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Detective Fiction's
"Queen of Crime"
Agatha Christie! What a legend! What a devious and cunning mind!
Starting at the age of twenty-five and writing her last novel at the age of
eighty-three, she produced an unbelievable eighty detective novel along with some romance novels under
the name of Mary Westmacott as
well as plays and short stories. Most of her books
and short stories have been made into movies, some many times over, such as
Murder
on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, 4.50 From Paddington, and many have been
adapted for television, radio, video games and comics.
With an estimated sells of two billion copies of her work, it is no wonder she has been called the best-selling book writer of all time, and the best-selling writer of any kind second only to William Shakespeare. She is truly the "Queen of Crime".
Ann Rule has been called the "Queen of True Crime". She was born forty-five years after Agatha. In 1969, when Ann started her first writing job for the True Detective magazine, the editor suggested she write under a male name in order to be taken seriously as a crime writer.
It took Agatha Christie five years to get her first book published. She apparently never wrote or was asked to write under a male name for creditability. Interesting. If you have information to the contrary, please share what you know. Just click on this link Contact Us
Agatha Christie's first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920, can be read
FREE online in its entity
Click Here. In this novel she
introduces Hercule Poirot, a fictional Belgian detective who appears in
thirty-nine of her novels including one of her most famous,
Murder on the Orient Express
(1934). Hercule Poirot's last case, written forty
years prior to it being published in 1975, was in
Curtain
.
Her second most popular fictional character was Miss Marple, an
elderly spinster who acts as an amateur detective. Miss Marple first
appearance in a full-length Christie novel was
The Murder at the Vicarage
(1930). Miss Marple's last case,
Sleeping Murder
,
was also written forty years prior to it being published in 1976.
Other novels featuring Detective Hercule Poirot (Click on the blue link for more information):
The Murder on the Links
(1923) An urgent cry for help brings Hercule Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies facedown in a shallow grave on a golf course.
But why is the dead man wearing an overcoat that is too big for him? And for whom was the impassioned love letter in the pocket? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse.…
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
(1926)Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Then, tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life with a drug overdose.
But the evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information. Unfortunately, before he could finish reading the letter, he was stabbed to death.
The Big Four
(1927) A ruthless international cartel seeks world domination...Framed in the doorway of Poirot's bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man's gaunt face stared for a moment, then he swayed and fell. Who was he? Was he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? Above all, what was the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about 'Number Four'.
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) Ruth Kettering is found murdered on a train bound for the Riviera and in enters Poirot. Ruth's father hires Poirot to find his daughter's killer. Is it her soon to be ex-husband, the husband's mistress or her old lover. Poirot does not have much to go on until he takes a good look at the victims secret life.
Peril at End House (1932) Hercule Poirot is vacationing on the Cornish coast when he meets Nick Buckly. Nick is the young and reckless mistress of End House, an imposing structure perched on the rocky cliffs of St. Loo.
Poirot has taken a particular interest in the young woman who has recently narrowly escaped a series of life-threatening accidents. Something tells the Belgian sleuth that these so-called accidents are more than just mere coincidences or a spate of bad luck. It seems all too clear to him that someone is trying to do away with poor Nick, but who? And, what is the motive? In his quest for answers, Poirot must delve into the dark history of End House. The deeper he gets into his investigation, the more certain he is that the killer will soon strike again. And, this time, Nick may not escape with her life.
Lord Edgware Dies also Thirteen at Dinner (1933)
Poirot had been present when Jane bragged of her plan to 'get rid of' her estranged husband. Now the monstrous man was dead. And yet the great Belgian detective couldn't help feeling that he was being taken for a ride. After all, how could Jane have stabbed Lord Edgware to death in his library at exactly the same time she was seen dining with friends? And what could be her motive now that the aristocrat had finally granted her a divorce?
Three Act Tragedy also Murder in Three Acts (1935) Sir Charles Cartwright should have known better than to allow thirteen guests to sit down for dinner. For at the end of the evening one of them is dead—choked by a cocktail that contained no trace of poison.
Predictable, says Hercule Poirot, the great detective. But entirely unpredictable is that he can find absolutely no motive for murder.…
Death in the Clouds also Death in the Air (1935)
From seat No. 9, Hercule Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers. Over to his right sat a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite; ahead, in seat No. 13, sat a countess with a poorly concealed cocaine habit; across the gangway in seat No. 8, a detective writer was being troubled by an aggressive wasp. What Poirot did not yet realize was that behind him, in seat No. 2, sat the slumped, lifeless body of a woman.
