one of them has murdered the patriarch. This man is not nice. We are not sad when he dies. Simeon Lee, the head of the family, takes perverse pleasure in causing his family members distress. He’s never displayed high moral character—shady business dealings, extramarital affairs, etc. Now, it’s come back to bite him. To end him.

The trope of the Evil Parent is something that I’ve seen before in Agatha Christie. It’s also similar to the setup in Knives Out.

But who did it? It’s a locked-door murder, and everyone in the house is a suspect. Who stood to benefit from the old man’s death? Who hated him the most?

To solve this one, Hercule Poirot decides to take a close look at Simeon Lee himself, insisting that the character of the deceased often leads directly to the murderer.

There are red herrings and other deceptions that keep this book moving along. In my opinion, this is one of Agatha Christie’s stronger novels. It serves up just what I hoped it would, including justice.

My only complaint is that I wish there were more Christmas-y trappings to make it more of a seasonal read.