This page details the books featuring the fictional character Hercule Poirot, created by Agatha Christie.
Hercule Poirot and fictional canon
Only works written by Christie (including short stories, the novels and her play Black Coffee) are considered canon by most fans and biographers.
The Poirot books are still under copyright in the United Kingdom. The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder on the Links and Poirot Investigates are now public domain in the US but will not become public domain in the UK until 2046 (70 years after Christie's death). Christie's grandson, Mathew Prichard, now owns the copyright to his grandmother's works.
In 2014, the Christie estate authorised author Sophie Hannah to write a new Poirot book, The Monogram Murders. She later also wrote Closed Casket (2016), The Mystery of Three Quarters (2018) and The Killings At Kingfisher Hill (2020).
Hercule Poirot Series in publication order
Short story collections listed as "ss"
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) The Murder on the Links (1923) Poirot Investigates (1924, ss) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) The Big Four (1927) The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) Black Coffee (1930 play) (A novelization by Charles Osborne was published in 1998.) Peril at End House (1932) Lord Edgware Dies (1933) also published as Thirteen at Dinner Murder on the Orient Express (1934) also published as Murder in the Calais Coach Three Act Tragedy (1935) also published as Murder in Three Acts Death in the Clouds (1935) also published as Death in the Air The A.B.C. Murders (1936) also published as The Alphabet Murders Murder in Mesopotamia (1936) Cards on the Table (1936) Murder in the Mews (1937, ss) also published as Dead Man's Mirror Dumb Witness (1937) also published as Poirot Loses a Client Death on the Nile (1937) also published as Murder on the Nile and as Hidden Horizon Appointment with Death (1938) Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938) also published as Murder for Christmas and as A Holiday for Murder The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (1939, ss) Sad Cypress (1940) One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940) also published as An Overdose of Death and as The Patriotic Murders Evil Under the Sun (1941) Five Little Pigs (1942) also published as Murder in Retrospect The Hollow (1946) also published as Murder after Hours The Labours of Hercules (1947, ss) The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (1948, ss) Taken at the Flood (1948) also published as There Is a Tide Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (1950, ss) The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951, ss) Mrs McGinty's Dead (1952) also published as Blood Will Tell After the Funeral (1953) also published as Funerals are Fatal Hickory Dickory Dock (1955) also published as Hickory Dickory Death Dead Man's Folly (1956) Cat Among the Pigeons (1959) The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960, ss) Double Sin and Other Stories (1961, ss) The Clocks (1963) Third Girl (1966) Hallowe'en Party (1969) Elephants Can Remember (1972) Poirot's Early Cases (1974, ss) Curtain (written about 1940, published 1975) also published as Curtain: Poirot's Last Case Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (1991, ss) The Harlequin Tea Set (1997, ss) While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (1997, ss)
Continuations not by Christie
The Monogram Murders, written by Sophie Hannah (published 2014) Closed Casket, written by Sophie Hannah (published 2016) The Mystery of Three Quarters, written by Sophie Hannah (published 2018) The Killings at Kingfisher Hill, written by Sophie Hannah (published 2020) Hercule Poirot's Silent Night, written by Sophie Hannah (to be published 2023)
Books and short stories in chronological order
Poirot's police years
"The Chocolate Box" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
Career as a private detective and retirement
Shortly after Poirot flees to England (1916–1919) The Mysterious Affair at Styles "The Affair at the Victory Ball" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases) "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
The Twenties (1920–1929) Poirot settles down in London and opens a private detective agency. These are the short story years (26 short stories and only 4 novels).