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This page details the other fictional characters created by Agatha Christie in her stories about the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2012) |
This page details the other fictional characters created by Agatha Christie in her stories about the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot.
Hastings first meets Poirot during his years as a private detective in Europe. Almost immediately after they both arrive in England, he becomes Poirot's partner, and appears in many of the novels and stories. Poirot's view of Hastings was of a man with plenty of imagination but not a great deal of brains.[ citation needed ]
Hastings was capable of great bravery when the going got tough, facing death unflinchingly when confronted by the "Big Four" and showing unwavering loyalty towards Poirot. When forced to choose between Poirot and his wife in that novel, he chose Poirot.
The two were an airtight team until Hastings met and married Dulcie Duveen, a beautiful music hall performer he met in The Murder on the Links. They later emigrated to Argentina, leaving Poirot behind a "very unhappy old man".
A mystery writer who is loosely based on Agatha Christie herself. [1]
Poirot's secretary, Miss Lemon, has few human weaknesses. The only two mistakes she is ever recorded making are a typing error in Hickory Dickory Dock (due to her sister's predicament) and the mismailing of an electric bill. Poirot describes her as "Unbelievably ugly and incredibly efficient. Anything that she mentioned as worth consideration usually was worth consideration." She is an expert on nearly everything, and plans to create the perfect filing system. She once worked for the government agent-turned-amateur detective and philanthropist, Mr (James) Parker Pyne. Whether this was during one of Poirot's numerous retirements or before she entered his employ is unknown.[ citation needed ]
Angela Easterling played the character in two episodes of the 1982 anthology The Agatha Christie Hour. In the series Agatha Christie's Poirot , she was portrayed by Pauline Moran, with her presence being greatly expanded. She was a regular throughout the 1989 to 1993 episodes, and made guest appearances in 1995, 2000, 2001 and in the final series in 2013.
Inspector James Japp is an Inspector at Scotland Yard and appears in many of the stories, trying to solve the cases Poirot is working on. Japp is an outward-looking, loud and sometimes inconsiderate man, and his relationship with the bourgeois Belgian is one of the stranger aspects of Poirot's world. He first met Poirot in Belgium in 1904 during the Abercrombie Forgery, and later that year joined forces again to hunt down a criminal known as Baron Altara. They also meet in England, where Poirot often helps Japp solve cases and lets him take the credit in return for special favours. These favours usually entail being supplied with cases that would interest him.[ citation needed ]
George (or "Georges", as Poirot often calls him) is the faithful valet of Hercule Poirot.
In addition to these regular characters, all the gentlemen in the novels have servants; Poirot's is the most incurable snob he could find. George is a classic English valet. He first entered Poirot's employ in 1923, and did not leave his side until the 1970s, shortly before Poirot's death. A competent, matter-of-fact man, with an extensive knowledge of the English aristocracy and absolutely no imagination, George provides a steady contrast to Hastings.[ citation needed ]
Race is a highly intelligent ex-Army colonel who had a stint as a leader of the counter-intelligence division of the British spy agency MI5. [2] He is immensely rich, having inherited the fortune of Sir Laurence Eardsley. [2] The Colonel stars as a detective in four of Christie's books; he is introduced in The Man in the Brown Suit , published in 1924. He features as Hercule Poirot's good friend in Cards on the Table (1936) and Death on the Nile (1937). He appears for the last time in Sparkling Cyanide (1945), and as with his first appearance, Poirot is not a character in the novel. He is known for his patience, composure, and ability to detect facts quickly without anyone else noticing. Although rather conventional in his deductive thought processes, he has an exceptionally open mind regarding possibilities and theories, and while he is amazed by some of the deductions Poirot makes, he never doubts nor discounts them (as, for instance, Japp initially might), no matter how fantastical. The Man in the Brown Suit is perhaps the only novel in which the emotional side of Colonel Race's nature has been given consideration. It gives depth to his personality.
