Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

How it works
Open a comment with a wish list, an amount your hoping to read or just a comment for now. Update your comment (Edit) as you go throughout the year. Share her novels or movies or whatever you like as we go through the year.

Agatha Christie was the best-selling novelist of all time, who also worked as a trained pharmacist, learned to surf in the 1920s, and disappeared for 11 days in a famous mystery. She had a passion for archaeology, which inspired several of her novels, and her play The Mousetrap is the longest-running production in the world. She was a teetotaller and non-smoker who enjoyed dogs, music, and puzzles.

Every Poirot Novel in Order of Publication

The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920
Murder on the Links 1923
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1925
The Big Four 1927
The Mystery of the Blue Train 1928
Peril at End House 1932
Lord Edgware Dies 1933
Murder on the Orient Express 1934
Three Act Tragedy 1935
Death in the Clouds 1935
The A.B.C. Murders 1936
Murder in Mesopotamia 1936
Cards on the Table 1936
Death on the Nile 1937
Dumb Witness 1937
Appointment with Death 1938
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas 1938
Sad Cypress 1940
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe 1940
Evil Under the Sun 1941
Five Little Pigs 1942
Sparkling Cyanide 1945
The Hollow 1946
Taken at the Flood 1948
Mrs McGinty’s Dead 1952
After the Funeral 1953
Hickory Dickory Dock 1955
Dead Man’s Folly 1956
Cat Among the Pigeons 1959
The Clocks 1963
Third Girl 1966
Hallowe’en Party 1969
Elephants Can Remember 1972
Curtain 1975

Every Marple Novel in Order of Publication

The Murder at the Vicarage 1930
The Body in the Library 1942
The Moving Finger 1942
A Murder is Announced 1950
They Do It with Mirrors 1952
A Pocket Full of Rye 1953
4.50 From Paddington 1957
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side 1962
A Caribbean Mystery 1964
At Bertram’s Hotel 1965
Nemesis 1971
Sleeping Murder 1976

Every Tommy and Tuppence Novel in Order of Publication

The Secret Adversary 1922
Partners in Crime 1929
N or M? 1941
By the Pricking of My Thumbs 1968
Postern of Fate 1973

Stand-A-Lone

And Then There Were None 1939
Death Comes as the End 1944
Endless Night 1967

Agatha Christie wrote a further 18 mystery novels a few of her strongest female characters can be found in these novels such as Emily Trefusis in ‘The Sittaford Mystery’, Virginia Revel in ‘The Secret of Chimneys’ and Victoria Jones in ‘They Came to Baghdad’. The dashing Mark Easterbrook in ‘The Pale Horse’ and Luke Fitzwilliam in ‘Murder is Easy’ are also worth meeting too. This is NOT a complete list of her work
++++++++++++++++++++++

Mary Westmacott
Pseudonym choice: "Mary" was Christie's middle name, and "Westmacott" was the surname of distant relatives.

Giant’s Bread (1930)
Unfinished Portrait (1934)
Absent in the Spring (1944)
The Rose and the Yew Tree (1947) a great favourite of hers
A Daughter’s a Daughter (1952)
The Burden (1956)

Absent in Spring a picture of the family from the thoughts of one woman alone in the desert.
The Rose and the Yew Tree has a beautiful, upper class woman marries a working class opportunist, but his attempts to elevate himself lead to unforeseen consequences.
The possessive love of a mother for her child, or a child for its mother in both Giant’s Bread and Unfinished Portrait. The battle between the widowed mother and her grown-up daughter in A Daughter’s a Daughter. A girl’s obsession with her younger sister in The Burden and the closeness of love to hate – the Burden in this story being the weight of one person’s love on someone else.

This sounds fun Lesle.

This is my Agatha Christie record. I have kept it in my journal for personal ease 😊

(Please note that I have used series as they appear in Goodreads' Agatha Christie author page.)

