How to Enjoy the Hercule Poirot Series (Part 2) (Agatha Christie Continued)

Hercule Poirot II

Having finished reading all 33 novels, I am writing a "note" about the Hercule Poirot series.

In the first part, I introduced the "1930s works" and specifically the "three works set in the Middle East." This time, I would like to write about how to enjoy the series, from the classics to some slightly more niche approaches.

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First, let's look at the classic way to enjoy them...

◆ Works adapted for the screen are popular

Aside from the drama series "Agatha Christie's Poirot," which adapted almost all of the original novels, works that were made into films or special dramas are, as expected, the popular ones.

" Murder on the Orient Express " and " The Murder of Roger Ackroyd " have such impactful twists that people often learn the tricks beforehand. If you don't know them, consider yourself lucky and I highly recommend reading them before you get spoiled.

" Death on the Nile " and " Appointment with Death " were introduced in Part 1, so here I will introduce " Evil Under the Sun ", which was the basis for the film "Evil Under the Sun" (1982).

"Evil Under the Sun" (1941)

Despite being made into a film, the original title is different, and the actual setting is in the UK rather than the Mediterranean, so it has a somewhat understated impression. However, the process of uncovering the culprit's alibi trick is a very interesting one! The downside is that the translation is old, so a new translation is highly anticipated.
The downside is that the translation is old, so a new translation is highly anticipated.

Next, from a slightly more niche perspective...

◆ For late-period Christie, it's a good idea to follow the "murders in retrospect"

"Murders in retrospect" are investigations into events that happened in the past, a theme often seen in Christie's later works.
Watching Poirot bring the truth to light while gathering testimony from people involved at the time, with little information to go on, feels like an archaeological excavation, and I love it because it has a different charm than usual.

This is seen in four works within the Poirot series, but personally, I found 'Five Little Pigs' to be exceptionally interesting.

'Five Little Pigs' (1943)

Even when trying to gather testimony about past events, everyone is vague. This is a work that highlights Poirot's brilliance as he organizes limited information to deduce the truth. If you read this book and liked 'Five Little Pigs' (often known as 'Murder in Retrospect'), I think you should pick up other works as well.

Furthermore, from a more maniacal perspective...

◆ Reading by Character

Since it is a long series, there are several characters who appear repeatedly.
Among them, Arthur Hastings in the early works and Mrs. Ariadne Oliver in the later works appear frequently, so it is also interesting to read through the works in which they appear.

◎ Reading the Hastings works
Arthur Hastings is the one who plays the role of Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories in the early works.
He is depicted as a typical English gentleman with a strong sense of justice and kindness toward women, but sometimes he makes off-base deductions that confuse the case, making him quite a lovable character.
Although he is a regular in the TV series 'Agatha Christie's Poirot,' he does not appear in that many of the original novels.
Counting them up, he is limited to eight works.

The witty exchanges between Poirot and Hastings are fun, so if you feel like you want to see more of the duo, they appear quite often in the short story collections, so you should pick those up.

◎ Reading the Mrs. Oliver works
If Hastings is the partner in the early works, Mrs. Ariadne Oliver is the one who appears often in the later works.
She is a curious female writer who writes mysteries featuring a Finnish detective, and she is clearly modeled after Christie herself.
She appears in six novels.

Mrs. Oliver is active and restless, but she is a fun character who not only pushes Poirot around but also shows unexpected competence at times.
Thinking of her as Christie's alter ego, I find myself reading Mrs. Oliver's statements with great interest, wondering if they might be Christie's own opinions.

◆ Others

If you read the Poirot series for a long time, you will often see Christie's specialty tricks, or should I say, structures?
I think Christie herself knew best that she was repeating them, but even if the basic tricks are similar, there are many works where various ingenuity is put into the plot of the story.

The 'Murder in Retrospect' type is one of those ingenuities, but there are many other types, such as 'Three Act Tragedy' which includes a stage structure, 'Hercule Poirot's Christmas' which tackles a locked-room murder, and the courtroom drama 'Sad Cypress'.
Among them, I think 'The A.B.C. Murders,' which depicts a battle against a serial killer, is a masterpiece in terms of plot, and since then, there have been many novels with similar structures, and it has had a great influence on subsequent mysteries.

'The A.B.C. Murders' (1935)

Although this is considered one of her representative works, it feels surprisingly understated, so I am adding it here to introduce it.

In addition, there are many works in the Poirot series that draw you in with their opening developments, like 'Appointment with Death,' and I believe 'After the Funeral' is the ultimate example of this.

'After the Funeral' (1953)

Starting with a relative's remark after the funeral, 'Wasn't he murdered?', this book has an intense introduction that immediately drags the reader into the messy affairs of the family.

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I wrote this article about Hercule Poirot in two parts, and even during the time I was rereading them, new translations were being released one after another, so it feels like its popularity hasn't waned at all.
It has been 100 years since the debut work 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles,' but I still think it is an amazing series.

I hope this will be of some help to those who are thinking of reading the series from now on.

Now, finally, I would like to introduce to those who have read most of the series the short story collection 'The Whereabouts of Rintaro Norizuki' by Rintaro Norizuki.

There is a novella in the collection called 'Curtain Call', which is entirely about exploring the secrets hidden in Poirot's final work, 'Curtain'.
It also touches on various other works in the series, and I think it is a fascinating piece for those who have read them, so please do pick it up.
You will definitely want to read Christie again!

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