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Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World
From the publication of Agatha Christie’s very first book in 1920 to the release of Sir Kenneth Branagh’s film Death on the Nile , this investigates the phenomenon of Hercule Poirot and celebrates a century of one of the world’s favorite fictional detectives.
Hercule Poirot has had a near-permanent presence in the public eye ever since the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The detective who solves diabolical crimes using his “little grey cells” has enamored audiences not only in the original novels, short stories, and plays, but also across radio, television, and movies.
From Agatha Christie’s earliest conceptions and publication history, to forays on the stage and screen, the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring. Mark Aldridge tells this story decade-by-decade, exploring and analyzing Poirot’s many and often wildly different appearances, following the detective to present day when he is enjoying a worldwide renaissance.
Packed with original research, never-before-published correspondence, and images from the Agatha Christie archives.
Hercule Poirot has had a near-permanent presence in the public eye ever since the 1920 publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The detective who solves diabolical crimes using his “little grey cells” has enamored audiences not only in the original novels, short stories, and plays, but also across radio, television, and movies.
From Agatha Christie’s earliest conceptions and publication history, to forays on the stage and screen, the story of Poirot is as fascinating as it is enduring. Mark Aldridge tells this story decade-by-decade, exploring and analyzing Poirot’s many and often wildly different appearances, following the detective to present day when he is enjoying a worldwide renaissance.
Packed with original research, never-before-published correspondence, and images from the Agatha Christie archives.
456 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 12, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
October 6, 2020
Full disclosure: I have both read this book and listened to the audio book.
While there is no doubt that Mark Aldridge knows Agatha Christie's life and works inside out, I have to say that - while I was being enlightened and educated in an otherwise very readable way, I couldn't help but wonder how on earth the book had been allowed to go to print with so many grammar clangers in the writing! The uses of singular and plural were muddled up consistently throughout the book. It became really irritating and quite detracted from the information given, which appeared to have been meticulously researched. There are a great many notes at the back of the book!
I should say though, that the reader of the audio book, whose voice will already be well known to those who enjoy radio drama, does a perfectly splendid job in her rendition of this book, and more or less completely overcomes the flaws in the writing. Her characterisation is superb (especially the voice of Agatha Christie) and I found her more accomplished than I expected, and my expectations were "great" even before I began listening.
So if this book is likely to be your cup of tea, give yourself a treat and settle down with the audio book version. I'd say it's practically perfect listening with a cup of tea and a nice piece of fruit cake as the nights draw in!
While there is no doubt that Mark Aldridge knows Agatha Christie's life and works inside out, I have to say that - while I was being enlightened and educated in an otherwise very readable way, I couldn't help but wonder how on earth the book had been allowed to go to print with so many grammar clangers in the writing! The uses of singular and plural were muddled up consistently throughout the book. It became really irritating and quite detracted from the information given, which appeared to have been meticulously researched. There are a great many notes at the back of the book!
I should say though, that the reader of the audio book, whose voice will already be well known to those who enjoy radio drama, does a perfectly splendid job in her rendition of this book, and more or less completely overcomes the flaws in the writing. Her characterisation is superb (especially the voice of Agatha Christie) and I found her more accomplished than I expected, and my expectations were "great" even before I began listening.
So if this book is likely to be your cup of tea, give yourself a treat and settle down with the audio book version. I'd say it's practically perfect listening with a cup of tea and a nice piece of fruit cake as the nights draw in!
January 31, 2021
Hercule Poirot is the greatest detective in the world. Well, he believes it anyway.
Agatha Christie's famous Belgian detective first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920 & author Mark Aldridge looks at his huge career.
Aldridge breaks down the adventures of Poirot into separate decades & discusses the books, plays, films, television & radio stories in a straightforward style. He artfully gives plot outlines, but without giving away anything that would spoil them for anyone new to the stories.
There are numerous quotes from Agatha Christie (some of which have never been published before) & many illustrations of book covers from the UK & abroard.
Mark Aldridge leaves no stone unturned in Poirot's life. He covers everything from the publication of the first Poirot novel in 1920 right up to the latest Poirot film (Death on the Nile) starring Kenneth Branagh one hundred years later.
An absolute must read for fans of Hercule Poirot.
Agatha Christie's famous Belgian detective first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920 & author Mark Aldridge looks at his huge career.
Aldridge breaks down the adventures of Poirot into separate decades & discusses the books, plays, films, television & radio stories in a straightforward style. He artfully gives plot outlines, but without giving away anything that would spoil them for anyone new to the stories.
