Agatha Christie Portal - Books & Reviews

List of Agatha Christie's novel with the names of detectives

2007-04-16T22:06:00.000-07:00

1920 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Hercule Poirot
Arthur Hastings
Chief Inspector Japp

1922 The Secret Adversary Tommy and Tuppence

1923 Murder on the Links Hercule Poirot
Arthur Hastings

1924 The Man in the Brown Suit Anne Beddingfeld
Colonel Race

1925 The Secret of Chimneys Superintendent Battle

1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Hercule Poirot

1927 The Big Four Hercule Poirot
Arthur Hastings
Chief Inspector Japp

1928 The Mystery of the Blue Train Hercule Poirot

1929 The Seven Dials Mystery Bill Eversleigh
Superintendent Battle

1930 The Murder at the Vicarage Miss Marple

1931 The Sittaford Mystery
also Murder at Hazelmoor

1932 Peril at End House Hercule Poirot
Arthur Hastings
Chief Inspector Japp

1933 Lord Edgware Dies Hercule Poirot
also Thirteen at Dinner Arthur Hastings
Chief Inspector Japp

1934 Murder on the Orient Express Hercule Poirot
also Murder on the Calais Coach

1934 Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
also The Boomerang Clue

1935 Three Act Tragedy Hercule Poirot
also Murder in Three Acts

1935 Death in the Clouds Hercule Poirot
also Death in the Air Chief Inspector Japp

1936 The A.B.C. Murders Hercule Poirot
also The Alphabet Murders Arthur Hastings
Chief Inspector Japp

1936 Murder in Mesopotamia Hercule Poirot

1936 Cards on the Table Hercule Poirot
Colonel Race
Superintendent Battle
Ariadne Oliver

1937 Death on the Nile Hercule Poirot
Colonel Race

1937 Dumb Witness Hercule Poirot
also Poirot Loses a Client Arthur Hastings
also Mystery at Littlegreen House Chief Inspector Japp
also Murder at Littlegreen House

1938 Appointment with Death Hercule Poirot

1938 Hercule Poirot's Christmas Hercule Poirot
also Murder for Christmas
also A Holiday for Murder

1939 Ten Little Niggers
also Ten Little Indians
also And Then There Were None

1939 Murder is Easy Superintendent Battle
also Easy to Kill

1940 Sad Cypress Hercule Poirot

1940 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe Hercule Poirot
also An Overdose of Death Chief Inspector Japp
also The Patriotic Murders

1941 Evil Under the Sun Hercule Poirot

1941 N or M? Tommy and Tuppence

1942 The Body in the Library Miss Marple

1942 Five Little Pigs Hercule Poirot
also Murder in Retrospect

1942 The Moving Finger Miss Marple
also The Case of the Moving Finger

1944 Towards Zero Superintendent Battle
also Come and be Hanged Inspector James Leach

1944 Death Comes as the End

1945 Sparkling Cyanide Colonel Race
also Remembered Death

1946 The Hollow Hercule Poirot
also Murder After Hours

1948 Taken at the Flood Hercule Poirot
also There is a Tide

1949 Crooked House Charles Hayward

1950 A Murder is Announced Miss Marple

1951 They Came to Baghdad

1952 Mrs McGinty's Dead Hercule Poirot
also Blood Will Tell Ariadne Oliver

1952 They Do It with Mirrors Miss Marple
also Murder with Mirrors

1953 A Pocket Full of Rye Miss Marple

1953 After the Funeral Hercule Poirot
also Funerals are Fatal
also Murder at the Gallop

1954 Destination Unknown
also So Many Steps to Death

1955 Hickory Dickory Dock Hercule Poirot
also Hickory Dickory Death

1956 Dead Man's Folly Hercule Poirot
Ariadne Oliver

1957 4.50 From Paddington Miss Marple
also What Mrs. McGillycuddy Saw
also Murder She Said

1958 Ordeal by Innocence

1959 Cat Among the Pigeons Hercule Poirot

1961 The Pale Horse Inspector Lejeune
Ariadne Oliver

1962 The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side Miss Marple
also The Mirror Crack'd

1963 The Clocks Hercule Poirot

1964 A Caribbean Mystery Miss Marple

1965 At Bertram's Hotel Miss Marple

1966 Third Girl Hercule Poirot
Ariadne Oliver

1967 Endless Night

1968 By the Pricking of My Thumbs Tommy and Tuppence

1969 Hallowe'en Party Hercule Poirot
Ariadne Oliver

1970 Passenger to Frankfurt

1971 Nemesis Miss Marple

1972 Elephants Can Remember Hercule Poirot
Ariadne Oliver

1973 Postern of Fate Tommy and Tuppence

1975 Curtain Hercule Poirot
Poirot's last case Arthur Hastings

1976 Sleeping Murder Miss Marple

Peril At End House

2007-04-04T04:29:00.000-07:00

Nick Buckley' was the last of her family and she lived in her family house named 'End House'.