Hercule Poirot

✔The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
✔Murder on the Links (1923)
✔The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1925)
✔The Big Four (1927)
✔The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
✔Peril at End House (1932)
✔Lord Edgware Dies (1933)
🔴✔Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
✔Three Act Tragedy (1935)
✔Death in the Clouds (1935)
✔The A.B.C. Murders (1936)
✔Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
✔Cards on the Table (1936)
✔Death on the Nile (1937)
✔Dumb Witness (1937)
✔Appointment with Death (1938)
✔Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1938)
✔Sad Cypress (1940)
✔One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940)
✔Evil Under the Sun (1941)
✔Five Little Pigs (1942)
✔The Hollow (1946)
✔Taken at the Flood (1948)
✔Mrs McGinty’s Dead (1952)
✔After the Funeral (1953)
✔Hickory Dickory Dock (1955)
✔Dead Man’s Folly (1956)
✔Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)
✔The Clocks (1963)
✔Third Girl (1966)
🔴✔Hallowe’en Party (1969)
✔Elephants Can Remember (1972)
✔Curtain (1975)

Miss Marple

✔The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
✔The Body in the Library (1942)
✔The Moving Finger (1942)
✔A Murder is Announced (1950)
✔They Do It with Mirrors (1952)
✔A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)
🔴✔4.50 From Paddington (1957)
✔The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side (1962)
✔A Caribbean Mystery (1964)
✔At Bertram’s Hotel (1965)
✔Nemesis (1971)
✔Sleeping Murder (1976)

Tommy Tuppence Series

✔The Secret Adversary (1922)
✔Partners in Crime (1929)
N or M? (1941)
By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)
Postern of Fate (1973)

Colonel Race

✔The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)
✔Cards on the Table (1936) (shared with Poirot)
✔Death on the Nile (1937) (shared with Poirot)
🔴✔Sparkling Cyanide (1945)

Superintendent Battle

✔The Secret Chimneys (1925)
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)
✔Cards on the Table (1936) (shared with Poirot)
✔Murder is Easy (1939)
🔴Towards Zero (1944)

Ariadne Oliver

✔Cards on the Table (1936) (shared with Poirot and Battle)
✔Mrs. McGinty's Dead (1952) (shared with Poirot)
✔Dead Man's Folly (1956) (shared with Poirot)
🔴The Pale Horse (1961)
✔Third Girl (1966) (shared with Poirot)
✔Hallowe'en Party (1969) (shared with Poirot)
✔Elephants Can Remember (1972) (shared with Poirot)

Stand-alones

✔The Sittaford Mystery (1931)
✔Why Didn't They Ask Evans? ( 1934)
✔And Then There Were None (1939)
✔Death Comes as the End (1944)
✔Crooked House (1949)
✔They Came to Baghdad (1951)
✔Destination Unknown (1954)
✔Ordeal by Innocence (1958)
✔Endless Night (1967)

I have marked ✔ what I have read and 🔴 what I hope to read/reread for A Year with Agatha Christie.

I like this list. I have the books listed here as abridged editions—some of them.

Looking forward to this as well!
Have Read
📚Own but have not read
✒️Most Want to Read

Every Poirot Novel in Order of Publication

The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920
Murder on the Links 1923
✒️The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1925
The Big Four 1927
The Mystery of the Blue Train 1928
Peril at End House 1932
Lord Edgware Dies 1933
Murder on the Orient Express 1934
Three Act Tragedy 1935
✒️Death in the Clouds 1935
The A.B.C. Murders 1936
Murder in Mesopotamia 1936
Cards on the Table 1936
Death on the Nile 1937
Dumb Witness 1937
Appointment with Death 1938
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas 1938
Sad Cypress 1940
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe 1940
Evil Under the Sun 1941
Five Little Pigs 1942
Sparkling Cyanide 1945
The Hollow 1946
Taken at the Flood 1948
Mrs McGinty’s Dead 1952
After the Funeral 1953
Hickory Dickory Dock 1955
Dead Man’s Folly 1956
Cat Among the Pigeons 1959
📚The Clocks 1963
Third Girl 1966
✒️Hallowe’en Party 1969 Because of the last movie
Elephants Can Remember 1972
Curtain 1975