There are numerous quotes from Agatha Christie (some of which have never been published before) & many illustrations of book covers from the UK & abroard.
Mark Aldridge leaves no stone unturned in Poirot's life. He covers everything from the publication of the first Poirot novel in 1920 right up to the latest Poirot film (Death on the Nile) starring Kenneth Branagh one hundred years later.
An absolute must read for fans of Hercule Poirot.
April 22, 2021
Hercule Poirot is one of my favourite characters ever. Like, top 5 favourite. So a book about Poirot was irresistible. I was hoping that a book about Poirot would mean a book about Poirot himself, about the character. I was hoping that the book would give me some new insights into him. What I got was something completely different.
The book Aldridge has produced is about the writing of Poirot and the business of exploiting him as an intellectual property. The information about the context in which the Poirot novels were written did provide some interesting insights and explain certain things about Poirot. But very little that I didn't know already. I don't feel I know the character any better after reading this whole book about him.
It was also not a very satisfying book to read. First of all, the structure was extremely repetitive. For each and every book including Poirot, we had:
- this is what was going on in Christie's life when she wrote it (this part was often interesting)
- here's a spoiler-free summary of the book, with very little analysis or insight about how the character of Poirot is developed in the text
- this is how it was received by reviewers -cue extensive quotes from reviews from a few papers (pretty much always the same ones)
Every single time the same structure, and often there wasn't a lot of variation between books, beyond the actual summary. It got boring very quickly.
I also felt that, perversely, the structure suffered by the fact that the book was supposed to be about Poirot! Some of the key lines of argumentation felt incomplete because the non-Poirot books were not being covered.
And then the writing itself was an issue. There were a fair few very convoluted paragraphs which I had to read twice and obviously this hurt readability. And often the writing felt coy and euphemistic, particularly when discussing issues going on in Christie's life. When the author is making the argument that what was going on in Christie's life had significant influence on what she was writing, it's not enough to just obliquely imply things. I understand the discomfort about getting into her private life, but it wasn't even just that. For instance, Aldridge referred constantly to Christie's "tax troubles" but didn't ever really say what they were. Given the prominence given to them in the book and the implication that they had a lot of influence on Christie's decisions, the author needed to give us a clearer understanding of them.
My other big issue was the huge amount of time spent on the radio, TV and film adaptations, with a lot of details about the production and the business side of getting them made. Again, a lot of that felt repetitive, and for the earlier adaptations, there was way too much detail about actors no one remembers. And Aldridge seemed more concerned about giving a complete account than about the account being interesting and insightful. A lot of the detail could have easily been condensed.
To be fair, this last element may have bothered me more than it would bother other readers. I don't think I've ever seen the TV adaptations, so they don't interest me very much, but I do understand that a lot of people's first encounter with Poirot was on-screen. If that's the case for a reader, they'll want to know more about that. But even they probably won't care as much about the early ones. Anyway, this element obviously becomes more prominent as the book progresses, once we get into the 80s and beyond, so it unfortunately meant that while I mostly zipped along the first sections, I got more and more bogged down as I approached the end.
Finally, this may be petty, but I cannot believe how positive the section on Sophie Hannah's Poirot novels was. I thought the first one was one of the worst books I ever read.
I'd rate this a C-.
The book Aldridge has produced is about the writing of Poirot and the business of exploiting him as an intellectual property. The information about the context in which the Poirot novels were written did provide some interesting insights and explain certain things about Poirot. But very little that I didn't know already. I don't feel I know the character any better after reading this whole book about him.
It was also not a very satisfying book to read. First of all, the structure was extremely repetitive. For each and every book including Poirot, we had:
- this is what was going on in Christie's life when she wrote it (this part was often interesting)
- here's a spoiler-free summary of the book, with very little analysis or insight about how the character of Poirot is developed in the text
- this is how it was received by reviewers -cue extensive quotes from reviews from a few papers (pretty much always the same ones)
Every single time the same structure, and often there wasn't a lot of variation between books, beyond the actual summary. It got boring very quickly.
I also felt that, perversely, the structure suffered by the fact that the book was supposed to be about Poirot! Some of the key lines of argumentation felt incomplete because the non-Poirot books were not being covered.
