Mrs Ferrars' husband died just a year ago from an acute gastritis. Finally, that's what everyone believes because the symptoms of arsenic poisoning are very similar. And when the young widow and her friend Roger Ackroyd die in turn, there is doubt. Hercules Poirot, who came to cultivate cucurbitaceae in the village, will help Dr. Sheppard lift the veil on this strange hecatombe.