She had three near escapes from death in three days.

Poirot realized that peril was very close at hand and he tried to prevent it. But he couldn't...

Dead Man's Folly

2007-04-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

Famous crime novelist Ariadne Oliver organized a mock murder hunt for the village fete hosted by Sir George and Lady Stubbs.

While organizing the murder hunt Mrs. Oliver got a feelings that something was wrong. For this reason she called her friend M. Hercule Poirot. She proved correct when a murder was committed very soon.

Poirot took part in the real murder hunt to unmask the murderer and he soon realized that everyone is playing a part...

The Labours of Hercules

2007-02-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

"He looked round him with approval. A square room, with good square modern furniture - even a piece of good modern sculpture representing one cube placed on another cube and above it a geometrical arrangement of copper wire. And in the midst of this shining and orderly room, himself. He looked at himself in the glass. Here, then, was a modern Hercules - very distinct from that unpleasant sketch of a naked figure with bulging muscles, brandishing a club. Instead, a small compact figure attired in correct urban wear with a moustache - such a moustache as Hercules never dreamed of cultivating - a moustache magnificent yet sophisticated.

Yet there was between this Hercule Poirot and the Hercules of Classical lore one point of resemblance. Both of them, undoubtedly, had been instrumental in ridding the world of certain pests... Each of them could be described as a benefactor to the Society he lived in...

There should be once again, the Labours of Hercules - a modern Hercules. An ingenious and amusing conceit! In the period before his final retirement he would accept twelve cases, no more, no less. And those twelve cases should be selected with special reference to the twelve labours of ancient Hercules."

The twelve labours of the Classical Hercules is as follows:

1. Slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its fur.
2. Slay the Lernaean Hydra.
3. Capture the Ceryneian Hind.
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar.
5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day.
6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds.
7. Capture the Cretan Bull.
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes.
9. Obtain the Girdle of Hippolyte.
10. Obtain the Cows of Geryon.
11. Steal the Apples of the Hesperides.
12. Capture Cerberus, the guardian dog of Hades and bring him back.

The twelve labours of the modern Hercules i.e. Hercule Poirot is same in name but symbolism is involved.

Potrait of a Murder or Murder in Retrospect or Five Little Pigs

2007-02-03T02:36:00.000-08:00

Carla Lemarchant was the daughter of Amyas Crale and Caroline Crale. Carla was only five years of age when her mother Caroline Crale was tried for murdering her husband.

After sixteen years Carla asked Poi rot to clear her mother name, because before Caroline's death in prison she wrote a letter to her daughter telling that she not murdered her husband. Poi rot couldn't refuse Carla and found the murderer of Amyas Crale.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

2007-01-29T06:56:00.000-08:00

The murder of Roger Ackroyd is considered as the masterpiece of Agatha Christie. It is one of my favourite A C's novels because it is impossible to find a clue, which can indicate the murderer in this novel. Very shrewdly and efficiently she wrote the narration. According to me not only the plot is good in this novel but also the writing is excellent.

M. Hercule Poirot went to leave in the village named King's Abbot and was growing vegetable marrows after retiring from his job.

A Mrs. Ferrars was died on the night of the 16th-17th September and his lover Mr. Roger Ackroyd was murdered on the very next day after the dinner by a Tunis dagger, which was gifted him from his friend Mojor Blunt.

No one suspected the killer until Flora Ackroyd, the niece of the murdered called M. Hercule Poirot to solve this case.

The Secret of Chimneys

2007-01-29T06:29:00.000-08:00

Herzoslovakia is one of the unimportant Balkan states; many people never heard the name of it. Last King of Herzoslovakia, Nicholas 4 and queen Veraga were assassinated by the revolutionists, since then it is a Republic.

But the name of Count Stylptitch was well known. He was considered as The Grand Old Man of the Balkans.

After the death of Count Stylptitch his memoirs became a headache to many organizations and governments.