And then the writing itself was an issue. There were a fair few very convoluted paragraphs which I had to read twice and obviously this hurt readability. And often the writing felt coy and euphemistic, particularly when discussing issues going on in Christie's life. When the author is making the argument that what was going on in Christie's life had significant influence on what she was writing, it's not enough to just obliquely imply things. I understand the discomfort about getting into her private life, but it wasn't even just that. For instance, Aldridge referred constantly to Christie's "tax troubles" but didn't ever really say what they were. Given the prominence given to them in the book and the implication that they had a lot of influence on Christie's decisions, the author needed to give us a clearer understanding of them.
My other big issue was the huge amount of time spent on the radio, TV and film adaptations, with a lot of details about the production and the business side of getting them made. Again, a lot of that felt repetitive, and for the earlier adaptations, there was way too much detail about actors no one remembers. And Aldridge seemed more concerned about giving a complete account than about the account being interesting and insightful. A lot of the detail could have easily been condensed.
To be fair, this last element may have bothered me more than it would bother other readers. I don't think I've ever seen the TV adaptations, so they don't interest me very much, but I do understand that a lot of people's first encounter with Poirot was on-screen. If that's the case for a reader, they'll want to know more about that. But even they probably won't care as much about the early ones. Anyway, this element obviously becomes more prominent as the book progresses, once we get into the 80s and beyond, so it unfortunately meant that while I mostly zipped along the first sections, I got more and more bogged down as I approached the end.
Finally, this may be petty, but I cannot believe how positive the section on Sophie Hannah's Poirot novels was. I thought the first one was one of the worst books I ever read.
I'd rate this a C-.
November 14, 2020
Brilliant Book. Mark A's knowledge and enthusiasm stand out and the book is full of titbits and trivia (plus he's managed a description of every Poirot story with no spoilers!). But what really elevates this is the design with huge numbers of wonderful book covers, photos and promotional material. A must for any Christie fan. 5/5.
November 17, 2020
I really enjoyed this book: it gives the background and contemporary reactions to all the Poirot novels and stories, and places them in the context of Christie’s career, life and times. The writer also passes fair judgement on quality without getting into too much detail or spoiling the plots. Highly recommended if you want to understand more about the development of Poirot
December 6, 2020
I promise I tried really really hard to resist reading this, because I’m only a few Poirot books away from having read the whole series, and I thought this book would be a really nice way for me to end my time with Christie’s Belgian detective. However I caved and started reading this a couple of days ago, and I’m really glad I did as I think it’s genuinely become one of my favourite books of the whole year?
.
This book is a painstakingly well-researched account of every appearance of Agatha Christie’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, in every form, from books, to radio, to television and even video and card games. Every one of the 33 Poirot novels gets its own chapter, and Mark Aldridge is careful to discuss them at length without giving away any spoilers. Each book, film or episode is genuinely interesting to read about, and I was surprised to learn a lot of the context surrounding the publication of some of my favourite novels that I’d never heard of before. As well as Poirot, this book also provides a look into Christie’s life and character in a way I’ve not seen before, as someone who is quite deeply funny but was surprisingly temperamental and protective of her works and legacy.
.
December 2020 marks exactly 100 years since the first Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and I can think of no better tribute to Poirot’s legacy than this fantastic book. A perfect Christmas gift, I cannot recommend it highly enough to Christie fans everywhere!
.
This book is a painstakingly well-researched account of every appearance of Agatha Christie’s most famous detective, Hercule Poirot, in every form, from books, to radio, to television and even video and card games. Every one of the 33 Poirot novels gets its own chapter, and Mark Aldridge is careful to discuss them at length without giving away any spoilers. Each book, film or episode is genuinely interesting to read about, and I was surprised to learn a lot of the context surrounding the publication of some of my favourite novels that I’d never heard of before. As well as Poirot, this book also provides a look into Christie’s life and character in a way I’ve not seen before, as someone who is quite deeply funny but was surprisingly temperamental and protective of her works and legacy.
.
December 2020 marks exactly 100 years since the first Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and I can think of no better tribute to Poirot’s legacy than this fantastic book. A perfect Christmas gift, I cannot recommend it highly enough to Christie fans everywhere!
March 12, 2021
An interesting explanation of how Hercule Poirot has been portrayed - in books, films, radio and television - that reviews all of his cases without giving any spoilers. It is well-written and a must read for Poirot fans.
December 16, 2020
Loved this so much. For any Poirot fan this is a must read and a sheer joy. Beginning with Poirot's first outing 100 yrs ago in "The Mysterious Affair At Styles" and continuing through all print, plays, movies and t.v series' this looks at Poirot in all his forms. Starting in the 1920's it takes us all the way to the present day and the up-coming release of "Death On The Nile". A treat for any fan.