In the 1978 film of Death on the Nile Colonel Race is played by David Niven. In the same book's 2004 TV adaptation for the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot , he is played by James Fox. As Fox was unavailable for the 2006 adaptation of Cards on the Table the character was replaced by the similar character "Colonel Hughes", played by Robert Pugh. ITV's adaptation of The Clocks makes the character of Colin Lamb, strongly implied in the book to be the son of Superintendent Battle, into the offspring of Colonel Race. He is also mentioned in the adaptation of Third Girl . In the BBC Radio 4 adaptations of Death on the Nile (1997) and Cards on the Table (2002), Race is played by Donald Sinden.
His first name is given as "Johnnie" by a minor character in Sparkling Cyanide. In the film of Death on the Nile, he is called "Johnny". The 2002 ITV adaptation of Sparkling Cyanide featured Oliver Ford Davies as "Colonel Geoffrey Reece".
Countess Vera Rossakoff is the only woman to whom Hercule Poirot has ever admitted being attracted. [3] The countess' true name is a mystery. She appears in only one novel, The Big Four , and two short stories, "The Double Clue" and "The Capture of Cerberus" ( The Labours of Hercules series). [4]
Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays, and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first detective novel by British writer Agatha Christie, introducing her fictional detective Hercule Poirot. 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 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head on 21 January 1921.
The A.B.C. Murders is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, featuring her characters Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, as they contend with a series of killings by a mysterious murderer known only as "A.B.C.". The book was first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 January 1936, sold for seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) while a US edition, published by Dodd, Mead and Company on 14 February of the same year, was priced $2.00.
Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. Before its book publication, the novel was serialised in six issues of The American Magazine as 13 For Dinner.
Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles and appears as a character in seven other Poirot novels, including the final one Curtain: Poirot's Last Case (1975), along with a play and many short stories. He is also the narrator of several of them.
Inspector James Japp is a fictional character who appears in several of Agatha Christie's novels featuring Hercule Poirot.
Peril at End House is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).
Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00. The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The action takes place in Egypt, mostly on the River Nile. The novel is unrelated to Christie's earlier (1933) short story of the same name, which featured Parker Pyne as the detective.
The Big Four is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by William Collins & Sons on 27 January 1927 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It features Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings, and Inspector Japp. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Evil Under the Sun is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1941 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in October of the same year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1975 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year, selling for $7.95.
Hercule Poirot's Christmas is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 19 December 1938. It retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).
Sparkling Cyanide is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1945 under the title of Remembered Death and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in the December of the same year under Christie's original title. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence (8/6).
Poirot Investigates is a short story collection written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in March 1924. In the eleven stories, famed eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solves a variety of mysteries involving greed, jealousy, and revenge. The American version of this book, published by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1925, featured a further three stories. The UK first edition featured an illustration of Poirot on the dust jacket by W. Smithson Broadhead, reprinted from the 21 March 1923 issue of The Sketch magazine.
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1940, and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1941 under the title of The Patriotic Murders. A paperback edition in the US by Dell books in 1953 changed the title again to An Overdose of Death. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) while the United States edition retailed at $2.00.
Superintendent Battle is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie who appeared in five of her novels.
Black Coffee is a play by the British crime-fiction author Agatha Christie (1890–1976) which was produced initially in 1930. The first piece that Christie wrote for the stage, it launched a successful second career for her as a playwright. In the play, a scientist discovers that someone in his household has stolen the formula for an explosive. The scientist calls Hercule Poirot to investigate, but is murdered just as Poirot arrives with Hastings and Inspector Japp.
In Agatha Christie's mystery novels, several characters cross over different sagas, creating a fictional universe in which most of her stories are set. This article has one table to summarize the novels with characters who occur in other Christie novels; the table is titled Crossovers by Christie. There is brief mention of characters crossing over in adaptations of the novels. Her publications, both novels and short stories, are then listed by main detective, in order of publication. Some stories or novels authorised by the estate of Agatha Christie, using the characters she created, and written long after Agatha Christie died, are included in the lists.
Lists of adaptations of the works of Agatha Christie:
Hercule Poirot is a series of full cast BBC Radio drama adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels and short stories adapted by Michael Bakewell, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1985 and 2007. With the exception of the first two adaptations, the series stars John Moffatt as Poirot.