Anthony Cade was in Africa in the time of Count Stylptitch's death, but somehow he became the centerpiece of an international conspiracy, which brought him to Chimneys, the great country estate, where an amazing secret was revealed.

Poirot's Favourite Drinks

2007-01-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

1.sirop de cassis:
It is sirop or juice of blackcurrant(scientific name:Ribes nigrum)

2.Tisane:
Generally Tisane means herbal or lime tea.
But tisane can also be called a herbal preparation made from any dried portion of a plant pouring boiling water on it or the dried portion can also be boiled with water.
Tisane can also be made with both tea and a dried portion of plants.

3.Drinking Chocolates or Hot Chocolates:
It is a hot beverage containing cocoa, milk and sugar.

The Hound of Death

2007-01-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

'Or did Sister Mary Angelique remember backwards - as some say is possible - and is this city of the circles in the future and not in the past?'

"One of you three. I shouldn't go home if I were him. Danger! Blood! Not very much blood - quite enough. No, don't go home." The voice grew fainter. "Don't go home!"

Dr. Campbell Clerk nodded.
"That girl became one of the most famous figures in France. Scientists from all over the world came to see her. She had no less than four distinct personalities. They were known as Felicie 1, Felicie 2, Felicie 3, etc."

She looked at me, you know... Just the same look - as though she knew something I didn't, and was sorry about it... And then she said quite quietly, nodding her head at me: "I shouldn't go that way, if I were you."

"I don't understand," murmured Mrs. Lancaster feebly.
"No more do I. That - that child is in trouble and wants - to be set free. But how? I do not know, but - it's awful to think of it - sobbing its heart out - a child."

"Mary - you are prepared now ... On Friday I shall come for you ... Friday at half past nine ... Do not be afraid - there will be no pain ... Be ready..."

"Will you please tell me all about it?" She said. "I must know everything. Do not think to spare me. I want to know the worst." She hesitated, then repeated in a lower tone, with a curios emphasis which the lawyer did not understand: "I want to know the worst."

'He swung back - and then stopped, petrified, as a shrill cry rent the silence of the summer's morning.
"Murder," it called. "Help! Murder!"
It was a woman's voice, and it died away at the end into a sort of gurgling sigh.'

'In a moment or two, without undue haste, Sir Arthur uncoiled himself, limb by limb, from his huddled position, and walked slowly over to the table. I recognized suddenly that his movements were absolutely silent, his feet made no sound as trod. Just as he reached the table he gave a tremendous stretch, poised on one leg forward, the other stretching out behind him. He prolonged this exercise to its utmost extent, and then yawned. Never have I seen such a yawn! It seemed to swallow up his entire face.
He now turned his attention to the milk, bending down to the table until his lips touched the fluid.

'Then he noticed that the man was drawing with incredible rapidity on a bare slab of stone. Hamer followed the movement with his eyes... A few bold strokes, and giant trees took form. Then seated on a boulder... a man... playing an instrument of pipes. A man with strangely beautiful face - and goat's leg...'

"It is difficult for me to explain, Monsieur. You see, me, I always thought that this mediums, as they call themselves, were just clever cheats who imposed on the poor souls who had lost their dear ones. But is not like that. Madame is good. Madam is honest and - "
She lowered her voice and spoke in a tone of awe.
"Things happen. It is not trickery, things happen. And that is why I am afraid. For I am sure of this, Monsieur, it is not right. It is against nature and le bon dieu, and somebody will have pay."

SOS. A call for help. But whose finger had written it in the dust? Magdalen's or Charlotte's? They had both stood there, he remembered, for a moment or two, before going out of the room. Whose hand had secretly dropped to the table and traced out those three letters?

Twelve apparently unexplained stories, which reveal the darker side of Agatha Christie.

Murder is Easy

2006-12-29T05:52:00.000-08:00

"No, no, my dear boy, that's where you wrong. It's very easy to kill-so long as anyone suspects you. And you see, the person in question is just the last person any one would suspect!"

Returning to England after many years, Luke Fitzwilliam mate with Miss Pinkerton of Wychwood-under-Ashe. She was going to Scotland Yard because there were wholesale murders in her village, and she suspected a definite person to be responsible for those murders.

Miss Pinkerton was killed in the way to Scotland Yard.

Luke Fitzwilliam realized that the suspicion of Miss Pinkerton was right, otherwise she would not get killed.

