Agatha Christie

M-U-R-D-E-R. It began as an innocent parlor game intended to while away the hours on a bitter winter night. But the message that appeared before the amateur occultists snowbound at the Sittaford House was spelled out as loud and clear as a scream. Of course, the notion that they had foretold doom was pure bunk. Wasn't it? And the discovery of a corpse was pure coincidence. Wasn't it? If they're to discover the answer to this baffling murder, perhaps they should play again. But a journey into the spirit world could prove terribly dangerous — especially when the killer is lurking in this one.

A murder trial takes a diabolical turn when the wife of the accused takes a stand...A woman's sixth — and a loaded revolver — signal premonitions of doom...A stranded motorist seeks refuge in a remote mansion, and is greeted with a dire warning...Detective Hercule Poirot faces his greatest challenge when his services are enlisted — by the victim — in a bizarre locked-room murder. From the stunning title story (which inspired the classic film thriller) to the rarest gems in detective fiction, these 11 tales of baffling rime and brilliant deduction showcase Agatha Christie at her dazzling best.

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time with her works outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. She is regarded by generations of fans as the greatest mystery writer ever, and her novels are read and cherished the world over. Clarissa, the young wife of a Foreign Office Diplomat, delights in tweaking the sensibilities of her more serious friends and for playing a game she calls «supposing» — imagining a difficult situation and figuring out how people would respond. But Clarissa's lighthearted game becomes deadly serious when she discovers the dead body of an unknown person in her own drawing room. If that wasn't bad enough, her husband is on the way home with an important foreign politician and the attendant scandal of the dead body would irrevocably damage his career at the very least. Therefore, Clarissa decides to dispose of the body and persuades her three houseguests to help. But before she can get the body off the premises, a policeman arrives at her front door. The police received an anonymous tip about a murder in the house and have shown up to investigate. Now Clarissa must keep the body hidden, convince the skeptical police inspector that there has been no murder, and, in the meantime, find out who has been murdered, why, and what the body is doing in her house.

A young man, broken down in the fog, witnesses a murder he is asked to conceal… A full-length novel adapted by Charles Osborne from Agatha Christie’s acclaimed play. When a stranger runs his car into a ditch in dense fog in South Wales and makes his way to an isolated house, he discovers a woman standing over the dead body of her wheelchair-bound husband, gun in her hand. She admits to murder, and the unexpected guest offers to help her concoct a cover story. But is it possible that Laura Warwick did not commit the murder after all? If so, who is she shielding? The victim’s retarded young half-brother or his dying matriarchal mother? Laura’s lover? Perhaps the father of the little boy killed in an accident for which Warwick was responsible? The house seems full of possible suspects… «The Unexpected Guest» is considered to be one of the finest of Christie’s plays. Hailed as ‘another Mousetrap’ when it opened on 12 August 1958 in the West End, it ran for 604 performances over the succeeding 18 months and has been staged many times around the world over the last 40 years.

Un vol de bijoux dans une station balnéaire à la mode, une femme poignardée dans sa chambre d'hôtel, une célèbre actrice assassinée dans une maison blanche. Trois mystères proposés à la perspicacité de trois détectives étonnants: Hercule Poirot, miss Marple et les époux Berensford. Mais sauront-ils résoudre ces énigmes?

Nearly a quarter-century after her death, Agatha Christie remains the most popular mystery writer of all time. Now, in a celebrated publishing event, fans and newcomers alike are treated to another Christie novel. Created in 1930 as a stage play and faithfully adapted by Charles Osborne, Black Coffee brings back beloved detective Hercule Poirot to exercise his «little grey cells» one more deliciously deductive time... An urgent call from physicist Sir Claud Amory sends famed detective Hercule Poirot rushing from London to a sprawling country estate. Sir Claud fears a member of his own household wants to steal a secret formula destined for the Ministry of Defense. But Poirot arrives too late. The formula is missing. Worse, Sir Claud has been poisoned by his after-dinner coffee. Poirot soon identifies a potent brew of despair, treachery, and deception amid the mansion's occupants. Now he must find the formula and the killer...while letting no poison slip 'twix his low lips.

When Alice Ascher is murdered in Andover, Hercule Poirot is already on to the clues. Alphabetically speaking, it's one down, twenty-five to go.

Hercule Poirot und sein unersetzlicher Gehilfe Captain Hastings machen sich an die Auflösung der geheimnisvollen Rätsel und raffiniertesten Verbrechen. Analytischer Verstand, präzise Beobachtung und Detailverliebtheit machen den exzentrischen Belgier zum Meister seines Faches, der die Polizei, seinen Freund Hastings und den gebannten Leser immer wieder in Staunen versetzt. Eine Sammlung der besten Poirot-Geschichten!

Die patente Krankenschwester Amy Leatheran wird von dem Archäologen Dr. Leidner als Betreuung für seine Frau angestellt. Louise Leidner ist eine exzentrische Frau, die kein Mitglied der Ausgrabungs-Expedition kalt lässt: von unverhohlener Feindseligkeit bis abgöttische Bewunderung – alle schlägt sie in ihren Bann. Gleichzeitig jedoch scheint sich Louise Leidner vor etwas konkretem zu fürchten. An ihrem Fenster erscheint ein Gesicht, ein fremder Mann erschreckt sie über die Maßen. Schließlich berichtet sie ihrer Pflegerin von Nachstellungen und geheimnisvollen Drohbriefen, die entweder von ihrem früheren Mann oder dessen Bruder stammen müssen. Kurz darauf wird Louise Leidner ermordet aufgefunden. Amy Leatheran beginnt Aufzeichnungen zu machen und hilft so dem eintreffenden Hercule Poirot, der die Ausgrabungsstätte besuchen wollte, aber natürlich in die Ermittlungen gezogen wird.

Auch ein Meisterdetektiv geht nicht gern zum Zahnarzt. Und die Rätsel in der Praxis von Hercule Poirots Zahnarzt häufen sich: Der Zahnarzt wird tot aufgefunden, ein Patient stirbt wenig später, eine andere Patientin verschwindet spurlos, auf einen dritten wird ein Attentat verübt. Wie gut nur, dass Poirot vor der Tür des Zahnarztes die Dame mit den merkwürdigen Schnallenschuhen aufgefallen ist. So bereitet ihm die Lösung des geheimnisvollen Geschehens schließlich doch keine Zahnschmerzen.

Der alte Simeon Lee ist ein Ekel, stinkreich und despotisch. Zu Weihnachten hat er den Familien-Clan zusammengerufen und provoziert jetzt alle mit seinen Beleidigungen. Als er am Heiligen Abend mit durchschnittener Kehle gefunden wird, trauert keiner der Familie. Doch manche haben etwas zu verbergen — Hercule Poirot findet den Mörder dennoch.