The ​Big Four

Agatha Christie - While ​the Light Lasts
A ​macabre recurring dream … revenge against a blackmailer … jealousy, infidelity and a tortured conscience … a stolen gemstone … the haunting attraction of an ancient relic … a race against time … a tragic love triangle … a body in a box … an unexpected visitor from beyond the grave… Nine quintessential examples of Agatha Christie’s brilliance are contained in this new collection of early short stories – including the very first one she ever wrote – and provide a unique glimpse of the Queen of Crime in the making. ‘Probably the best suspicion scatterer and diverter in the business.’ New York Herald Tribune

Agatha Christie - Death ​on the Nile
Linnet ​Ridgeway and Simon Doyle are being stalked by Simon’s furious ex, Jackie. So hell bent on taking revenge for the way she’d been treated she follows them all the way on their honeymoon to Egypt, aboard a steam cruiser travelling along the Nile. They are however not the only holidaymakers aboard the vessel, a certain Hercule Poirot attempts a relaxing cruise, only to be drawn into the threesome’s feud when Linette Ridgeway is found shot to death in her sleep.

Agatha Christie - The ​Murder at the Vicarage
“Anyone ​who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service.” Reverend Clement The tranquillity of St Mary Mead is shattered when Lucius Protheroe is found dead. A thoroughly unpleasant character, there is no shortage of suspects with a motive for murder. Could it have been his unfaithful wife? Her artist lover? The daughter, set to inherit? Or even the mild-mannered vicar? Inspector Slack is at a loss. Perhaps Miss Jane Marple, the local village busybody, can help...

Agatha Christie - The ​Hound of Death
Twelve ​unexplained phenomena with no apparent earthly explanation… A dog-shaped gunpowder mark; an omen from ‘the other side’; a haunted house; a chilling séance; a case of split personalities; a recurring nightmare; an eerie wireless message; an elderly lady’s hold over a young man; a disembodied cry of ‘murder’; a young man’s sudden amnesia; a levitation experience; a mysterious SOS. To discover the answers, delve into the supernatural storytelling of Agatha Christie… ‘Twelve thrilling, chilling, mysteries.’ Observer

Agatha Christie - One, ​Two, Buckle My Shoe
Even ​the great Poirot harbours a deep and abiding fear of the dentist, so it is with trepidation that he arrives at the celebrated Dr Morley’s surgery for an examination. Yet even Poirot couldn’t have guessed that only hours later he would be examining the dentist, dead in his surgery – an apparent suicide. Why would a successful dentist choose to kill himself on such a busy day? Poirot turns to the other patients for answers – but only finds other, darker questions. ‘A swift course of unflagging suspense leads to complete surprise.’ New York Times

Agatha Christie - Agatha Christie - Elephants ​Can Remember
Hercule ​Poirot stood on the cliff-top. Once, many years earlier, there had been a tragic accident. 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 the past and discovers that ‘old sins leave long shadows’. ‘Splendid… she tells us all we want to know and nothing that is irrelevant.’ The Times

Agatha Christie - Dead ​Man's Folly
Sir ​George and Lady Stubbs, the hosts of a village fete, hit upon the novel idea of staging a mock murder mystery. In good faith, Ariadne Oliver, the well known crime writer, agrees to organise the murder hunt. Despite weeks of meticulous planning, at the last minute Ariadne calls her friend Hercule Poirot for his expert assistance. Instinctively, she senses that something sinister is about to happen...

Agatha Christie - Curtain: ​Poirot's Last Case
The ​crime-fighting careers of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have come full circle - they are back once again in the rambling country house in which they solved their first murder together. Both Poirot and Great Styles have seen better days - but despite being crippled with arthritis, there is nothing wrong with the great detective's 'little grey cells'. However, when Poirot brands one of the seemingly harmless guests a five-times murderer, some people have their doubts. But Poirot alone knows he must prevent a sixth murder before the curtain falls...

Agatha Christie - Murder ​in the Mews
Murder, ​stolen plans, a mysterious death and a menage a trois - four intriguing novellas featuring Hercule Poirot...How did a woman holding a pistol in her right hand manage to shoot herself in the left temple? What was the link between a ghost sighting and the disappearance of top secert military plans? How did the bullet that killed Sir Gervase shatter a mirror in another part of the room? And who destroyed the 'eternal triangle' of love involving renowned beauty, Valentine Chantry? Hercule Poirot is faced with four mystifying cases - Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft, Dead Man's Mirror and Triangle at Rhodes - each a miniature classic of characterisation, incident and suspense.