Luke went to Wychwood-under-Ashe to unmask the murderer.

He found that murder was, after all, really easy !!!

Nemesis

2006-12-29T05:49:00.000-08:00

'Elizabeth Temple stared at the peonies for some minutes. When she spoke she uttered one word. It echoed like the tone of a deep bell- so much so that it was startling.

"Love!" she said.

Miss Marple queried the word sharply. "Love?"

"One of the most frightening words there is in the world, "said Elizabeth Temple.

Again her voice was bitter and tragic.

"Love...."

Miss Marple will find out, why love is so frightening.

One of the best psychological crime novels of A C...'

Novels of Miss Jane Marple

2006-12-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

* The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
* The Body in the Library (1942)
* The Moving Finger (1943)
* A Murder is Announced (1950)
* They Do It with Mirrors, or Murder With Mirrors (1952)
* A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
* 4.50 from Paddington, or What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! (1957)
* The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, or The Mirror Crack'd (1962)
* A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
* At Bertram's Hotel (1965)
* Nemesis (1971)
* Sleeping Murder (written around 1940, published 1976)

A Pocketful of Rye

2006-12-29T05:39:00.000-08:00

"Sing a song of sixpence, a pocketful of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing.
Wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king?

The king was in his counting house, counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey,
The maid was in the garden hanging out the clothes,
When there came a dickey bird and nipped off her nose."

A series of murder had taken place in Fortescue family, simulating the above-mentioned nursery rhyme.

Miss Marple will solve the case.

Partners in Crime

2006-12-22T04:40:00.000-08:00

Mr. Thomas Beresford (Tommy) and Mrs. Beresford(Tuppence) solved series of amazing cases as amateur detectives.

They tackle each case in the style of a famous detectives in fiction, like Father Brown, John Thorndyke, Sherlock Holmes and one and only M. Hercule Poirot.

Death Comes as the End

2006-12-22T03:26:00.000-08:00

After her husband's death Renisenb returned to her father Imhotep's house on the banks of the river Nile. She thought everything was the same as it was, nothing had changed apparently.

But beneath the calm surface was rottenness that breed from within- that showed no outward sign. It grew slowly, day by day. And with the arrival of Nofret, concubine of Imhoted family's passion exploded.

There were series of murder in the family of Imhotep. Were the murder was committed by the revengeful spirit of Nofret or a live hand?

This is a plot of murder set four thousand years ago in Egypt, in the time of Pharaohs and Pyramids.

This is a fine example of Christie's power of narration and setting the atmosphere of murder irrespective of time and place.

One of my favourite Christie novel

The Murder at The Vicarage- Miss Marples First Case

2006-12-22T03:16:00.000-08:00

None in the village St. Mary Mead liked Colonel Protheroe, so the murder of Colonel Protheroe may be a shock to everyone in the village, though hardly an unpleasant one.

There were many suspects in this crime and they have good motives also. The police became baffled in solving this case.

Then an elderly fussing spinster, Miss Jane Marple came forward with a plan to capture the murderer.

Destination Unknown

2006-12-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

There was news in the papers about the disappearance of various scientists from time to time throughout the world, not only scientists but also the young men who were engaged in important medical research or research chemists or physicists. They all disappeared in thin air without any trace. One of them was Thomas Betterton, a nuclear physicist.

Hilary Craven had nothing to live for so her destination was death - by suicide. Mr. Jessop proposed her a sporting method of suicide, and asked her to impersonate the dead woman Olive Betterton and to trace her husband Thomas Betterton, thus Hilary Cavern set for destination unknown...

The A B C Murders -by Agatha Christie

2006-12-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

M. Hercule Poirot showed a letter to his friend Captain Hastings. The letter was from a murderer, who informed poirot about the next murder he was going to commit and challenge Poirot to stop the murder. But poirot failed to stop the murder. Two more murders happened and happened alphabetically:

A is for Andover and Mrs.Ascher battered to death.

B is for Bexhill and Betty Barnard strangled.

C is for Sir Carmichael Clarke clubbed and killed.

Could poirot stop the killer at D?

Death In The Clouds

2006-12-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

Airliner Prometheus departed from Le Bourget airdrome for Croydon. There were 11 passengers in the airliner including the famous Belgian detective M. Hercule Poirot.

