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Murder on the Orient Express

On the long train ride from Istanbul to Paris, detective Poirot must find the killer of a much-hated millionaire among 13 suspects with reasons to kill.

E-book exclusive extras: Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on Murder on the Orient Express; "The Poirots": the complete guide to all the cases of the great Belgian detective.

Just after midnight, a snowstorm stops the Orient Express dead in its tracks in the middle of Yugoslavia. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for this time of year. But by morning there is one passenger less. A 'respectable American gentleman' lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Hercule Poirot is also aboard, having arrived in the nick of time to claim a second-class compartment -- and the most astounding case of his illustrious career.

Regarding chronology: Agatha Christie seems not much concerned in the course of her books with their relationship to each other. It is why the Marples and the Poirots may be ready in any order, really, with pleasure. However, the dedicated Poirotist may wish to note that the great detective is returning from 'A little affair in Syria' at the start of Murder on the Orient Express. It is a piece of business after this 'little affair' -- the investigation into the death of an archaeologist's wife -- that is the subject of Murder in Mesopotamia (1936). If one wishes to delay a tad longer the pleasures of Orient Express, Murder in Mesopotamia, available as a PerfectBound e-book, offers no better opportunity.

Of note: Murder on the Orient Express is one of Agatha Christie's most famous novels, owing no doubt to a combination of its romantic setting and the ingeniousness of its plot; its non-exploitative reference to the sensational kidnapping and murder of the infant son of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh only two years prior; and a popular 1974 film adaptation, starring Albert Finney as Poirot -- one of the few cinematic versions of a Christie work that met with the approval, however mild, of the author herself.

Sleeping Murder (G.K. Hall large print book series)

Gwenda Reed has come to England to search for a house. Moving into a delightful Victorian, a recovered memory of a grisly murder from the past surfaces. Miss Marple remains as observant and clever as ever in this perhaps most macabre case of her career.

"E-book exclusive extras: 1) Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on Sleeping Murder; 2) ""The Marples"": the complete guide to all the cases of crime literature's foremost female detective.

Soon after Gwenda Reed moves into her new home, odd things start to happen. Despite her best efforts to modernise the house, she only succeeds in dredging up its past. Worse, she feels an irrational sense of terror every time she climbs the stairs... In fear, Gwenda turns to Jane Marple to exorcise her ghosts. Between them, they are to solve a 'perfect' crime committed many years before... Of note: Agatha Christie wrote Sleeping Murder during World War II and had it placed in a bank vault for over thirty years. Chicago Tribune: 'Agatha Christie saved the best for last.' Sunday Express: 'A puzzle that is tortuous, surprising, and ... satisfying.'

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Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (Thorndike Press Large Print Paperback Series)

Elephants Can Remember (G.K. Hall Large Print Book Series)

Crime novelist Ariadne Oliver again turns to Hercule Poirot, this time to solve a case the police consider closed. Oliver's interest in the murder-suicide of General and Lady Ravenscroft is more than academic: Celia Ravenscroft is her goddaughter. This is one of Poirot's most daunting cases - even he begins to doubt he can solve it - since the investigation relies on memories from years earlier.

"E-book exclusive extras: 1) Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on Elephants Can Remember; 2) ""The Poirots"": the complete guide to all the cases of the great Belgian detective.

""The Ravenscrofts didn't seem that kind of person. They seemed well balanced and placid."" And yet, twelve years earlier, the husband had shot the wife, and then himself - or perhaps it was the other way around, since sets of both of their fingerprints were on the gun, and the gun had fallen between them. The case haunts Ariadne Oliver, who had been a friend of the couple. The famous mystery novelist desires this real-life mystery solved, and calls upon Hercule Poirot to help her do so. Poirot is now a very old man, but his mind is as nimble and as sharp as ever and can still penetrate deep into the shadows. But as Poirot and Mrs Oliver and Superintendent Spence reopen the long-closed case, a startling discovery awaits them. And if memory serves Poirot (and it does!), crime - like history - has a tendency to repeat itself.

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The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Large-Print Edition

The heiress of Styles has been murdered, dying in agony from strychnine slipped into her coffee. And there are plenty of people who would gain from her death: the financially strapped stepson, the gold-digging younger husband, and an embittered daughter-in-law. Monsieur Poirot comes out of retirement to figure out who would have the impudence--and the motive--to commit the crime. In this book Agatha Christie's eccentric and hugely popular detective, Hercule Poirot, was introduced to the world, launching her career as the most famous and best-loved of all mystery writers. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format by Waking Lion Press.

The Hollow: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (G. K. Hall (Large Print))

Hercule Poirot arrives at The Hollow for a weekend luncheon just in time to see Gerda Christow standing, revolver in hand, over the body of her husband. It seems obvious that she has killed her wayward spouse, but Poirot doesn't believe things are that simple. What does Christow's death have to do with his current and former lovers, both of whom are nearby? What secrets are the weekend guests hiding in this case of love, deceit, mystery, and death?

"E-book exclusive extras: 1) Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on The Hollow; 2) ""The Poirots"": the complete guide to all the cases of the great Belgian detective.

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A Caribbean Mystery (G. K. Hall (Large Print))

Towards Zero (G K Hall's Agatha Christie Series)

Mystery's #1 bestseller . . . second to none!

A Christie classic, featuring Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard. . . . It's murder most foul when someone at the Gull's Point guesthouse kills Mr. Treves, leaving Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard with a number of suspects--and zero evidence...

The Murder on the Links (G K Hall's Agatha Christie Series)

A millionaire's been found stabbed in the back on his private golf course. Hercule Poirot finds no shortage of suspects in the victim's family tree, but even he is surprised when the killer strikes again.

An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. But he arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face downwards in a shallow grave on a golf course. But why is the dead man wearing his son's overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse . . .

Double Sin and Other Stories (G K Hall's Agatha Christie Series)