Though it goes against his better judgment, Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn cannot help but suspect the hand of a supernatural killer. There is palpable evil in the air, and Leaphorn's pursuit of a Wolf-Witch is leading him where even the bravest men fear, on a chilling trail that winds perilously between mysticism and murder.

    When Lucifer Dye is released after three months in a Hong Kong prison, debriefed, and handed a false passport, a new wardrobe, and a $20,000 check, his haughty control makes it clear that Dye’s career with his country has been permanently terminated. But a good agent is always in demand, and just a few hours later Dye is being interviewed for a highly ingenious position. Victor Orcutt, although a not very good imitation of a British prewar gent, has creative talents of his own. He has his sights a small southern city, with the ordinary run-of-the-mill corruption one would expect in such a place. The canny Orcott knows there’s no profit in that. His creed is “To get better, it must be much worse.” He and his two associates have looked up Dye’s history, and he now offers the ex-spy a mission: For two and a half times the government’s bounty, Dye is to thoroughly corrupt the town. And the sly Dye takes the offer.

    Until, that is, he’s forced to make an emergency landing just minutes before the plane explodes. Luckily, no one is hurt, but it isn’t long before Matt realizes that he’s caught up in the rat race of violent criminals who are dead-set on putting anyone who stands in their way on the wrong side of the odds…

    Whether the detective featured is the delightful, sharp-eyed Miss Marple, the redoubtable Hercule Poirot, or Chief Inspector Taverner of Scotland Yard each one is challenged by an adversary worthy of a master of crime. Here is Agatha Christie at her best - baffling, daringly logical, and immensely entertaining.