February 7, 2022
After listening to all of Hercule Poirot short stories and novels, I decided to conclude my experience with this book. It's a very interesting volume.
An essential book for Agatha Christie's fans
Check my full review here:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2022/02/07/...
An essential book for Agatha Christie's fans
Check my full review here:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2022/02/07/...
December 1, 2020
The following review was originally published in the online newspaper The Orkney News in December 2020. Link here. https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/12/01...
Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective In The World By Mark Aldridge
Here we are again. I told you I’d be back relatively soon! Now it has been some time since I discussed the little fussy Belgian detective or his creator with my last article about either being my review of the audio for The ABC Murders quite some time ago. But this is somewhat different. As opposed to reviewing one of Christie’s original mysteries or one of her so called ‘Christie for Christmas’ stories I will be reviewing a special book written for the centennial of Hercule Poirot himself.
The Greatest Detective In The World by Mark Aldridge is a book which discusses every aspect of Poirot’s extensive history from the original novels and short stories which make up the Christie canon, to various stage plays by Agatha herself and others, portrayals on film, television and radio and the character’s recent return through books written at the express request and blessing of the Christie estate.
In many ways this book feels similar to my last review topic although written with a different focus. Much like Nobody Does It Better, Aldridge writes sections on each book or adaptation allowing you to see behind the curtain so to speak. In his case he uses a combination of his own opinions, private correspondence between Christie and several others and reviews of the period to discuss each individual topic. Be it a novel that has been universally regarded as a classic, the begrudging attitude towards many short story collections, the original derogatory reviews of certain films now thought of fairly fondly or the interesting behind the scenes history of the David Suchet TV adaptations among others.
The audiobook is well written with each section being easy to understand and enjoy both on their own merits and collectively as a whole. I found the audiobook in general very easy listening and the information within quite enlightening. It was very interesting in particular to hear Christie’s own opinions about her own work and slowly hear about how certain views of hers changed over time as well as hearing about Black Coffee, Alibi, the very early Poirot films and certain other Poirot projects that were made exclusively for the American market on the proviso they never made it to Britain. It is fascinating to see the evolution of Poirot, Agatha herself and the adaptations from his original appearance in 1920 to now in 2020. It is clear that this book was originally written both for the centenary and to tie in with the original intended release date of Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming Death On The Nile adaptation.
When it comes to narration the audiobook is served very well by Clare Corbett. An individual who has been a narrator for several audiobooks including The Girl On The Train and some releases by Jojo Moyes among others. Corbett’s voice and narration are calm, relaxing and very easy to listen to. Her voice for Christie when reading the correspondence fits wonderfully. I’d certainly be quite enthusiastic if I was to hear her narration again elsewhere.
This review may be somewhat shorter than my last several but in general I highly recommend both the original book and its audiobook. I went through all eleven hours in two days which should give you some clue as to just how much I enjoyed it! It was certainly enjoyable to return to the world of large country houses, extensive global holidays and unexpectedly brutal murders in appropriately upper class settings.
I hope I can persuade some of my readers to join me on this journey through the history of Dame Agatha, a certain moustached Belgian, Captain Hastings and the various cases in her canon.
Sayonara!
Nephrite
Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective In The World By Mark Aldridge
Here we are again. I told you I’d be back relatively soon! Now it has been some time since I discussed the little fussy Belgian detective or his creator with my last article about either being my review of the audio for The ABC Murders quite some time ago. But this is somewhat different. As opposed to reviewing one of Christie’s original mysteries or one of her so called ‘Christie for Christmas’ stories I will be reviewing a special book written for the centennial of Hercule Poirot himself.
The Greatest Detective In The World by Mark Aldridge is a book which discusses every aspect of Poirot’s extensive history from the original novels and short stories which make up the Christie canon, to various stage plays by Agatha herself and others, portrayals on film, television and radio and the character’s recent return through books written at the express request and blessing of the Christie estate.
In many ways this book feels similar to my last review topic although written with a different focus. Much like Nobody Does It Better, Aldridge writes sections on each book or adaptation allowing you to see behind the curtain so to speak. In his case he uses a combination of his own opinions, private correspondence between Christie and several others and reviews of the period to discuss each individual topic. Be it a novel that has been universally regarded as a classic, the begrudging attitude towards many short story collections, the original derogatory reviews of certain films now thought of fairly fondly or the interesting behind the scenes history of the David Suchet TV adaptations among others.
