Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Life and Times of Hercule Poirot (2019) is about the fictional detective of the famous author, created in 1916 in London, when Agatha was 26 years old, and published in 1920. He appeared in the books of British novelist Agatha Christie (1890-1976) from 1920 to 1975. Of her 66 detective novels, Hercule Poirot appeared in 33 of them, as well as two plays and 56 short stories. And from these books, author Anne Hart writes about his life.
After meeting a real Monsieur Poirot in Paris – he administered my Covid-19 vaccination – I sought out this book about one of my favourite fictional detectives (after Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes).
The brilliant but bombastic Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot is, in his own words, probably the greatest detective in the world. He appeared in London in the book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles in his dapper suit to meet Inspector James Japp of Scotland Yard to assist in solving the murder of a poisoned woman. The faithful Arthur Hastings is there too, recording everything and guiding Poirot through the mysteries of British customs and manners.
Poirot began life in London in modest accommodations before rising to a life of considerable style. He lived through The Great War and the austerity years among political turmoil. He lived through the heights of British fashion and English humour – one he understood and the other he didn’t.
He travelled extensively in Great Britain and abroad to solve a mystery – even to Baghdad (where of course Agatha Christie visited several times with her second husband, archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan). Hercule Poirot is probably best known in Murder on the Orient Express, published in 1934, returning to London on a luxurious train journey, where a murder takes place.
He retired several times briefly, always returning to an interesting crime. In The Clocks (1963) Inspector Hardcastle says, ‘I thought he was dead.’ The response was, ‘He’s not dead. But I have a feeling he’s bored. That’s worse.’ Interestingly, Poirot is mentioned in this book reading the Adventures of Arsene Lupin – a fictional gentleman thief created in 1905 by French author Maurice Leblanc.
Anne Hart writes about Hercule Poirot’s apartment, his food, his clothes, his mannerisms, his routines, his mode of travel, how he solved crimes, and his relationships in this lengthy book. Yes, he did have relationships – he had, in England, ‘two significant women friends.’
This book is quite interesting if you are an Agatha Christie or Hercule Poirot fan.
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MARTINA NICOLLS
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MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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