Agatha Christie

Easton Press Agatha Christie books

And Then There Were None

Sleeping Murder

The Murder at the Vicarage

Curtain: Poirot's Last Case

6 volume Hercule Poirot set including titles:
Murder on the Orient Express
Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Mystery of the Blue Train
The ABC Murders
Death on the Nile
The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Franklin Library Agatha Christie books

Mousetrap and Other Plays by Agatha Christie - Library of Mystery Masterpieces - 1987

Agatha Christie biography

Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, renowned as the "Queen of Crime," was born on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, Devon, England. She became one of the most celebrated and prolific mystery writers in literary history. Christie's works have sold over two billion copies, and her creations, including iconic characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, have left an indelible mark on the world of detective fiction. Christie's childhood was marked by a love for storytelling, fueled by her extensive reading habits. She was homeschooled and showed an early interest in music and literature. In 1914, she married Archibald Christie, an aviator in the Royal Flying Corps, and during World War I, she worked as a nurse, drawing inspiration for her later works from her experiences.

Her writing career took flight with the publication of her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920. This novel introduced the world to Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective with a penchant for solving intricate mysteries. The success of this debut marked the beginning of a prolific and enduring career. Agatha Christie's literary canon boasts an impressive array of works, including classic novels like Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and And Then There Were None. Her ingenuity lay in her ability to craft intricate plots and surprising twists, captivating readers and keeping them guessing until the very end. Among Agatha Christie’s detective stories are Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), Thirteen at Dinner (1933), Murder in the Calais Coach (1934), Mystery of the Blue Train (1935), Hercule Poirot (1936), Murder in Mesopotania (1936), And Then There Were None (1939), Triple Treat (1943), Death Comes at the End (1944), Remembered Death (1945), There is a Tide (1948), Mrs. McGivney’s Dead (1952), Pocket Full of Rye (1954), What Mrs. Mcgillicuddy Saw (1957), Cat Among the Pigeons (1959), The Pale Horse (1961), and A Caribbean Mystery (1965).

Despite her success, Christie faced personal challenges. In 1926, she experienced a highly publicized and mysterious disappearance, which lasted for eleven days. The circumstances surrounding this event remain a subject of fascination and speculation. Following her return, she continued to write and achieved further acclaim.

Apart from her detective novels, Christie also wrote plays, short stories, and romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Her play The Mousetrap holds the record for the longest continuous run in the history of British theater. Agatha Christie’s several plays include Witness for the Prosecution, produced in 1953.

Agatha Christie movies

Agatha Christie's works have been adapted into numerous movies and television productions over the years. The following are some notable films based on her novels.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974) Directed by Sidney Lumet, this film adaptation features an ensemble cast, including Albert Finney as Hercule Poirot. It received critical acclaim and several Academy Award nominations.

Death on the Nile (1978) Also directed by John Guillermin, this adaptation stars Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. The film follows Poirot as he investigates a murder during a luxurious cruise on the Nile River.

Evil Under the Sun (1982) Based on Christie's novel of the same name, this film features Peter Ustinov reprising his role as Hercule Poirot. The story revolves around a murder on an island resort.

Appointment with Death (1988) This adaptation, directed by Michael Winner, stars Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. The film is based on Christie's novel involving a mysterious death during a tour of the Middle East.

Thirteen at Dinner (1985) An adaptation of Christie's "Lord Edgware Dies," this film stars Peter Ustinov as Poirot. It explores the murder of a wealthy lord, with the detective on the case.

Witness for the Prosecution (1957) Directed by Billy Wilder, this courtroom drama is based on Christie's short story and features Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich, and Tyrone Power. The film received widespread acclaim for its suspenseful plot and twists.

And Then There Were None (1945) This film adaptation of Christie's novel follows a group of strangers who are invited to an island, only to discover they are being accused of past crimes. The title corresponds to the original title of the novel.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (2000) This TV movie is based on one of Christie's most famous novels and features David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. Suchet is well-known for his long-running portrayal of Poirot in the ITV series Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017) Directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Tom Bateman, Kenneth Branagh, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Leslie Odom Jr., Michelle Pfeiffer and Daisy Ridley.

Death on the Nile (2022) This film adaptation starring Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Kenneth Branagh, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders and Letitia Wright. Directed by Kenneth Branagh.


Agatha Christie received numerous accolades for her contributions to literature, including being appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1971. She passed away on January 12, 1976, leaving behind a legacy of timeless mysteries that continue to captivate readers and influence the crime genre to this day. Agatha Christie's enduring popularity is a testament to her unparalleled storytelling skills and her lasting impact on the world of literature. In 1956 Agatha Christie was made a commander of the Order of the British Empire.

 

Mousetrap and Other Plays

This special collection of Agatha Christie's greatest suspense plays includes The Mousetrap (the longest running play in history), Ten Little Indians, Witness for the Prosecution, Appointment with Death, The Hollow, Towards Zero, Go Back to Murder, and The Verdict.