The audiobook is well written with each section being easy to understand and enjoy both on their own merits and collectively as a whole. I found the audiobook in general very easy listening and the information within quite enlightening. It was very interesting in particular to hear Christie’s own opinions about her own work and slowly hear about how certain views of hers changed over time as well as hearing about Black Coffee, Alibi, the very early Poirot films and certain other Poirot projects that were made exclusively for the American market on the proviso they never made it to Britain. It is fascinating to see the evolution of Poirot, Agatha herself and the adaptations from his original appearance in 1920 to now in 2020. It is clear that this book was originally written both for the centenary and to tie in with the original intended release date of Kenneth Branagh’s upcoming Death On The Nile adaptation.
When it comes to narration the audiobook is served very well by Clare Corbett. An individual who has been a narrator for several audiobooks including The Girl On The Train and some releases by Jojo Moyes among others. Corbett’s voice and narration are calm, relaxing and very easy to listen to. Her voice for Christie when reading the correspondence fits wonderfully. I’d certainly be quite enthusiastic if I was to hear her narration again elsewhere.
This review may be somewhat shorter than my last several but in general I highly recommend both the original book and its audiobook. I went through all eleven hours in two days which should give you some clue as to just how much I enjoyed it! It was certainly enjoyable to return to the world of large country houses, extensive global holidays and unexpectedly brutal murders in appropriately upper class settings.
I hope I can persuade some of my readers to join me on this journey through the history of Dame Agatha, a certain moustached Belgian, Captain Hastings and the various cases in her canon.
Sayonara!
Nephrite
January 18, 2025
The excellent book covers the history of Agatha Christie's creation, Hercule Poirot from the 1920s to 2020. I love that the book is organized by decade. There is an index that I know will come in handy because I know I will refer to this book often as I read Poirot novels in the future. The background information on how some of Christie's books came to be and how her daughter and grandson ensured that Agatha's legacy would continue was fascinating to me. There is also information about radio shows, plays, movies, games, and tv programs that feature Poirot.
The stories behind some of the books and shows give a behind-the-scenes look into the publishing, tv, and movie industries. I don't always care for the way Poirot is portrayed or stories are changed in some of the adaptations, but this book makes an important point that has stuck with me - if these updates catch the attention of new generation and helps maintain interest in Christie’s novels, it’s better than the character of Poirot fading away. I highly recommend this book to Agatha Christie readers, especially Poirot fans.
The stories behind some of the books and shows give a behind-the-scenes look into the publishing, tv, and movie industries. I don't always care for the way Poirot is portrayed or stories are changed in some of the adaptations, but this book makes an important point that has stuck with me - if these updates catch the attention of new generation and helps maintain interest in Christie’s novels, it’s better than the character of Poirot fading away. I highly recommend this book to Agatha Christie readers, especially Poirot fans.
February 19, 2022
I suppose I was expecting some sort of fictional biography of Poirot and this book certainly isn’t that. So what is it?
A Business Studies case study of Agatha Christie Limited? It was fascinating to read how her books, plays and characters were a commodity, in her lifetime and beyond.
A biography of the writer? I know a lot more about Christie and her foibles – not to mention her daughter’s – but it’s by no means a complete life story.
A critique of the writer’s body of work? Well no, because her other series’ ( Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence) and her standalone novels, were only briefly mentioned and this left huge gaps between the works covered.
In fact, it’s a summary of Poirot’s appearances in books, places, films and TV. It felt a bit like watching someone on Mastermind answering questions on their specialist subject – interesting, but strangely without context.
A Business Studies case study of Agatha Christie Limited? It was fascinating to read how her books, plays and characters were a commodity, in her lifetime and beyond.
A biography of the writer? I know a lot more about Christie and her foibles – not to mention her daughter’s – but it’s by no means a complete life story.
A critique of the writer’s body of work? Well no, because her other series’ ( Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence) and her standalone novels, were only briefly mentioned and this left huge gaps between the works covered.
In fact, it’s a summary of Poirot’s appearances in books, places, films and TV. It felt a bit like watching someone on Mastermind answering questions on their specialist subject – interesting, but strangely without context.
January 13, 2022
I'm not sure what I was looking for, but this book left me strangely unsatisfied and a little disappointed.
Maybe I wanted something a little more whimsical and charming. A bit more observational. A tad more witty. Poirot is one of my favorite fictional characters, and I am not sure exactly what I wanted out of this book, but it left me a bit flat. Perhaps it was too exhaustive, too long, too detailed.
