Other editions of book The Pale Horse

This is a dark offering from the queen of crime. This represents the world-famous author's most successful foray into the dark world of murder and black magic. To understand the strange goings on at The Pale Horse Inn, Mark Easterbrook knew he had to begin at the beginning. But where exactly was the beginning? Was it the savage blow to the back of Father Gorman's head? Or was it when the priest's assailant searched him so roughly he tore the clergyman's cassock? Or could it have been the priest's visit, just minutes before, to a woman on her death bed? Or was there a deeper significance to the violent squabble which Mark Easterbrook had himself witnessed earlier? Wherever the beginning lies, Mark and his sidekick, Ginger Corrigan, may soon have cause to wish they'd never found it!

And I looked, and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.Writer/historian Mark Easterbrook stopped into a coffee shop for a quick meal and witnessed an argument between two young women that ended with one pulling out a handful of hair from the other. The unfortunate woman had an unusual name, Thomasina Tuckerton, and Easterbrook remembered it when he saw it again -- in the obituary notices.Meanwhile the police begin to investigate the murder of an elderly priest who was killed on his way home after hearing a last confession. Stuffed in the priest's shoe was a list of names, including that of the police inspector. As the two threads of the story weave through London, out to the country, on to Birmingham and back to London, the circuitous path leads to witchcraft -- and murder.

The Pale Horse is the name of an organization whose business is murder. In the novel, a young historian-writer named Mark Easterbrook hears about the organization and attempts to uncover the people responsible for these murders. The story unfolds in bits and pieces: the murder of a parish priest, a list of names of people already dead or marked for death, a pub converted into a home for three unusual women, and a local fete to raise money to restore the church tower. Some characters from previous works appear in this book: Mrs. Ariadne Oliver makes an appearance, this time without Poirot; Rhoda and Major Despard from "Cards on the Table" provide the entry for Mark Easterbrook as he is Rhoda's cousin; and Rev. and Mrs. Dane Calthrop from "The Moving Finger" also appear.