Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot
The Belgian Detective’s Best Mystery Books
Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie’s most prolific detective, being featured in thirty-four novels and many short stories. This Belgian detective retired from the police force in 1904 and was exiled to England during World War I. In England he is seen as a foreign peculiarity with his egg-shaped head, perfectly waxed mustache, and accent, and the locals tend to underestimate his detective abilities. He exercises “the little grey cells” in order to figure out the meaning of his keen observations.
Poirot is charmingly arrogant, calling his “the greatest mind in Europe,” and admits that he needs admiration, which he gets from his friends: Captain Arthur Hastings, his dim friend who nevertheless often stumbles onto an important clue; Chief Inspector James Japp of Scotland Yard, who admires Poirot while being slightly miffed that he solves the crime ahead of the police; Ariadne Oliver, a mystery novelist who acts as Christie’s alter ego; and Georges, the faithful manservant.
The Poirot stories can be divided into novels and short stories. In the short stories, he is living with Hastings and working as a private detective, often solving non-violent crimes such as theft and blackmail. In the novels, he has already retired and often just wants to be left alone, but is dragged into solving a case by a friend, curiosity, or his strong sense of justice.
The Best Hercule Poirot Mystery Books
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920): The very first Poirot mystery. Hastings has been invited to stay at the country estate of Styles Court, where the rich Emily Inglethorp is soon murdered. Suspects abound in the full house, particularly her much younger second husband and her two stepsons. Fortunately, Hastings runs into his friend Hercule Poirot and asks him to help solve the case.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926): This novel is one of Christie’s most popular because it features the ultimate misdirection; some readers think she didn’t play fair with the identity of the killer, but others believe that the clues really are all there and she just wrote a very clever mystery. When Roger Ackroyd is killed, many believe that it has something to do with his fiancée’s recent suicide. Blackmail seems to be involved, and as usual there are many suspects that the neighbor Poirot must sort out.
Murder on the Orient Express (1934): This popular Christie mystery was made into a star-studded movie in 1974. Poirot is traveling on the glamorous Orient Express train from Istanbul to Calais. In the morning, it is discovered that the passenger Ratchett was brutally murdered in the compartment next to Poirot’s. The train is stuck in the snow, and Poirot must interrogate a group of diverse, colorful characters in order to find out who did it.
Death on the Nile (1937): Poirot is traveling on a boat down the Nile, and when the beautiful and rich Linnet is murdered every passenger is a suspect. Suspicion first falls on Jackie, the former fiancée of Linnet’s husband, but Jackie has an ironclad alibi. There are a few more murders before Poirot solves the case.
The Labors of Hercules (1947): In this short story collection, Poirot is on the verge of retiring and wants his final cases to parallel the mythical Twelve Labors of Hercules. These mysteries deal with blackmail, stolen valuables, and murder.
Curtain (1975): This book was actually written during World War II, but Christie left instructions to have it published posthumously. Poirot reunites with his old friend Hastings at the familiar Styles Court, which has been converted into a hotel. Poirot tells his friend that he is hunting down a murderer whom he believes to have been involved in several seemingly unrelated cases. There are a few more deaths, including that of Poirot, who manages to solve the case from beyond the grave.
The Continuing Appeal of Hercule Poirot Mystery Books
Agatha Christie's most popular detective Hercule Poirot starred in thirty-four mystery books and many short stories. Although mysteries such as Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd are probably his most famous cases, he also solved interesting murders in such mystery books as The A.B.C. Murders (1935) and Murder in Mesopotamia (1936). Mystery lovers continue to be delighted by the "little grey cells" of the peculiar Belgian detective and the fascinating cases he always manages to solve.
Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot
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