For example, Aldridge takes us through each of the Poirot mysteries, but can only dance on the edges of Poirot's character in these because he did not want to divulge solutions. How I wish instead that he had just decided to "Spoiler Alert" this whole book and really dive into solving the cases to illustrate Poirot's brilliance and Christie's sublime craftiness more fully. I found myself getting bored reading about mysteries that were anything but boring to read.
Probably my favorite part was when Aldridge went into the excellent British-made series "Poirot" which spanned 25 years of production and portrayed every single Poirot mystery on the small screen but with big screen sensual delights. The great, irreplaceable, and inimitable David Suchet's characterization of the great, irreplaceable, and inimitable Belgian detective is an achievement so outstanding, perfect, and pleasurable that I can countenance no other screen Poirot forever. The ensemble cast - including Hugh Fraser (Hastings), Phillip Jackson (Japp), and Pauline Moran (Miss Lemon) - was pitch perfect, too, and made this series something so special that, having watched every single other episode, my family could not bear to watch "Curtain" and . Aldridge does something (though not nearly enough!) to capture the magic of this show in this book.
BUT THEN, heaven help us, he goes on to actually give accolades to the egregious Branagh (directed by and starring as Poirot) version of Murder on the Orient Express which made me figuratively vomit my way from Raleigh, NC to Seattle on an airplane trip. He then - oh so unforgivable - expresses moderate delight that Branagh is presuming a second foray into waters he ought not dare to swim in making "Death on the Nile." Egad.
So, mixed bag for sure. You may like it better than I did. I am, after all, a partial, prejudiced, and ignorant literary critic. But I am also a reader who has always been besotted with the marvelous Hercule Poirot!
Maybe I wanted something a little more whimsical and charming. A bit more observational. A tad more witty. Poirot is one of my favorite fictional characters, and I am not sure exactly what I wanted out of this book, but it left me a bit flat. Perhaps it was too exhaustive, too long, too detailed.
For example, Aldridge takes us through each of the Poirot mysteries, but can only dance on the edges of Poirot's character in these because he did not want to divulge solutions. How I wish instead that he had just decided to "Spoiler Alert" this whole book and really dive into solving the cases to illustrate Poirot's brilliance and Christie's sublime craftiness more fully. I found myself getting bored reading about mysteries that were anything but boring to read.
Probably my favorite part was when Aldridge went into the excellent British-made series "Poirot" which spanned 25 years of production and portrayed every single Poirot mystery on the small screen but with big screen sensual delights. The great, irreplaceable, and inimitable David Suchet's characterization of the great, irreplaceable, and inimitable Belgian detective is an achievement so outstanding, perfect, and pleasurable that I can countenance no other screen Poirot forever. The ensemble cast - including Hugh Fraser (Hastings), Phillip Jackson (Japp), and Pauline Moran (Miss Lemon) - was pitch perfect, too, and made this series something so special that, having watched every single other episode, my family could not bear to watch "Curtain" and . Aldridge does something (though not nearly enough!) to capture the magic of this show in this book.
BUT THEN, heaven help us, he goes on to actually give accolades to the egregious Branagh (directed by and starring as Poirot) version of Murder on the Orient Express which made me figuratively vomit my way from Raleigh, NC to Seattle on an airplane trip. He then - oh so unforgivable - expresses moderate delight that Branagh is presuming a second foray into waters he ought not dare to swim in making "Death on the Nile." Egad.
So, mixed bag for sure. You may like it better than I did. I am, after all, a partial, prejudiced, and ignorant literary critic. But I am also a reader who has always been besotted with the marvelous Hercule Poirot!
August 31, 2021
I am a huge Poirot fan but this was a struggle. It took me the best part of a month to read (which is unusual for me) and it was just so dry.
January 12, 2021
Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World - 3.5/5
By Mark Aldridge
I saw this book advertised on Instagram and just had to buy it! I wasn't going to read it until I had re-read the whole series but I just couldn't help myself!
I was a little bit disappointed with this book, I was expecting it to be so much more about Poirot and how Agatha Christie created him. Instead it was just pages upon pages of spoiler free retellings of every single Poirot book ever written.
I did find it interesting how a lot of the Poirot books were published under different names in America. I also didn’t realise that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was voted the best crime novel ever in 2013 by the British Crime Writer's Association. It was also interesting how Agatha Christie didn't really like her novel The Mystery of the Blue Train - this is the sort of content that I was expecting in this book.