Every Marple Novel in Order of Publication

✒️The Murder at the Vicarage 1930
The Body in the Library 1942
The Moving Finger 1942
A Murder is Announced 1950
They Do It with Mirrors 1952
A Pocket Full of Rye 1953
4.50 From Paddington 1957
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side 1962
A Caribbean Mystery 1964
At Bertram’s Hotel 1965
Nemesis 1971
Sleeping Murder 1976

Every Tommy and Tuppence Novel in Order of Publication

The Secret Adversary 1922
N or M? 1941
By the Pricking of My Thumbs 1968
📚Postern of Fate 1973

Stand-A-Lone

And Then There Were None 1939
Death Comes as the End 1944
Endless Night 1967


I've also listened to the audiobook of Poirot short stories, Murder in Paradise: Thirteen Mysteries from the Travels of Hercule Poirot, (which I would not recommend, the audio was terrible). But it included the following short stories:
"The Plymouth Express"
"The Submarine Plans"
"Problem at Sea"
"How Does Your Garden Grow?"
"The Market Basing Mystery"
"The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan"
"The Million Dollar Bond Robbery"
"The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb"
"The Affair at the Victory Ball"
"The King of Clubs"
"The Lemesurier Inheritance"
"The Cornish Mystery"
"The Adventure of the Clapham Cook"

Michelle you have quite a list of read already! That is great.

Piyangie I remember you reading a bunch of Agatha. Did not realize how much!

A journal of her work is a great idea!

Thanks for the list, Lesle! I had been planning to reread some of Christie's books in 2026 even before the full year read was planned, so this is great.

✔ - read 🌟- will reread

Every Poirot Novel in Order of Publication

✔The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920
✔Murder on the Links 1923
✔The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1925
✔The Big Four 1927
🌟✔The Mystery of the Blue Train 1928
✔Peril at End House 1932
✔Lord Edgware Dies 1933
✔Murder on the Orient Express 1934
✔Three Act Tragedy 1935
✔Death in the Clouds 1935
✔The A.B.C. Murders 1936
✔Murder in Mesopotamia 1936
🌟✔Cards on the Table 1936
🌟✔Death on the Nile 1937
✔Dumb Witness 1937
✔Appointment with Death 1938
✔Hercule Poirot’s Christmas 1938
✔Sad Cypress 1940
✔One, Two, Buckle My Shoe 1940
✔Evil Under the Sun 1941
🌟✔Five Little Pigs 1942
✔Sparkling Cyanide 1945
✔The Hollow 1946
✔Taken at the Flood 1948
✔Mrs McGinty’s Dead 1952
✔After the Funeral 1953
✔Hickory Dickory Dock 1955
✔Dead Man’s Folly 1956
✔Cat Among the Pigeons 1959
✔The Clocks 1963
✔Third Girl 1966
✔Hallowe’en Party 1969
✔Elephants Can Remember 1972
✔Curtain 1975

Every Marple Novel in Order of Publication

✔The Murder at the Vicarage 1930
✔The Body in the Library 1942
✔The Moving Finger 1942
✔A Murder is Announced 1950
✔They Do It with Mirrors 1952
✔A Pocket Full of Rye 1953
✔4.50 From Paddington 1957
✔The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side 1962
✔A Caribbean Mystery 1964
✔At Bertram’s Hotel 1965
🌟✔Nemesis 1971
🌟✔Sleeping Murder 1976

Every Tommy and Tuppence Novel in Order of Publication

🌟✔The Secret Adversary 1922
✔N or M? 1941
✔By the Pricking of My Thumbs 1968
✔Postern of Fate 1973

Stand-A-Lone

✔And Then There Were None 1939
✔Death Comes as the End 1944
🌟✔Endless Night 1967

Agatha Christie wrote a further 18 mystery novels a few of her strongest female characters can be found in these novels such as Emily Trefusis in ✔‘The Sittaford Mystery’,
Virginia Revel in 🌟✔‘The Secret of Chimneys’ and
Victoria Jones in ✔‘They Came to Baghdad’.
The dashing Mark Easterbrook in 🌟✔‘The Pale Horse’ and
Luke Fitzwilliam in ✔‘Murder is Easy’ are also worth meeting too. This is NOT a complete list of her work
++++++++++++++++++++++

Mary Westmacott
Pseudonym choice: "Mary" was Christie's middle name, and "Westmacott" was the surname of distant relatives.

