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Front-page obituaries in one of the world’s most notable publications are a preserve of not only who’s who, but also exclusively real-life people. The fact that the fictitious death of the fictitious character called Hercule Poirot once featured on the first page of the New York Times is a clear indication that Poirot was not another run-of-the-mill protagonist. Without mincing words, Poirot was in a league of his own and his fictitious legacy lives on.
Order of Hercule Poirot Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Mysterious Affair at Styles | 1920 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Murder on the Links | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Poirot Investigates | 1924 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | The Murder of Roger Ackroyd | 1926 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | The Big Four | 1927 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Mystery of the Blue Train | 1928 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Black Coffee (Short Story) | 1930 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Peril at End House | 1932 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Lord Edgware Dies / Thirteen at Dinner | 1933 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | Three Act Tragedy / Murder in Three Acts | 1934 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | Murder on the Orient Express / Murder in the Calais Coach | 1934 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | Death in the Clouds / Death in the Air | 1935 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | The A.B.C. Murders | 1936 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Murder in Mesopotamia | 1936 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Cards on the Table | 1936 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | Dumb Witness / Poirot Loses a Client | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | Death on the Nile | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | Murder in the Mews / Dead Man's Mirror | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | Appointment with Death | 1938 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | Hercule Poirot's Christmas / Holiday for Murder / Murder for Christmas | 1938 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | Sad Cypress | 1940 | Description / Buy | |
| 22 | One, Two, Buckle My Shoe / Overdose of Death | 1940 | Description / Buy | |
| 23 | Evil Under the Sun | 1941 | Description / Buy | |
| 24 | Five Little Pigs / Murder in Retrospect | 1942 | Description / Buy | |
| 25 | The Hollow / Murder after Hours | 1946 | Description / Buy | |
| 26 | Taken at the Flood | 1948 | Description / Buy | |
| 27 | Mrs. McGinty's Dead / Blood Will Tell | 1952 | Description / Buy | |
| 28 | After the Funeral / Funerals are Fatal | 1953 | Description / Buy | |
| 29 | Hickory Dickory Dock | 1955 | Description / Buy | |
| 30 | Dead Man's Folly | 1956 | Description / Buy | |
| 31 | Cat Among the Pigeons | 1959 | Description / Buy | |
| 32 | The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding | 1960 | Description / Buy | |
| 33 | The Clocks | 1963 | Description / Buy | |
| 34 | Third Girl | 1966 | Description / Buy | |
| 35 | Hallowe'en Party | 1969 | Description / Buy | |
| 36 | Elephants Can Remember | 1972 | Description / Buy | |
| 37 | Curtain | 1975 | Description / Buy | |
| 38 | Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly (Short Story) | 2013 | Description / Buy |
Order of Hercule Poirot Short Stories/Novellas
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Adventure of the Cheap Flat (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The King of Clubs (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | The Veiled Lady (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Kidnapped Prime Minister (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | The Plymouth Express (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | The Affair at the Victory Ball (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | The Adventure of the Western Star (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | The Submarine Plans (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | The Lost Mine (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | The Lemesurier Inheritance (Short Story) | 1923 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | The Chocolate Box (Short Story) | 1925 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | Double Sin (Short Story) | 1928 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | Wasps' Nest (Short Story) | 1929 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | The Second Gong (Short Story) | 1932 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest (Short Story) | 1932 | Description / Buy | |
| 22 | How Does Your Garden Grow? (Short Story) | 1935 | Description / Buy | |
| 23 | Poirot and the Regatta Mystery (Short Story) | 1936 | Description / Buy | |
| 24 | Yellow Iris (Short Story) | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 25 | The Incredible Theft (Short Story) | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 26 | The Dream (Short Story) | 1937 | Description / Buy | |
| 27 | The Mystery of the Spanish Chest (Short Story) | 1960 | Description / Buy | |
| 28 | Afternoon at the Seaside (Short Story) | 1962 | Description / Buy | |
| 29 | The Patient (Short Story) | 1962 | Description / Buy | |
| 30 | The Witness for the Prosecution (Short Story) | 1983 | Description / Buy | |
| 31 | Four and Twenty Blackbirds (Short Story) | 1989 | Description / Buy | |
| 32 | The Million Dollar Bond Robbery (Short Story) | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
| 33 | The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim (Short Story) | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 34 | The Market Basing Mystery (Short Story) | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 35 | The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 36 | The Cornish Mystery (Short Story) | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 37 | Problem at Sea (Short Story) | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 38 | The Under Dog (Short Story) | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 39 | The Double Clue (Short Story) | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 40 | The Case of the Missing Will (Short Story) | 2019 | Description / Buy |
Order of Hercule Poirot Collections
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Labours of Hercules / The Labors of Hercules | 1947 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Witness for the Prosecution | 1948 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | The Under Dog and Other Stories | 1951 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Poirot's Early Cases | 1974 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Hercule Poirot's Casebook | 1984 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | The Double Clue | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The Grey Cells of Mr. Poirot | 2019 | Description / Buy |
Order of Hercule Poirot Collections
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Labours of Hercules / The Labors of Hercules | 1947 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | The Witness for the Prosecution | 1948 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | The Under Dog and Other Stories | 1951 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Poirot's Early Cases | 1974 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Hercule Poirot's Casebook | 1984 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | The Double Clue | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The Grey Cells of Mr. Poirot | 2019 | Description / Buy |
Hercule Poirot is the featured protagonist in the “Hercule Poirot” series of books penned by the late British woman of letters Dame Agatha Christie. Incidentally, there are hundreds of editions of the first book in the said series. However, out of the estimated 700 editions, the first edition of the first ever book portraying protagonist Hercule Poirot was originally published in October 1920, titled The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and the series is shelved under the mystery, thriller, true crime, and classic genres.