The A.B.C. Murders also The Alphabet Murders (1936)
A person signing himself as A.B.C writes Poirot taunting letters advertising the locale of his upcoming murders. And sure enough, his first murder of Alice Asher, who is a shopkeeper in Andover, goes off as advertised. The second forecasted murder is of a waitress named Betty Barnard from Bexhill, and the third is Sir Carmichael Clarke from Churston. Gracious! Where will it all end? Poirot is troubled. The little gray cells are working overtime. Finally a gentleman with the intriguing name of Alexander Bonaparte Cust is arrested. He was at the scene of each crime. Witnesses identify him. His typewriter was used to type the insulting notes to Poirot. Open and shut? Poirot is not satisfied.
Murder in Mesopotamia (1936) When nurse A
my Leatheran agrees to look after American archaeologist Dr Leidner’s wife, Louise, at a dig near Hassanieh, she finds herself taking on more than just nursing duties. She also has to help solve murders. Fortunately for Amy, Hercule Poirot is visiting the excavation site but will the great detective be in time to prevent a multiple murderer from striking again?
Cards on the Table (1936) A flamboyant party host is murdered in full view of a roomful of bridge players! Mr Shaitana was famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless, he was a man of whom everybody was a little afraid. So, when he boasted to Poirot that he considered murder an art form, the detective had some reservations about accepting a party invitation to view Shaitana's private collection. Indeed, what began as an absorbing evening of bridge was to turn into a more dangerous game altogether!
Dumb Witness
also Poirot Loses a Client also Mystery at Littlegreen House
also Murder at Littlegreen House (1937) An elderly spinster has been poisoned in her country home! Everyone blamed Emily's accident on a rubber ball left on the stairs by her frisky terrier. But the more she thought about her fall, the more convinced she became that one of her relatives was trying to kill her. On April 17th she wrote her suspicions in a letter to Hercule Poirot. Mysteriously he didn't receive the letter until June 28th! by which time Emily was already dead!
Death on the Nile
(1937) The tranquility of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful. A girl who had everything - until she lost her life.
Appointment with Death
(1938) Among the towering red cliffs and the ancient ruins of Petra sits the corpse of Mrs. Boynton, the cruel and tyrannizing matriarch of the Boynton family. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist is the only sign of the fatal injection that killed her. With only twenty-four hours to solve the mystery, Hercule Poirot recalls a remark he overheard back in Jerusalem: "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?" Mrs. Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman he had ever met.
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
also Murder for Christmas
also A Holiday for Murder (1938) The wealthy Simeon Lee has demanded that all four of his sons—one faithful, one prodigal, one impecunious, one sensitive—and their wives return home for Christmas. But a heartwarming family holiday is not exactly what he has in mind. He bedevils each of his sons with barbed insults and finally announces that he is cutting off their allowances and changing his will. So when the old man is found lying in a pool of blood on Christmas Eve, there is no lack of suspects. Did Lee's taunts push one of the boys to a desperate act? And how did the murderer escape from the locked room? Intrepid Belgian detective Hercule Poirot suspends his own holiday festivities to sift through the motives and evidence surrounding the crime.
Sad Cypress (1940) The novel opens with Elinor Carlisle actually in the dock, accused of double murder in an effort to hold the affections of her distant cousin and fiance Roderick Welman. When called into the case by a local doctor, Hercule Poirot discovers that Elinor behaves exactly as if she is guilty of the crime. Nonetheless, he agrees to investigate... and as Poirot works to uncover the truth, he finds that virtually everything about the crime indicates that Elinor did indeed commit the crimes--a circumstance which, almost perversely, makes him begin to question the guilt others have taken for granted.
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
also An Overdose of Death
also The Patriotic Murders (1940) What reason would an amiable dentist like Dr. Morley have for committing suicide? He didn't have emotional difficulties, money problems, or love trouble. What he did have was an appointment with Hercule Poirot, who is not persuaded by the suicide story. Poirot therefore takes it upon himself to question the good doctor's patients, partners and friends. He has a suspicion that Dr. Morley wasn't an unlikely murder victim after all. Nor was he the first...