Apparently all passengers were busy with their personal problems, only one person was thinking about a murder, because just few minutes before arriving at Croydon Madame Giselle was found dead by the head Stewart, Henry Mitchell. She was killed by a thorn dipped in a deadly poison and shot it from a blowpipe, used by the native Indians. Moreover the blowpipe was found from the seat no 9, pushed down out of sight behind the seat.

That particular seat was occupied by M. Hercule Poirot. That is why he was anxious to clear his character...

The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie

2006-12-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

"Mr. Satterthwaite was sixty two-a little bent, dried up man with a peering face oddly elflike, and an intense and inordinate interest in other people lives. All his life, so to speak, he had sat in the front row of the stalls watching various dramas of human nature unfold before him. His role had always been that of the onlooker. Only now, with old age holding him in its clutch, he found himself increasingly critical to the drama submitted to him. He demanded now something a little out of the common."

Mr. Satterthwaite was a guest of the New Year's Eve house party at Royston. The elder members of the party assembled in the big hall and young people had gone to bed. Then he had a sensation that something interesting was happening or going to happen.

That was a wild night.

"The wind rose in another terrific wail, and as it died away there came three loud knocks on the big nailed doorway.

Framed in the doorway stood a man's figure, tall and slender."

The stranger named Mr. Harley Quin was no ordinary guest. He had come to unmask a murderer.

With the help of Mr. Quin, Mr. Satterthwaite solved many unsolved problem thus participating in the dramas of human nature.

Towards Zero by Agatha Christie

2006-12-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

"I like a good detective story," he said. "But, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long beforethat- years before sometimes- with all the causes and events that bring certain people to a certain place at a certain time on a certain day............."

He nodded his head gently:

"All converging towards a given spot.....And then, when the times comes- over the top! Zero hour. Yes, all of them converging towards zero......"

He repeated, :Towards zero......."

Agatha Christie's quotes

2006-12-05T06:38:00.000-08:00

Here are few quotes by Dame Agatha Christie:

"An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her."

"Any woman can fool a man if she wants to and if he's in love with her."

"But surely for everything you have to love you have to pay some price. "
"Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions."

"An ugly voice repels me where an ugly face would not."

"Curious things, habits. People themselves never knew they had them."

"Every murderer is probably somebody's old friend."

"I don't think necessity is the mother of invention. Invention, in my opinion, arises directly from idleness, possibly also from laziness - to save oneself trouble."

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."

"I specialize in murders of quiet, domestic interest."

"Evil is not something superhuman, it's something less than human."

"I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worry and only half the royalties."

"If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody."

"It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them."

"It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story."

"Most successes are unhappy. That's why they are successes - they have to reassure themselves about themselves by achieving something that the world will notice."

"Never do anything yourself that others can do for you."

"Oh dear, I never realized what a terrible lot of explaining one has to do in a murder!"

"One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late."

"One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one."

"The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes."

"The happy people are failures because they are on such good terms with themselves they don't give a damn."

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

"There is nothing more thrilling in this world, I think, than having a child that is yours, and yet is mysteriously a stranger."

"There is nothing so dangerous for anyone who has something to hide as conversation! A human being, Hastings, cannot resist the opportunity to reveal himself and express his personality which conversation gives him. Every time he will give himself away."

"Too much mercy... often resulted in further crimes which were fatal to innocent victims who need not have been victims if justice had been put first and mercy second. "

"Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody."

4.50 From Paddington

2006-11-30T05:11:00.000-08:00

4.50 from Paddington was the train, by which Mrs. McGillicddy was returning home from london.She saw from her carriage window a woman was being srtagled amurdered in the train running parallel to her's. She had reported the phenomenon to the station master of Brackhampton station. But nothing was mentioned in the news paper of the next morning and after enquiring at the police station, police informed that no body was found. None believed her story except her friend miss Jane Marple.......

An apparently impossible solution.

And Then There Were None or Ten Little Indians -by Agatha Christie

2006-11-29T21:01:00.000-08:00

"Ten little Indian boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Indian boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Indian boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Indian boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Indian boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Indian boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Indian boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Indian boys walking in the Zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two little Indian boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Indian boy left all alone;
He went and hang himself and then there were none.

Ten strangers are gathered together on an isolated island, (Indian Island) by a mysterious host. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die.... leaving none.....

'And Then There were None' perhaps the greatest mystery novel of all time.