Giant’s Bread (1930)
Unfinished Portrait (1934)
✔Absent in the Spring (1944)
The Rose and the Yew Tree (1947) a great favourite of hers
A Daughter’s a Daughter (1952)
The Burden (1956)

In addition, I would like to read sometime:
Agatha Christie as a character
Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library -Amanda Chapman (2025)
Death in a Desert Land (Agatha Christie #3) - Andrew Wilson (2019)

Books written by other authors
Black Coffee - Charles Osborne (adapted from the play by Agatha Christie) (1998)

Nonfiction about Agatha Christie
A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie - Kathryn Harkup (2015)
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks - John Curran (2009)

Oh my goodness Kathy! You practically have read everything she did!! That is remarkable girl!

I really enjoyed the Tommy and Tuppence books. They're often overlooked but they're really good.

Lesle wrote: "Oh my goodness Kathy! You practically have read everything she did!! That is remarkable girl!"

That's why I'm rereading some! I really enjoy her books; they are a comfort read for me. I've chosen some of which I don't necessarily know the ending. I have read quite a few books of Christie's short stories but I don't enjoy them as much as the novels.

Rosemarie wrote: "I really enjoyed the Tommy and Tuppence books. They're often overlooked but they're really good."

I was surprised by how much I like Tommy and Tuppence.

That's great, Kathy and Rosemarie. Unfortunately, Tommy and Tuppence didn't work for me. I stopped reading after Partners in Crime.

Oh, what fun! I'm reading through her novels chronologically, so this is a great way to keep me going!

Every Poirot Novel in Order of Publication

✔The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920
✔Murder on the Links 1923
✔The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1925
✔The Big Four 1927
✔The Mystery of the Blue Train 1928
✔Peril at End House 1932
✔Lord Edgware Dies 1933
✔Murder on the Orient Express 1934
✔Three Act Tragedy 1935
✔Death in the Clouds 1935
✔The A.B.C. Murders 1936
✔Murder in Mesopotamia 1936
✔Cards on the Table 1936
✔Death on the Nile 1937
✔Dumb Witness 1937
✔Appointment with Death 1938
✔Hercule Poirot’s Christmas 1938
✔Sad Cypress 1940
✔One, Two, Buckle My Shoe 1940
✔Evil Under the Sun 1941
🌟Five Little Pigs 1942
Sparkling Cyanide 1945
The Hollow 1946
Taken at the Flood 1948
Mrs McGinty’s Dead 1952
After the Funeral 1953
Hickory Dickory Dock 1955
Dead Man’s Folly 1956
Cat Among the Pigeons 1959
The Clocks 1963
Third Girl 1966
Hallowe’en Party 1969
Elephants Can Remember 1972
Curtain 1975

Every Marple Novel in Order of Publication

✔The Murder at the Vicarage 1930
🌟The Body in the Library 1942
🌟The Moving Finger 1942
A Murder is Announced 1950
They Do It with Mirrors 1952
A Pocket Full of Rye 1953
4.50 From Paddington 1957
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side 1962
A Caribbean Mystery 1964
At Bertram’s Hotel 1965
Nemesis 1971
Sleeping Murder 1976

Every Tommy and Tuppence Novel in Order of Publication

✔The Secret Adversary 1922
✔Partners in Crime 1929
🌟N or M? 1941
By the Pricking of My Thumbs 1968
Postern of Fate 1973

Short Stories

✔The Mysterious Mr. Quin 1930
✔The Thirteen Problems 1932
✔The Hound of Death 1933
✔The Listerdale Mystery 1934
✔Murder in the Mews and Other Stories 1937
🌟The Regatta Mystery 1939
The Labours of Hercules 1947
Witness for the Prosecution 1948
Three Blind Mice 1950
The Under Dog 1951
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding 1960
Double Sin 1961
Star Over Bethlehem 1965
The Golden Ball 1971
Poirot's Early Cases 1974
Miss Marple's Final Cases 1979
Problem at Pollensa Bay 1991


