This well-preserved hardcover is near fine, no marks, pages are tight and unmarked, the book is tight, square, and near fine. The dust jacket is unmarked, black cloth boards, and bright gilt lettering on the spine of the book. Everyone knows Agatha Christie as the queen of the detective novel. Hundreds of millions of her fans have greeted each one of her eighty-four mysteries with anticipatory glee. In fact, her works have been translated into more languages than Shakespeare's. But few people know that Dame Agatha longed to write something other than what was expected of her, and that by the late 1920s the need to do so had begun to unsettle her. And so in 1930, Agatha Christie, under the name of Mary Westmacott, penned what was to become the first of six romantic novels, complete with dark shadings of psychological suspense. It was not until fifteen years later that the author's true identity was revealed, though the familiar Christie trademarks —ingenious plotting, unforgettable characterizations, and crisp, lucid writing —were abundantly evident.