When an elderly priest is summoned to a woman’s deathbed, she tells him about some wickedness. We readers aren’t told what it is but that she has a list of names. When the priest leaves the deathbed to walk home, he is attacked and killed and his pockets rifled. But because he has a hole in his pocket, he put the list of names in his shoe, so it ends up in the hands of Inspector Lejeune.
Mark Easterbrooke is out one night when he witnesses an altercation between two women, one of them Tommy Tuckerton. A few days later he sees an announcement of her death. Later, a girl he knows makes a strange reference to a place called The Pale Horse, and when he visits a friend, he learns it is the name of the home of two old ladies, supposedly witches. One of them claims the other can predict who is going to die.
Mark begins to put together some odd ideas, which he discusses with Inspector Lejeune, and there he learns of the list. He can identify three names on it, all of whom are of dead people, including Tommy Tuckerton, who had been an heiress, and Lady Hesketh-Dubois, his own godmother. He begins to believe that a murder-for-hire scheme is afoot, and he enlists a friend, Ginger Corrigan, to pretend to be his ex-wife, who wishes he was dead.
This is a pretty far-fetched but entertaining story—and it was perfect for the season when I read it in October. Christie fooled me completely on the identity of the mastermind behind the plot.
What? Me Read? 
I really liked this one and found it atmospheric. I don’t think I guessed who the mastermind was either!
Yes, it was a fun one.
I loved the spookiness of this one. Not her best plot, but so much atmosphere!
Yes, that’s true.
I remember this as being pretty scary, there was a series on tv recently wasn’t there and I was too afraid to watch!
Yes, there was. I’m not sure whether there was more than one version, but one I saw used Tommy and Tuppence and didn’t exactly follow the book. There might be another one, though.
I downloaded the book after having read your review. I like it, somewhat different from Christie’s other books and stories.
That’s nice, to have an immediate positive reaction to my review.