Meet protagonist Hercule Poirot as created by Christie in the serialized Hercule Poirot series. Poirot is alternatively known as Monsier Poirot. Poirot, who is a past master at sleuthing by virtue of his stint in the Belgium Police, is 5’4″ tall and has a military-style mustache whose ends are curled upwards, has motion sickness. His head is oval-shaped and he has a noticeable pink dorsum. Poirot, who is a fashionista in the formative years of the series, has a penchant for patent leather footwear, being faultlessly neat and when bespectacled, prefers Pince-nez glasses. On religion, he practices Roman Catholicism. He is a Belgian, having been born anywhere between 1839 and 1884, depending with various sources, and died in 1975 according to the obituary in the New York Times. His birthplace is Spa, Belgium and died in Essex, the UK.
The first book in the series, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, is set in Essex, England, during World War One. Hereby, the turning point is the widowed and rich Emily Cavedish (currently married to Alfred Inglethorp) and thus called Emily Inglethorp; apparently, she had died of poisoning. Former policeman and, presently, a private detective Hercule Poirot is hired to unravel the incident. A lot of money is at stake here subsequent to the death of the woman. Persons of interest include her stepchildren and most notably her newest husband; Alfred Inglethorp is seemingly a fortune hunter and is initially fingered for the murder because he not only lacks an alibi and will benefit immensely from the death but was also seen buying a toxic alkaloid which partly caused the death.
Agatha Christie’s eminent writing style is evident as she wittily portrays Poirot’s sleuthing and procedural defenses, and the series won the author the Anthony Award in 2000.
Hercules Poirot Awards
Incidentally, author Agatha Christie has won many coveted awards either during her lifetime or posthumously. What’s more, those who starred in the film adaptations of her books have also won prestigious awards. In the context of the Hercules Poirot series and, specifically, on the basis of the series standing Agatha Christie in good stead, she clinched the Anthony Award in year 2000.
Hercule Poirot series into TV/ Movies
Various books in the Hercule Poirot series have been adapted for the silver screen. The following is a list of movies and TV series, alongside the actors who starred in them, based on the stated series.
The 1985 TV film called Thirteen at Dinner is based on Lord Edgware Dies, the ninth book in the series, and starred Peter Ustinov. The 1986 detective TV film Murder in Three Acts is based on Three Act Tragedy, the eleventh book in the series, and also starred Peter Ustinov. The 1965 film The Alphabet Murders is based on The A.B.C Murders, the thirteenth book, and starred Tony Randall. The 1975 film Murder on the Orient Express is based on a similarly entitled novel, the tenth in the series, and starred Albert Finney.
The 1982 film Evil Under the Sun is based on the 23th book in the series and starred Peter Ustinov. The 1978 film Death on the Nile is based on the 17th novel in the series and starred Peter Ustinov. The 1986 film Dead Man’s Folly is based on the 31st book in the series and still starred Peter Ustinov. The 1931 film Black Coffee is based on the seventh book in the literary series and starred Austin Trevor. The 2001 film version of Murder on the Orient Express starred Alfred Molina.
The 1998 film Appointment with Death is based on the 19th book in the series and starred Peter Ustinov. There are other TV series: The Double Clue (1991) starring David Suchet; the 1991 film The Mystery of the Spanish Chest which starred David Suchet; and the 2001 version of the Evil Under the Sun wherein David Suchet starred. The 1931 film Alibi, indirectly based on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 14th in the series, starred Austin Trevor; and 1978 film Revenge of the Pink Panther starred Peter Sellers.
Best Hercule Poirot Books
The Mysterious Affair at Styles: According to popular opinion, the best two books are the first and the fourth in the series. The first, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, has been examined previously.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: The fourth, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, published in 1926, is all about murder and blackmail; it features the suicide of a widow and murder suspect in the wake of an illicit romantic affair between her and magnate Roger Ackroyd.
Other Book Series You May Like
Readers liked the following whodunit series: author Ngaio Marsh‘s “Roderick Alleyn” series which features English police sleuth Roderick Alleyn and is set in the 1930-1970 time-frame; “Albert Campion Mystery” series by Margery Allingham features nobleman and detective Albert Campion in London; and Josephine Trey’s Inspector Allan Grant series features protagonist Allan Grant who is an inspector in the New Scotland Yard.
What Is The Next Book in The Hercule Poirot Series?
There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Hercule Poirot Series. The newest book is Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly and was released on October, 31st 2013.