The Secret Adversary -by Agatha Christie (first adventure of Tommy and Tuppence)

2006-11-26T04:24:00.000-08:00

The case of "Jane Finn" brought series of curious and dangerous events in the life of the young adventurers, Mr. Thomas beresford or Tommy and Ms. Prudence Cowley or Tuppence. The only thing they knew about Jane Finn that she was missing for five years and carrying top secret documents. Two adventurers had to fight with the unknown and powerful enemy but the enemy knew where to find Tommy and Tuppence......

Taken at the Flood or There is a Tide -by Agatha Christie

2006-11-26T04:16:00.000-08:00

"there is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries,
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."

Warmsley Vale was just another sleepy English village, yet a series of misfortune were taken place, and all are associated with Cloade family.

Was it a coincidence or a deliberate crime? Hercule Poirot found himself on a trail as baffling as any he had ever encountered.

Murder in Mesopotamia -by Agatha Christie

2006-11-20T07:32:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Leidner was afraid of being killed. But none believe her. Her husband, renowned archeologist Dr. Leidner consulted with Dr. Giles Reilly about her wife's fear. Dr. Reilly arranged nurse Amy Leatheran to be a companion of Mrs. Leidner in Mesopotamia.

But Mrs. Leidner had good reason to be afraid because she was murdered.

M. Poirot will solve the case.

"Agatha Christie a racist?"

2006-11-20T04:52:00.000-08:00

Some people consider that Agatha Christie was a racist.

If one reads all her works carefully it might be perceived of having a hint of racism about it, such as her famous novel "And Then There Were None", the novel was previously called "Ten Little Niggers". The book was written in 1939 and was based on a poem written in 1868. And there is completely nothing racist in the novel, there are no real Afro-Americans in the novel, it is only a reference to a famous rhyme just is much as in her other books.

In war time Britain, it was natural to think of all foreigners as 'rather suspect' . And Agatha's books reflected that reality. So many of the characters in her books perhaps being of foreign origin would be naturally treated with less than proper respect. She knew that English people treated foreigners with some disrespect and thus purposefully made her famous detective M. Hercule Poirot, a Belgian, with a superiror intelligence.

According to some people if there was anything, it would be a class prejudice more than racism in A. C.'s novels. Valets and Maids were treated as inferior beings by their masters or mistresses. This was also derived from real life. Whatever be the case, her novels give a wonderful description of the 20th century. I think that there was neither class prejudice nor racism in her mind - and her books simple depicted prevalent trends of the time, when these books were written.

A Holiday For Murder or Hercule Poirot Christmas - By Agatha Christie

2006-11-17T04:38:00.000-08:00

Old Simeon Lee asked all his family to enjoy and celebrate the Christmas eve with him. All family members united in Gorston Hall, but it was not a peaceful union. The atmosphere was full of tension and under current even servants felt it. The dinner was over, the family was scattered here and there.............

Suddenly they heard :" a crashing of china, the overthrowing of furniture, a series of cracks and bumps. And then, clear and high came a scream - a horrible high wailing scream that died away in a choke or gurgle."

Old Lee was murdered brutally by whom? Was the murderer a family member or an outsider? Poirot would find him.

The Big Four -by Agatha Christie

2006-11-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

"Li Chang Yen is the controlling force. I have designated him, therefore as Number One.

Number Two is represented by an 'S' with two lines through it- the sign for a dollar; also two stripes and a star.

Number Three is a woman, her nationality French.

Number Four.." The voice faltered and broke. Some over-mastering terror seemed to be gaining the day; the features were distorted and twisted............

Four ruthless criminals seek world domination. Between them and their goal stands one man- Hercule Poirot.

-

Curtain: Poirot's last case

2006-11-14T06:32:00.000-08:00

It was at Styles where Poirot's investigation begins with Arther Hastings.

Now Poirot summons Hastings again for what poirot knows will be his last case and according to him it is the perfect murder and he will find the ultimate murderer.

There have been five unrelated murders, Poirot is determined to prevent the next murder and execute the death sentence for the murderer.

The Pale Horse

2006-11-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

A dying woman turned to Father Gorman and told him "Stopped ........It must be stopped .........You will........."

The priest reassure her. He tucked the list of names she had given him into his shoes. It was a meaningless list of names, the names were of people who had nothing in common.

Father Gorman was also murdered on his way home. Police found the list and Mark Easterbrook began to discover a connection between the people listed and an omnious pattern.........