I loved seeing the picture of Queen Elizabeth and Agatha Christie - probably my favourite part of the book!
I found this book quite repetitive and felt that it could have been done so much better!
By Mark Aldridge
I saw this book advertised on Instagram and just had to buy it! I wasn't going to read it until I had re-read the whole series but I just couldn't help myself!
I was a little bit disappointed with this book, I was expecting it to be so much more about Poirot and how Agatha Christie created him. Instead it was just pages upon pages of spoiler free retellings of every single Poirot book ever written.
I did find it interesting how a lot of the Poirot books were published under different names in America. I also didn’t realise that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was voted the best crime novel ever in 2013 by the British Crime Writer's Association. It was also interesting how Agatha Christie didn't really like her novel The Mystery of the Blue Train - this is the sort of content that I was expecting in this book.
I loved seeing the picture of Queen Elizabeth and Agatha Christie - probably my favourite part of the book!
I found this book quite repetitive and felt that it could have been done so much better!
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June 11, 2024Poirot was my favourite in the Agatha Christie universe, and when I saw this book at the library, I had hopes of perhaps finding some new insights. Unfortunately, the author fell at the first hurdle. Page 2 states that The Mysterious Affair at Styles was set in 1916.
In "Styles", Hastings states "The 16th July fell on a Monday." This places the action unequivocally in 1917 (in 1916 that date fell on a Sunday).
Although I continued reading for a while, and sampled bits and pieces throughout, I could not recover my interest. There seemed to be little original thought about the main character. From "Styles", one can easily make some interesting speculation about Poirot's age, but this wasn't even attempted.
Oh well, back to the library it goes.
No rating for a DNF.
In "Styles", Hastings states "The 16th July fell on a Monday." This places the action unequivocally in 1917 (in 1916 that date fell on a Sunday).
Although I continued reading for a while, and sampled bits and pieces throughout, I could not recover my interest. There seemed to be little original thought about the main character. From "Styles", one can easily make some interesting speculation about Poirot's age, but this wasn't even attempted.
Oh well, back to the library it goes.
No rating for a DNF.
March 24, 2021
A fun and insightful book that I didn't always agree with but was still absolutely fascinating. The writer clearly knows their stuff and has done a lot of research. I also really enjoyed the narrator and found it an all round enjoyable read. Would recommend for Christie lovers
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November 11, 2022I highly recommend to any Agatha Christie Poirot fan. We get an inside look at each Poirot novel, TV show, movie, etc., which was fascinating. (Side note: so happy someone agrees with me that The Big Four was not her best work!)
For those who are new to Christie, I would recommend reading a few of her novels before jumping into this one.
For those who are new to Christie, I would recommend reading a few of her novels before jumping into this one.
November 18, 2023
I love Agatha Christie, and I love Poirot. A great book overall, but a little too detailed even for me. 450 pages is just a little too much, even of something you love, especially telling you quite similar things over and over.
July 22, 2021
I hope the author is working on a similar volume about Miss Marple. Well done!
September 19, 2025
3.5 I enjoyed the spoiler free recaps of all the Poirot books, Agatha Christie's own thoughts on them and how they were received at the time. However, I think the book spent too much time on the adaptations. I also wish it went deeper on the analysis, now it was basically just a catalogue explained.
January 11, 2026
All the info I like, but the writing often was dull
October 31, 2021
This is the perfect book for all Christie fans, but more than anything, it is just perfect and more for all Poirot fans. We have mostly all grown up reading Poirot and his detection skills. Whether it is a murder, or a case of mistaken identity, of theft, or embezzlement, Poirot saves the day. Poirot is the man and Christie created him so perhaps the world could relate to this character.
This book is not only an homage to the detective, but also brings to fore the entire life lived starting from the first book till the last in which he appeared. Mark Aldridge is somewhat the best person to do this, because of the way he presents information to the readers. There is a division of chapters by decades and which books published in which decade. And not to forget the most beautifully done covers of each book – different editions as well, that are there on every page.
What makes this book so exciting is that Aldridge includes Christie’s views on every book, whether she thought it was good enough or not, also some publisher and Christie fights and disagreements, and the movies made from the books.
Poirot is a favourite. Mark only adds to that bias through this book. I couldn’t get more of the writing. The details, the facts that people don’t know about some books, and more are all neatly laid out. What is missing though is the editing at some points; some sections are quite repetitive. That could’ve been avoided for sure. Having said that, Agatha Christie’s Poirot – The Greatest Detective in the World is a great read and every Poirot lover should have it in their collection.
