Agatha Christie stated in her autobiography that

was one of her favourite pieces of work, and in the forward to the novel Christie commented on how much she enjoyed writing it. It is also said that the publisher did not approve of the identity of the murderer in this story and asked Christie to change it, but she resisted this request and kept the original ending. The revelation of the truth at the end of

still has the capacity to shock readers today.

The title of the story is a reference to the nursery rhyme “There was a crooked man”, which ends with the phrase “and all lived together in a crooked house”. The "crooked man" here is Aristide Leonides, a Greek immigrant who is married to an English woman and runs a successful catering business. His wealth

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Citation: Lee, Amy. "Crooked House". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 October 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5804, accessed 25 November 2024.]