The Third Girl

2006-11-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

M. Hercule Poirot's breakfast is interrupted by a somewhat clumsy girl who announces that she may have commited a murder but Poirot cannot help her because he is too old and left abdruptly without leaving her identity. Poirot find the identity of the girl with the help of his friend Mrs. Oliver. The mystery girl keeps appearing and disappearing. Did she really commited a murder ?

Lord Edgware Dies

2006-10-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

"M. Poirot, somehow or other I've just got to get rid of my husband!" It was told by the beautiful actress Jane Wilkinson. She made no secret of the fact that she wanted to marry another person, wealthier. She declared in front of her guests that she would bump him off herself if she cannot get divorce. So when her husband lord edgware was found murdered, all eyes turn to her, since she was entering her husband's study only few moments before the body was found. She asked famous detective M. Hercule Poirot to help to clear her. Will M. Poirot able to clear her and find the murderer?

Agatha Christie Books - Chronologically

2006-07-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

Agatha Christie Books in Chronological Order

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
The Secret Adversary (1922)
Murder on the Links (1923)
The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)
Poirot Investigates (1924)
The Secret of Chimneys (1925)
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
The Big Four (1927)
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)
Partners in Crime (1929)
Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930)
Murder at Hazelmoor (1931)
Peril at End House (1932)
The Tuesday Club Murders (1932)
The Hound of Death (1933)
Thirteen at Dinner or Lord Edgware Dies (1933)
The Boomerang Clue (1934)
Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective (1934)
Murder in Three Acts (1935)
Death in the Air or Death In The Clouds(1935)
The A.B.C. Murders (1935)
Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
Cards on the Table (1936)
Poirot Loses a Client (1937)
Death on the Nile (1937)
Dead Man's Mirror (1937)
Appointment with Death (1938)
Murder for Christmas (1938)
Easy to Kill or Murder is easy (1939)
Ten Little Indians (1939)
The Regatta Mystery (1939)
Sad Cypress (1940)
The Patriotic Murders (1940)
Evil Under the Sun (1941)
N or M? (1941)
The Body in the Library (1942)
The Moving Finger (1942)
Murder in Retrospect or Five Little Pigs or Potrait of a Murder(1943)
Towards Zero (1944)
Death Comes As the End (1945)
Remembered Death (1945)
Murder After Hours (1946)
The Labors of Hercules (1947)
There is a Tide (1948)
Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (1948)
Crooked House (1949)
The Mousetrap and Other Stories (1950)
A Murder is Announced (1950)
They Came to Baghdad (1951)
The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951)
Mrs. McGinty's Dead (1952)
Murder with Mirrors (1952)
A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
Funerals Are Fatal (1953)
So Many Steps to Death (1954)
Hickory, Dickory, Death (1955)
Dead Man's Folly (1956)
What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw!or 4.50 from Paddington(1957)
Ordeal by Innocence (1958)
Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960)
Double Sin and Other Stories (1961)
The Pale Horse (1961)
The Mirror Crack'd (1962)
The Clocks (1963)
A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
At Bertram's Hotel (1965)
Third Girl (1966)
Endless Night (1967)
By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)
Hallowe'en Party (1969)
Passenger to Frankfurt (1970)
The Golden Ball and Other Stories (1971)
.Nemesis (1971)
Elephants Can Remember (1972)
Postern of Fate (1974)
Poirot's Early Cases (1974)
Curtain (1975)
Sleeping Murder (1976)

Agatha Christie ebooks

2006-07-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Watch out this space! I will be posting Agatha Christie ebooks here shortly....

Novels of HERCULE POIROT

2005-12-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

M.Hercule Poirot Mystery Novels By Agatha Christie

THE ABC MURDERS
THE ADVENTURE OF CHRISTMAS PUDDING
AFTER THE FUNERAL
APPOINTMENT WITH DEATH
THE BIG FOUR
CARDS ON THE TABLE (PLAYING WITH THE CARDS)
CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS
CURTAIN: POIROT'S LAST CASE
DEAD MAN'S FOLLY
DEATH IN THE CLOUDS
DEATH ON THE NILE
DUMB WITNESS
ELEPHANTS CAN REMEMBER
EVIL UNDER THE SUN
A PORTRAIT OF MURDER (FIVE LITTLE PIGS)
HALLOWE'EN PARTY
HERCULE POIROT'S CHRISTMAS (A HOLIDAY FOR MURDER)
THE HOLLOW
LORD EDGWARE DIES
MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA
MURDER IN THE MEWS
THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS
THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIRS AT STYLES
THE MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN
ONE, TWO , BUCKLE MY SHOE
SAD CYPRESS
TAKEN AT THE FLOOD (THERE WAS A TIDE)
THIRD GIRL