Agatha Christie - Five ​Little Pigs
Amyas ​Crale's passion for painting and women made him famous. His murder made him infamous. Sixteen years earlier his jealous wife was tried, convicted and sentenced to life for a notorious slaying. Now their daughter Carla, a young woman convinced her mother is innocent, has presented Hercule Poirot with a brilliant challenge: to clear her mother's name by returning to the scene of the murder and finding the fatal flaw in the perfect crime.

Agatha Christie - Poirot's ​Early Cases
Poirot's ​Early Cases was published in 1974. It includes the following short stories: The Affair at the Victory Ball, The Adventure of the Clapham Cook, The Cornish Mystery, The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly, The Double Clue, The King of Clubs, The LeMesurier Inheritance, The Lost Mine, The Plymouth Express, The Chocolate Box, The Submarine Plans, Third Floor Flat, Double Sin, The Market Basing Mystery, Wasp's Nest, The Veiled Lady, Problem at Sea and How Does Your Garden Grow?

Agatha Christie - Problem ​at Pollensa Bay
All ​great crime writers have their favourite creations. Similarly, every great sleuth has their own preferred method of deduction. Take the charming Parker Pyne, who relies upon an intuitive knowledge of human nature to solve the Problem at Pollensa Bay. Or Mr Satterthwaite, who seeks inspiration through his collaboration with the enigmatic Mr Quin in The Harlequin Tea Set mystery. Then, of course, there’s Poirot, whose measured analysis of motive and opportunity is tested to the full in Yellow Iris, when he receives an anonymous call about a matter of life and death… ‘The acknowledged queen of detective fiction.’ Observer

Agatha Christie - The ​ABC Murders
There’s ​a serial killer on the loose, murdering his victims in alphabetical order. As a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim’s corpse the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. With the whole country in a state of panic, and growing more confident with each successful execution – Mrs Ascher in Andover, Betty Barnard in Bexhill, Carmichael Larke in Churston – the murderer’s trail of deliberate clues taunts the proud Poirot. Which might just be his first mistake… ‘A masterwork of carefully concealed artifice… most stunningly original.’ Julian Symons

Agatha Christie - Lord ​Edgware Dies
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? ‘The whole case is a triumph of Poirot’s special qualities.’ Times Literary Supplement

Agatha Christie - Murder ​on the Orient Express
Travelling ​on the Orient Express, Poirot is approached by a desperate American named Ratchett. Afraid that someone plans to kill him, Ratchett asks Poirot for help. Sadly the very next day Ratchett's worst fears become reality, when he is found dead in his cabin, a victim of multiple stab wounds. With nothing but a scrap of paper to go on, Poirot must piece together Ratchett’s identity before he can establish which of his fellow passengers murdered him.

Agatha Christie - The ​Secret of Chimneys
What ​connects Chimneys, a formidable country estate nestled in the English countryside, with the small Balkan nation of Herzoslovakia? If Anthony Cade had known the answer, perhaps the chance to earn a thousand pounds just delivering a parcel would not have seemed like such easy money! The Secret of Chimneys was written in 1925 - a mystery thriller involving jewel thieves, a murderous international conspiracy, and the combined forces of Scotland Yard and the French Sûreté.

Agatha Christie - Peril ​at End House
Hercule ​Poirot’s relaxing holiday on the Cornish coast takes an unexpected turn when he meets young and pretty Nick Buckley. For it seems to Poirot that someone is trying to kill Nick and he determines that she needs his protection. But even hiding her away in a nursing home does not prevent another attempt on Nick’s life and Poirot has to resort to subterfuge and cunning to solve this tricky case.

Agatha Christie - After ​the Funeral
When ​Cora is savagely murdered, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother funeral 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 what happened next ...

Agatha Christie - The ​Clocks
Volume ​64 in the Agatha Christie Collection (1963) Limited edition of 1000 copies worldwide 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...

Agatha Christie - Miss ​Marple's Final Cases
Despite ​the title, the stories collected here recount cases from the middle of Miss Marple's career. They are: "Sanctuary"; "Strange Jest"; "Tape-Measure Murder"; "The Case of the Caretaker"; "The Case of the Perfect Maid"; "Miss Marple Tells a Story"; "The Dressmaker's Doll"; "In a Glass Darkly"; "Greenshaw's Folly".