Crooked House

Title: Crooked House
Genre: Fiction/Mystery & Suspense
Author: Agatha Christie (1890-1976)
Design and Illustration: Unknown
Publisher: Pocket Books
Year: 1964 (third Pocket printing of 1948 novel)
Pages: 200
Format: Paperback, Mass Market
Provenance: Unknown
Opening Sentence: "I first came to know Sophia Leonides in Egypt towards the end of the war."
Random Passage: "It was a big happy feeling kitchen. I sat down by the centre table and Nannie brought me a cup of tea and two sweet biscuits on a plate. I felt more than ever that I was in the nursery again. Everything was all right—and the terrors of the dark room and the unknown were no longer with me."
Goodreads Review: "Read this in one sitting. Couldn't put it down! Has quickly become one of my favorite Christie's [sic]. Loved the plot and twist at the very end, I can definitely see why this was one of Christie's own favorites. I also find it fascinating that the publishers wanted her to change the ending, but she refused. So glad she didn't. I don't think it would have been the same if it would have been changed." — Catie, March 23, 2016.
Notes: Crooked House was a wickedly good, traditional "cozy mystery" from Christie, a standalone title which lacks the author's regular detective protagonists like Hercule Poirot (that ending!). The Pocket Books reprint update wraps it up in a nice, understated '60s-modern cover design. Beware of inquisitive little girls.