Most Popular Books by Agatha Christie

The intense interest aroused in the public by what was known at the time as "The Styles Case" has now somewhat subsided. Nevertheless, in view of the world-wide notoriety which attended it, I have been asked, both by my friend Poirot and the family themselves, to write an account of the whole story. This, we trust, will effectually silence the sensational rumours which still persist.

"The Mysterious Affair at Styles is a detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of the First World War, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920[1] and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head (John Lane''s UK company) on 21 January 1921.[2]Styles was Christie''s first published novel. It introduced Hercule Poirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, and Arthur Hastings.[3] Poirot, a Belgian refugee of the Great War, is settling in England near the home of Emily Inglethorp, who helped him to his new life. His friend Hastings arrives as a guest at her home. When the woman is killed, Poirot uses his detective skills to solve the mystery."

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford were restless for adventure, so when they were asked to take over Blunt''s International Detective Agency, they leapt at the chance. After their triumphant recovery of a pink pearl, intriguing cases kept on coming their way.

"I have arrived", said the note. Louise Leidner claimed the writer had followed her halfway around the world and was now coming to kill her. But the others on the dig in Iraq thought the archeologist''s wife was suffering from hysteria ... until she was found bludgeoned in her bedroom.

Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitiation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate - shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building. Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and vows to discover the real reason for Mr Gilbrandsen''s visit.

In The Man in the Brown Suit Anne Beddingfeld’s chance witnessing of a man being killed in a subway station leads her to become involved in a world of diamond thieves murderers and political intrigue where she and mystery readers meet the incomparable Colonel Race for the first time. A first rate suspenseful mystery thriller. Agatha Christie at her best! “A capital tale — mystery piled on mystery incident on incident.” — Referee “Agatha Christie has written a most entertaining story excellently conceived and executed.” — Morning Post

What Is The Connection Between A Failed Suicide Attempt, A Wrongful Accusation Of Theft Against A Schoolgirl, And The Romantic Life Of A Famous Tennis Player? To The Casual Observer, Apparently Nothing. But When A Houseparty Gathers At Gull S Point, The Seaside Home Of An Elderly Widow, Earlier Events Come To A Dramatic Head. It S All Part Of A Carefully Paid Plan For Murder&

A young woman investigates an accidental death at a London tube station, and finds herself of a ship bound for South Africa... Pretty, young Anne came to London looking for adventure. In fact, adventure comes looking for her - and finds her immediately at Hyde Park Corner tube station. Anne is present on the platform when a thin man, reeking of mothballs, loses his balance and is electocuted on the rails. The Scotland Yard verdict is accidental death. But Anne is not satisfied. After all, who was the man in the brown suit who examined the body? And why did he race off, leaving a cryptic message behind: ''17-122 Kilmorden Castle''?

Miss Marple helps a young couple solve a murder that had occurred eighteen years earlier.

Hiring themselves out as "young adventurers willing to do anything" is a smart move for Tommy and Tuppence. All Tuppence has to do is take an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris and pose as someone named Jane Finn. But with the job comes a threat to her life, and the disappearance of her mysterious employer. Now Tuppence''s newest job is playing detective--because if there''s a Jane Finn that really exists, she''s got a secret that''s putting both their lives in danger.

Set in London after World War I, Tommy and Tupperence reunite to open a detective agency and cross paths with some truly dastardly villains. Featuring razor-sharp characterizations and plenty of humor, The Secret Adversary is Agatha Christie -the queen of crime- at her best.

Multi-millionaire Simeon Lee, frail in his old age, unexpectedly invites his family to gather at his home for Christmas. The gesture is met with suspicion by the guests. Simeon is not given to warm family sentiment, and the family are not on good terms, in particular, with the black sheep of the family, Harry. Simeon also searched out his orphaned, Spanish-born granddaughter, Pilar Estravados, to live in his house. None have met their late sister Jennifer''s daughter before; she proves to be delightful. Simeon is intent on playing a cruel game with his family''s emotions. Stephen Farr, a surprise guest, arrives on Christmas Eve. He is the son of Simeon''s former partner in the diamond mines, welcomed warmly by Simeon. Simeon calls his family together that afternoon, to hear him on the telephone with his attorney, saying he wants to update his will after Christmas. This incomplete information stirs up negative feelings among his sons and their wives

Poirot retires to a village near the home of a friend, Roger Ackroyd, to pursue a project to perfect vegetable marrows. Soon after, Ackroyd is murdered and Poirot must come out of retirement to solve the case. The book''s narrator, Dr James Sheppard, introduces himself and explains these are his memoirs of a murder which happened in his town. In King''s Abbot, wealthy widow Mrs Ferrars unexpectedly commits suicide, distressing her fiancé the widower Roger Ackroyd. At dinner that evening in Ackroyd''s home of Fernly Park, his guests include his sister-in-law Mrs Cecil Ackroyd and her daughter Flora, big-game hunter Major Blunt, Ackroyd''s personal secretary Geoffrey Raymond, and Dr James Sheppard, whom Ackroyd invited earlier that day. During dinner, Flora announces her engagement to Ackroyd''s stepson, Ralph Paton. After dinner, Ackroyd reveals to Sheppard in his study that Mrs Ferrars had confided in him that she was being blackmailed over the murder of her husband. He then asks Sheppard to leave, wishing to read a letter from Mrs Ferrars that arrives in the post, containing her suicide note. Once home, Sheppard receives a call and leaves for Fernly Park again, after informing his sister that Parker, Ackroyd''s butler, has found Ackroyd murdered. But when Sheppard arrives at Fernly Park, Parker denies making such a call; yet he, Sheppard, Raymond and Blunt find Ackroyd dead in his study, stabbed to death with a weapon from his collection. Hercule Poirot, living in the village, comes out of retirement at Flora''s request. She does not believe Paton killed Ackroyd, despite him disappearing and police finding his footprints on the study''s window. Poirot learns a few important facts on the case: all in the household, except parlourmaid Ursula Bourne, have alibis for the murder; while Raymond and Blunt heard Ackroyd talking to someone after Sheppard left, Flora was the last to see him that evening; Sheppard met a stranger on his way home, at Fernly Park''s gates; Ackroyd met a representative of a dictaphone company a few days earlier; Parker recalls seeing a chair that had been in an odd position in the study when the body was found, that has since returned to its original position; the letter from Mrs Ferrars has disappeared since the murder. Poirot asks Sheppard for the exact time he met his stranger. He later finds a goose quill and a scrap of starched cambric in the summer house, and a ring with the inscription "From R" in the backyard.

THREE BOOKS IN ONE! In one volume, three of Agatha Christie''s early Hercule Poirot books. Included in this volume: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (originally published in 1920) The Murder on the Links (originally published in 1923) Poirot Investigates (originally published in 1924) The Secret Adversary (originally published in 1922) The Man In The Brown Suit (originally published in 1924)