Evil Under the Sun
(1941) Set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort for the rich and famous on the southern coast of England. When a gorgeous young bride is brutally strangled to death on the beach, only Hercule Poirot can sift through the secrets that shroud each of the guests and unravel the macabre mystery at this playground by the sea.
Five Little Pigs
also Murder in Retrospect (1942) Take one dead lothario; add his jealous wife accused of his murder; toss in a devoted daughter who wants to clear her mother's name, and you get one of the greatest challenges of Hercule Poirot's career.
The Hollow
also Murder After Hours (1946) Hercule Poirot was invited to the Hollow to tea, but found a murder waiting for him instead.
The victim—an extraordinarily vital, emotionally complex doctor—was the last person anyone expected to see lying dead by the pool. And his meek, befuddled wife was the last person anyone would expect to see standing over him with a gun. Did she really shoot her husband? Or is she merely a second victim in a brilliantly planned plot by a daring, cunning murderer?
To find the answers, Poirot delves deep into the character of the victim and those in his sphere, sorting through colorful personalities and tangled emotions. But in doing so, he finds himself thwarted by a person who he calls "one of the best antagonists that I have ever had."
Taken at the Flood
also There is a Tide (1948) A man returns from the dead, and the body of a mysterious stranger is found in his room! A few weeks after marrying an attractive young widow, Gordon Cloade is tragically killed by a bomb blast in the London blitz. Overnight, the former Mrs Underhay finds herself in sole possession of the Cloade family fortune. Shortly afterwards, Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man's sister-in-law who claims she has been warned by 'spirits' that Mrs Underhay's first husband is still alive. Poirot has his suspicions when he is asked to find a missing person guided only by the spirit world. Yet what mystifies Poirot most is the woman's true motive for approaching him!
Mrs. McGinty's Dead
also Blood Will Tell (1952) An old widow is brutally killed in the parlour of her cottage...Mrs McGinty died from a brutal blow to the back of her head. Suspicion fell immediately on her shifty lodger, James Bentley, whose clothes revealed traces of the victim's blood and hair. Yet something was amiss: Bentley just didn't look like a murderer. Poirot believed he could save the man from the gallows -- what he didn't realise was that his own life was now in great danger!
After the Funeral
also Funerals are Fatal
also Murder at the Gallop (1953) When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard’s will, Cora was clearly heard to say, “It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it.… But he was murdered, wasn’t he?” In desperation, the family solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery.…
Hickory Dickory Dock
also Hickory Dickory Death (1955) Poirot investigates a culprit who has curiously swiped a stethoscope, a tube of lipstick, and a cookbook.
Dead Man's Folly
(1956) Ariadne Oliver, Queen of Crime Fiction, has been asked to devise a Murder Hunt for a fete at Nasse House, the home of Sir George Stubbs. But she begins to suspect that someone is manipulating the scenario of her game and fears that something very sinister is being planned. The Murder Hunt has become a grim reality.
Cat Among the Pigeons
(1959) Welcome to Meadowbank, an exclusive school for privileged young ladies. A fine lot. A dangerous one, too. Two teachers have already bitten the dust. It's obvious to Hercule Poirot that someone is out to scratch Meadowbank's respectable veneer.
The Clocks (1963) As instructed, stenographer Sheila Webb let herself into the house at 19 Wilbraham Crescent. It was then that she made a grisly discovery: the body of a dead man sprawled across the living room floor. What intrigued Poirot about the case was the time factor. Although in a state of shock, Sheila clearly remembered having heard a cuckoo clock strike three o'clock. Yet, the four other clocks in the living room all showed the time as 4.13. Even more strangely, only one of these clocks belonged to the owner of the house...
Third Girl
(1966) Three young women share a London flat. The first is a coolly efficient secretary. The second is an artist. The third interrupts Hercule Poirot’s breakfast confessing that she is a murderer—and then promptly disappears.
Slowly, Poirot learns of the rumors surrounding the mysterious third girl, her family, and her disappearance. Yet hard evidence is needed before the great detective can pronounce her guilty, innocent, or insane.…
Hallowe'en Party
(1969) At a Hallowe’en party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.