This book is not only an homage to the detective, but also brings to fore the entire life lived starting from the first book till the last in which he appeared. Mark Aldridge is somewhat the best person to do this, because of the way he presents information to the readers. There is a division of chapters by decades and which books published in which decade. And not to forget the most beautifully done covers of each book – different editions as well, that are there on every page.
What makes this book so exciting is that Aldridge includes Christie’s views on every book, whether she thought it was good enough or not, also some publisher and Christie fights and disagreements, and the movies made from the books.
Poirot is a favourite. Mark only adds to that bias through this book. I couldn’t get more of the writing. The details, the facts that people don’t know about some books, and more are all neatly laid out. What is missing though is the editing at some points; some sections are quite repetitive. That could’ve been avoided for sure. Having said that, Agatha Christie’s Poirot – The Greatest Detective in the World is a great read and every Poirot lover should have it in their collection.
January 4, 2023
A must-read for Poirot fans.
February 23, 2024
I am no expert but this book seems very well researched, and though it might sound a bit dry, an exploration of each of the books, short stories, plays and later films and TV series containing Poirot, I found it interesting.
February 24, 2024
Informational and very matter of fact, includes plenty of interesting info for the fans/historians of Poirot & Christie, presented in a straight, dry manner (or should I say, with British enthusiasm :P).
March 8, 2025
Like so many other readers, I love everything by the queen of detective fiction, Agatha Christie, and have read all the novels and stories (more than once), seen the films, and binged the series, especially the modern classic Poirot.
This book, by professor and Agatha Christie historian Mark Aldridge, has been on my to read list since it was published in 2020, and now I finally listened to the audio during my commutes. And it’s fantastic.
This is a book by book bibliography of Hercules Poirot publications from the start, with frank assessments about which are the standouts and which are lesser, and interesting insights and trivia from critical reviews to Christie’s own comments. There’s also fun stuff on stage and screen adaptations, from the really good to the not even close to good (that’s you, Appointment With Death).
This book also has really interesting tangents about Christie's battles with publishers and film studios, as well as context and comparisons with other detectives (that’s you, Sherlock Holmes).
The book summaries are strictly spoiler free which I’m not sure agree with - if you are interested I would think you have read them and the plot summaries and public reactions would be more interesting with full discussion. The author talks around the shocks and classic titles - Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, Curtain - but can’t really go there. But that’s a fairly minor quibble with a really good read.
Super fun and charming read for Christie fans… Gonna read the new Miss Marple one next.
This book, by professor and Agatha Christie historian Mark Aldridge, has been on my to read list since it was published in 2020, and now I finally listened to the audio during my commutes. And it’s fantastic.
This is a book by book bibliography of Hercules Poirot publications from the start, with frank assessments about which are the standouts and which are lesser, and interesting insights and trivia from critical reviews to Christie’s own comments. There’s also fun stuff on stage and screen adaptations, from the really good to the not even close to good (that’s you, Appointment With Death).
This book also has really interesting tangents about Christie's battles with publishers and film studios, as well as context and comparisons with other detectives (that’s you, Sherlock Holmes).
The book summaries are strictly spoiler free which I’m not sure agree with - if you are interested I would think you have read them and the plot summaries and public reactions would be more interesting with full discussion. The author talks around the shocks and classic titles - Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, Curtain - but can’t really go there. But that’s a fairly minor quibble with a really good read.
Super fun and charming read for Christie fans… Gonna read the new Miss Marple one next.
September 17, 2023
Hard to put down! Read on my trip going to the UK.
March 19, 2023
Detailed chronological account of all the Poirot novels, short stories, and the many adaptations on film, tv, radio etc, including recent spin offs by other authors. The author gives his own opinions of all the various works, but you don’t have to agree with them all to enjoy this comprehensive volume. For those who haven’t yet read all the books, there are no ‘spoilers’.
March 30, 2022
This is not the most comprehensive nor the best written overview of Agatha Christie’s body of work, but it certainly got the job done. It was a readable (if slightly overlong) book covering the changing interpretations of Christie’s most famous detective which included discussions of all of his appearances in books, film, radio, and television, as well as audience and critical reactions to those appearances. It's a nice bit of commemorative nostalgia to mark Poirot’s hundredth anniversary and it might just start you reading through all of her novels again.
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