 

Hercule Poirot Books by Agatha Christie:

Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Considered to be one of Agatha Christie's greatest, and also most controversial mysteries, 'The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd' breaks the rules of traditional mystery.

The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd the man she had planned to marry is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells” before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

The Mystery of the Blue Train

A mysterious woman, a legendary cursed jewel, and a night train from London to the French Riviera ingredients for the perfect romance or the perfect crime? When the train stops, the jewel is missing, and the woman is found dead in her compartment. It's the perfect mystery, filled with passion, greed, deceit, and confusion. Is Hercule Poirot is the perfect detective to solve it?

Murder on the Orient Express

Just after midnight, a snowdrift stops the famous Orient Express in its tracks as it travels through the mountainous Balkans. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year but, by the morning, it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside.

One of the passengers is none other than detective Hercule Poirot. On vacation.

Isolated and with a killer on board, Poirot must identify the murderer in case he or she decides to strike again.

The ABC Murders

When Alice Asher is murdered in Andover, Hercule Poirot is already looking into the clues. Alphabetically speaking, it's one letter down, twenty-five to go.

There's a serial killer on the loose. His macabre calling card is to leave the ABC Railway Guide beside each victim's body. But if A is for Alice Asher, bludgeoned to death in Andover, and B is for Betty Bernard, strangled with her belt on the beach at Bexhill, who will then be Victim C? More importantly, why is this happening?

Often considered to be one of Agatha Christie's best.

Death on The Nile

Agatha Christie's most daring travel mystery.

The tranquility of a lovely cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been shot. She was young, stylish and beautiful, a girl who had everything until she lost her life.

Who is also on board? Christie's great detective Hercule Poirot is on holiday. He recalls an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: ‘I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.’ Despite the exotic setting, nothing is ever quite what it seems…

Curtain - Poirot's Last Case

Arthritic and immobilized, Poirot calls on his old friend Captain Hastings to join him at Styles to be the eyes and ears that will feed observations to Poirot's still razor sharp mind. Though aware of the criminal's identity, Poirot will not reveal it to the frustrated Hastings, and dubs the nameless personage 'X'. Already responsible for several murders, X, Poirot warns, is ready to strike again, and the partners must work swiftly to prevent imminent murder.

Poirot’s final case, a mystery which brings him and Hastings back to Styles where they first solved a crime together. The story was both anticipated and dreaded by Agatha Christie fans worldwide, many of whom still refuse to read it, as it is known to contain Poirot’s death.

Agatha Christie wrote it during World War II, as a gift for her daughter should she not survive the bombings, and it was kept in a safe for over thirty years. It was agreed among the family that Curtain would be published finally in 1975 by Collins, her long-standing publishers, and that Sleeping Murder (the Marple story written during the war for her husband, Max) would follow.

The reception of Poirot’s death was international, even earning him an obituary in The New York Times; he is still the only fictional character to have received such an honour. The first actor to take on the role of portraying Poirot in his final hours was David Suchet, as the final episode of the series Agatha Christie’s Poirot for which he’d been playing the role for twenty-five years. The episode was adapted in 2013.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Agatha Christie's debut novel was also the first to feature Hercule Poirot, her famously eccentric Belgian detective.

A refugee of the Great War, Poirot has settled in England near Styles Court, the country estate of his wealthy benefactor, the elderly Emily Inglethorp. When Emily is poisoned and the authorities are baffled, Poirot puts his prodigious sleuthing skills to work. Suspects are plentiful, including the victim’s much younger husband, her resentful stepsons, her longtime hired companion, a young family friend working as a nurse, and a London specialist on poisons who just happens to be visiting the nearby village.

All of them have secrets they are desperate to keep, but none can outwit Poirot as he navigates the ingenious red herrings and plot twists that contribute to Agatha Christie's well-deserved reputation as the queen of mystery.


Other books by Agatha Christie:

And Then There Were None

First, there were ten a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. A famous nursery rhyme is framed and hung in every room of the mansion:

"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.

Sleeping Murder

Our indomitable Miss Marple turns ghost hunter and uncovers shocking evidence of a very old crime.

Soon after Gwenda moved into her new home, odd things started to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernize the house, she only succeeded in dredging up its past. Worse, she felt an irrational sense of terror every time she climbed the stairs.

In fear, Gwenda turned to Miss Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Have they dredged up a “perfect” crime committed many years before?

The Murder at the Vicarage

‘Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe,’ declared the parson, brandishing a carving knife above a joint of roast beef, ‘would be doing the world at large a favour!’ It was a careless remark for a man of the cloth. And one which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours later when the colonel was found shot dead in the clergyman’s study. But as Miss Marple soon discovers, the whole village seems to have had a motive to kill Colonel Protheroe.