That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the “evil presence.” But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double murderer.…
Elephants Can Remember
(1972) Hercule Poirot is determined to solve an old husband and wife double murder that is still an open verdict...Hercule Poirot stood on the cliff-top. For here, many years earlier, there had been a tragic accident -- the broken body of a woman was discovered on the rocks at the foot of the cliff. This was followed by the grisly discovery of two more bodies -- a husband and wife -- shot dead. But who had killed whom? Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder? Poirot delves back into a crime committed 15 years earlier and discovers that, when there is a distinct lack of physical evidence, it's just as well that 'old sins leave long shadows'!
Other novels featuring Miss Marple (Click on the blue link for more information):
The Body in the Library (1942) It’s seven in the morning. The Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. She is wearing an evening dress and heavy makeup, which is now smeared across her cheeks. But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose charred remains are later discovered in an abandoned quarry? The respectable Bantrys invite Miss Marple to solve the mystery . . . before tongues start to wag.
The Moving Finger
also The Case of the Moving Finger (1942) Lymstock is a town with more than its share of shameful secrets—a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate mail causes only a minor stir.
But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs. Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says “I can’t go on,” but Miss Marple questions the coroner’s verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone—as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly.
A Murder is Announced (1950) The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity when the Gazette advertises “A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m.”
A childish practical joke? Or a spiteful hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, the locals arrive at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out and a gun is fired. When they come back on, a gruesome scene is revealed. An impossible crime? Only Miss Marple can unravel it.

They Do It with Mirrors
also Murder with Mirrors (1952) Ruth van Rydock is worried about her sister's health and well-being and asks their mutual friend Jane Marple to visit her for a awhile. Her sister, Carrie-Louise Serrocold, is married to Lewis Serrocold and he has turned their estate into an institute of sorts for young offenders. Miss Marple is more than happy to visit and finds an odd assortment of characters on the premises. When Christian Gulbranson is found shot while sitting at the typewriter in his room, Miss Marple has a murder to solve. Gulbranson, a trustee of the institute, had only arrived that day on urgent business and Lewis Serrocold found a partly completed letter in his typewriter saying that someone was poisoning Carrie-Louise. Assisting Inspector Slack, with whom she had previously worked, she soon knows who committed the crime but is not quite sure how they did it.
A Pocket Full of Rye
(1953) Rex Fortescue, king of a financial empire, was sipping tea in his “counting house” when he suffered an agonizing and sudden death. On later inspection, the pockets of the deceased were found to contain traces of cereals.
Yet, it was the incident in the parlor which confirmed Miss Marple’s suspicion that here she was looking at a case of crime by rhyme. . . .
4.50 From Paddington also What Mrs. McGillycuddy Saw
also Murder She Said (1957) For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away.
But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses . . . and no corpse.
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side
also The Mirror Crack'd (1962) There is great interest in the little village of St. Mary Mead when the residents learn that Marina Gregg, the famous actress, has bought Gossington Hall. And when she throws the Hall open, no-one is more excited than homely Heather Badcock. But Heather's visit to Gossington Hall ends in her sudden death. Why would anyone want to kill this unassuming woman?
A Caribbean Mystery
(1964) Miss Marple is on vacation at a beautiful Caribbean resort, and longs for a little excitement. Her wish is granted when another elderly guest, Major Palgrave, is found dead. Although it appears to be from natural causes, Miss Marple finds it suspicious that he is killed only a few hours after relating to her a story of a husband who killed his wife, a story which he quickly stopped telling after seeing a group of the hotel's other guests coming toward him. Even more suspicious when a young hotel maid is killed a short while later. Miss Marple plays the part of the foolish old maid for much of this story as she attempts to solve the mystery.
At Bertram's Hotel
(1965) Miss Marple leaves St. Mary Mead for a trip to London's elite, Victorian, and "too good to be true" Bertram's Hotel, where she used to spend her holidays as a child. Soon after her arrival, a maid is found murdered on the roof and Miss Marple tries to uncover the truth with the help of another maid. However, things take a strange turn when the hotel doorman is shot to death by a mysterious sniper, and some of the guests may be hiding more secrets than previously imagined.
Nemesis
(1971) In utter disbelief, Miss Marple read the letter addressed to her from the recently deceased Mr. Rafiel—an acquaintance she had met briefly on her travels. He had left instructions for her to investigate a crime after his death. The only problem was, he had failed to tell her who was involved or where and when the crime had been committed. It was most intriguing.
Soon she is faced with a new crime—the ultimate crime—murder. It seems someone is adamant that past evils remained buried. . . .
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