Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World

by Mark Aldridge, Mark Gatiss, Agatha Christie Narrated by Clare Corbett

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Any fan of Agatha Christie, and mysteries in general, feels most wedded to the character Hercule Poirot. We view him as real as any friend or family member. He now gets his full biography and a chance for us to know him even better.

From the very first book publication in 1920 to the recent film release of Death on the Nile, this investigation into Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot celebrates a century of probably the world's favourite fictional detective.

This book tells his story decade-by-decade, exploring his appearances not only in the original novels, short stories and plays but also across stage, screen and radio productions.

Poirot has had near-permanent presence in the public eye ever since the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. From character development, publication history and private discussion concerning the original stories themselves, to early forays on to the stage and screen, the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring.

Based on the author's original research, review excerpts and original Agatha Christie correspondence, Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World is a lively and accessible history of the character, offering new information and helpful pieces of context, that will delight all Agatha Christie fans, from a new generation of readers to those already highly familiar with the canon.

Mark Aldridge's biography of the world's favourite detective, Hercule Poirot, is a top-notch literary work that delves into the mystery and entertainment that surrounds this iconic character. The book is a bestseller, a testament to its quality and the author's prowess in performing arts and criticism.

For fans of Carla Valentine (Past Mortems), Lucy Worsley (Agatha Christie), John Curran (Agatha Christie's Murder in the Making), David Suchet (Behind the Lens), and Kathryn Harkup (Superspy Science).

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

04/19/2021

Historian Aldridge (Agatha Christie on Screen) celebrates the centenary of Agatha Christie’s fictional detective Hercule Poirot with a comprehensive yet lighthearted romp through his very busy career. Working chronologically, Aldridge takes readers through the Poirot oeuvre, starting with the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, for which Christie needed a detective “unlike those that had gone before,” and ending with such modern Poirot torchbearers as film adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Aldridge offers a detailed overview of Poirot’s appearances on the page, and also discusses radio and stage versions of the Belgian detective, as well as a fictionalized biography written by Anne Hart in 1990 and nods to recent graphic novels and computer games in which he figures. Christie-devotees will be piqued by the novelist’s thoughts on Poirot’s egg-shaped head (“When people say to me ‘Which way up is this egg?’ do I really know? I don’t... but nevertheless I know that he has an egg-shaped head”), several novels’ cover art in various editions over the decades, and excerpts from reviews of Christie’s novels. This quirky, trivia-filled look at a touchstone of detective fiction will have Christie fans young and old in heaven. (Apr.)

From the Publisher

‘Delightful, detailed and compulsively readable.’ MARK GATISS

‘What a magnificent book! An essential component of every Poirot fan's book collection. I couldn't put it down.’ SOPHIE HANNAH

‘Exhaustively and entertainingly surveys the book, stage, radio, magazine and film appearances of that fussy little Belgian.’ MICHAEL DIRDA, WASHINGTON POST

'This quirky, trivia-filled look at a touchstone of detective fiction will have Christie fans young and old in heaven.' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176316995
Publisher:	HarperCollins UK
Publication date:	11/12/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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