Towards Zero, (Superintendent Battle Number 5), Agatha Christie. William Morrow (ISBN: 9780062073549) 2010 (first published in 1944).

Summary: A house party at Lady Tressilian’s is decidedly awkward when her ward invites both his former and current wives.

Agatha Christie only wrote five mysteries featuring Superintendent Battle, and this was the last. That’s regrettable for me, because this stood out among her best, even though Battle doesn’t really come into the plot until the latter half of the book.

Talk about awkward situations. Lady Tressilian’s ward, Neville Strange, a middling tennis pro, wants to come for a visit at a time when Audrey, his former wife had already planned a visit. Not only that, he wants to come with his new wife, Kay, a stunning beauty. Sensibly, Lady Tressilian is reluctant to accede, especially when it isn’t clear whose idea this was. Audrey says she doesn’t have a problem. No one seems to be thinking about Lady Tressilian, whose health confines her to her bed. In the end, she agrees.

A few other houseguests add to the awkwardness. Thomas Royde, a friend of (and quietly still enamored with) Audrey, has just returned from an overseas assignment. Ted Latimer, who had been interested in Kay, but was also a friend of Neville’s is staying at a resort across the bay as is Mr. Treves, a solicitor and friend of Lady Tressilian.

Awkward is an understatement. It feels like a powderkeg, and were it not for the offices of Mary Aldin, a spinster who runs the household, it might come completely unglued. And then there are two deaths.

The first comes after Treves tells a story of a child murderer with a distinctive physical mark. That night, when he returns to his hotel, the lift is out of service, and he must walk up several flights of steps. He is found dead the next morning. The ruling was that he died of natural causes, due to his weak heart. Except, the hotel confirms that the lift was in good working order. Someone seems to have put a sign up just for Treves.

Then Neville and Lady Tressilian have a row and he storms off to purportedly visit Latimer. Later on, Lady Tressilian is found dead, brutally battered about the head. The evidence points both toward Neville, who has a good alibi, and Audrey, who doesn’t. Battle, who has been on holiday, comes in at this point to solve the murder. Ultimately a man who had attempted suicide and prevents another offers a critical piece of help enabling Battle to confront the real murderer.

The title reflects a conviction of Battle’s. Murder is the “zero hour.” Battle observes that often plots begin with a murder when, in fact, they come at the end of events counting down “towards zero.” As he investigates, he wants to get inside that process. And Christie offers just the right amount of red herrings to make you suspect most of the surviving characters at some point. A well-plotted and conceived mystery, indeed!