Tommy and Tuppence

2005-12-16T06:01:00.000-08:00

MR. THOMAS BERESFORD AND MISS PRUDENCE COWLEY are old friends but they lost the sight of each other for many years , suddenly they met after the war was over . Being unemployed they are in search of a job and then they decided to open a private detective agency . They advertised in papers about their agency and in response they mixed with an unusual case , so their carrier began . After solving the first case they married each other . Their cases are A SECRET ADVERSARY , PARTNERS IN CRIME , N OR M , POSTERN OF FATE .

MISS JANE MARPLE

2005-12-08T06:08:00.000-08:00

MISS JANE MARPLE is another popular detective of AGATHA CHRISTIE .Externally she just looks like thousands of other commonplace fussing old pussies but in reality she is a very shrewd and a very good observer of human nature . She think that human nature is essentially similar , that is why every person she meet reminds her of another person whom she knew previously in author's language "village parallels" . She lives in a small cottage in a village called St. Mary Mead . Her important cases are MURDER AT VICARAGE , BODY IN THE LIBRARY , SLEEPING MURDER , A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED , A CARIBBEAN MYSTERY , NEMESIS .

PICTURE OF DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE

2005-12-08T06:05:00.000-08:00

M. HERCULE POIROT (with pictures)

2005-12-08T05:54:00.000-08:00

M. HERCULE POIROT is the most celebrated detective created by AGATHA CHRISTIE since SHERLOCK HOLMES. He is a Belgian refugee sheltered by Queen of Eland after 1rst world war , previously he was in Belgian police force .Here is how Hastings first describes Poirot in the novel 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles':

"He was hardly more than five feet four inches but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. The neatness of his attire was almost incredible; I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound. Yet this quaint dandified little man who, I was sorry to see, now limped badly, had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police."

With his little egg shaped head and the passion of order and he can solve any mysterious problems where man from Scotland Yard of London and Suretee of Paris are baffled .He is very proud of his pair of moustaches. he is fond of his patent leather shoes and drinking chocolates . He is far from modest , rather he is a snob.

He lives in a square flat in London . His assistant is colonel Arthur Hastings who is a perfect English gentleman . He first appear in Christie's novel "MYSTERIOUS AFFAIRS IN STYLES" .In this novel author introduced us with her great detective M. Hercule Poirot and Captain Arthur Hastings .Where M. Poirot just came from Belgium and Captain Hastings returned from war , it was found that they known each other previously and there M. Poirot solve a murder case . After that they solve many cases together (may be author taken the detective and assistant model from many of the previous detectives) , gradually poirot became most successful detective and very famous too in his profession .

He also solved many cases without Hastings (Captain Hasting married a beautiful girl and went to West Indies) .M. Poirot's famous cases are "MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN " , "MYSTERY OF ORIENT EXPRESS" , " A B C MURDER" , "PLAYING WITH THE CARDS" , "CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS" , "MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD" , LABORS OF HERCULES " and others. His last case is " THE CURTAIN" which take place in Styles where he first introduced as a detective .

Agatha Christie Walkthrough

2005-12-07T06:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome the site Queen of Crime DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE
AGATHA CHRISTIE is one of my most favorite authors. Her novels are best mystery
novels since novels of SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. She wrote seventy six detective novels and books of stories and six romantic novels under the pseudonym MARY WESTMACOTT. Her novels has been translated into every major languages , and her sales are calculated in tens of millions .She is the most widely published author of all time and in language , outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare . She was awarded the DAME OF BRITISH EMPIRE in 1971.She began writing at the end of first world war, that is why the condition of post war England was beautifully picturized in many novels of her. I like her novels not only for they are very good detective stories but also for authors writing style .According to her mentality of people are always same irrespective of time and place , this idea of her also reflected in her novels . Her novels are based on psychological deduction of crime instead of running after some physical clues, according to her detectives clues are found in the conversation of various people because people internally prone to tell the truth for telling truth is easier than lies. Time period and place of her novels is vast , ranging from 2000B.C. in Egypt ( Death comes as the end) to second half of late 20th century (postern of fate) . The Mousetrap , her most famous play of all , opened in 1952 and is the longest running play in history. That is why she will be remembered as QUEEN of CRIME forever.