Stand-A-Lone

✔Parker Pyne Investigates 1934
✔And Then There Were None 1939
🌟Death Comes as the End 1944
Crooked House 1949
Destination Unknown 1954
Ordeal by Innocence 1958
Endless Night 1967
Passenger to Frankfurt 1970

Agatha Christie wrote a further 18 mystery novels a few of her strongest female characters can be found in these novels such as:

✔Ann Beddingfield in ✔The Man in the Brown Suit 1924
✔Lady Eileen (Bundle) Brent in ✔The Secret of Chimneys 1925 & ✔The Seven Dials Mystery 1929
✔Emily Trefusis in ✔The Sittaford Mystery 1931
✔Luke Fitzwilliam in ✔Murder is Easy 1939
Superintendent Battle in 🌟Towards Zero 1944
Victoria Jones in They Came to Baghdad 1951
The dashing Mark Easterbrook in The Pale Horse 1961
are also worth meeting too. This is NOT a complete list of her work
++++++++++++++++++++++

Mary Westmacott
Pseudonym choice: "Mary" was Christie's middle name, and "Westmacott" was the surname of distant relatives.

✔Giant’s Bread (1930)
✔Unfinished Portrait (1934)
🌟Absent in the Spring (1944)
The Rose and the Yew Tree (1947) a great favourite of hers
A Daughter’s a Daughter (1952)
The Burden (1956)

This is a great idea, Lesle. I’ve read a lot of her books, but never recorded the details except as “read” on Goodreads. Some of her work has been spoiled for me by various dramatisations being televised repeatedly. But looking at the lists here there are books that I don’t recognise & it will be interesting to explore them as well as reread books that I haven’t read for a long time. I’ll start a list here soon.

Welcome Trisha and Cleo!!

Hope you both enjoy!

Lesle wrote: "How it works... Share her novels or movies or whatever..."

I have announced to my household that this gives me an excuse to make everyone watch the Kenneth Branagh movies yet again. I love him as Poirot and have probably seen his 3 movies a dozen times, which, considering they're not that old, is probably overkill.

Piyangie wrote: "That's great, Kathy and Rosemarie. Unfortunately, Tommy and Tuppence didn't work for me. I stopped reading after Partners in Crime."

Tommy and Tuppence didn't work for me either.

There are a number of Poirot books I haven't read for some reason, so this will be a great opportunity to rectify that. Murder on the Orient Express is one of my favorites.

Michelle wrote: "I have announced to my household that this gives me an excuse to make everyone watch the Kenneth Branagh movies yet again. ..."

Oh my Michelle!! Hahaha! That is great 😂 💿 📽

Somehow I missed a Tommy anbd Tuppence Mystery. I added to the list it was number 2 in the series.

Partners in Crime 1929

I only sporadically read Agatha Christie, usually to complete some challenge (e.g. “Read a book published in 1942”). So, my reading of her work has been very random.

For 2026, I plan to read a few more of the better-known Poirot’s and to give Miss Marple a try. I would also like to read another Stand-A-Lone, but I haven’t decided on any yet.

Every Poirot Novel in Order of Publication
📚#4 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 1925
📚#6 The Mystery of the Blue Train 1928
📚#8 Peril at End House 1932
#10 Murder on the Orient Express 1934
📚#18 Death on the Nile 1937
#19 Appointment with Death 1938
#24 Evil Under the Sun 1941
#25 Five Little Pigs 1942

Every Marple Novel in Order of Publication
📚#1 The Murder at the Vicarage 1930
📚#4 A Murder is Announced 1950

Stand-A-Lone
And Then There Were None 1939 (my favourite so far)
Crooked House 1949

Lindenblatt nice choices and welcome!

I've never read Agatha Christie. I'lltry a couple.

Actually Book Nerd I am not surprised by that comment :) Welcome!

If you like short stories, I recommend The Mysterious Mr. Quin and The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories about the mysterious Harley Quin.