Folio Society Hercule Poirot Novels Collection By Agatha Christie

Introduced by Anthony Horowitz
Illustrated by Andrew Davidson 

Four-volume set, published 12th June 2014, £99
 

The Folio Society is publishing a lavish four-volume edition of Hercule Poirot’s most celebrated and unforgettable mysteries. The bestselling novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz, who adapted the Poirot novels for television, has contributed an outstanding introduction which appears in the complete set. Each volume also features artwork by illustrator Andrew Davidson, continuing his beautiful, nostalgic images from The Folio Society’s single-volume Miss Marple Short Stories and four-volume Miss Marple Novels Collection.
 

In 1920, the world was introduced to the most beloved detective in 20th-century fiction: Hercule Poirot. This ‘extraordinary-looking little man’, a refugee from war-torn Belgium, would investigate some of the most famous of Christie’s mysteries. This collection unites four of the best Poirot novels. With settings as varied as the frozen plains of Central Europe and the Nile River valley, they also include his first ever mystery.
 

“There is no more cunning player of the murder game than Agatha Christie” Sunday Times

The Mysterious Affair at Styles 

 When the wealthy Emily Inglethorp is poisoned at her country house, Styles, the culprit seems obvious. Her husband Alfred was heard to quarrel with her violently – and was seen buying strychnine in the local town. Yet when he is just about to be arrested, Hercule Poirot comes forward to save him. He reminds all concerned that appearances can be deceiving, and that there are unsolved oddities in the case – including the shattered coffee cup, the scrap of green cloth and the burned fragments of a will … The first novel to introduce us to both Poirot and Hastings, this is also one of Christie’s most satisfying mysteries.

Murder on the Orient Express 

A curious group of passengers is assembled on the Istanbul–Calais coach of the Simplon Orient Express. They include a Russian princess, an Italian salesman, an English colonel – and Hercule Poirot. The morning after the train is stopped dead by a deep snowdrift, American millionaire Mr Ratchett is found stabbed to death, his compartment bolted on the inside. It is clear that the murderer must be one of his fellow passengers – and must still be on the train. One of Christie’s most famous novels, Murder on the Orient Express boasts a truly audacious solution. 

The ABC Murders

Alice Ascher, an elderly shopkeeper, has been murdered in Andover. Next, the pretty waitress Betty Barnard is found dead in Bexhill-on-Sea. Each of these murders is hinted at beforehand in a taunting letter to Poirot, signed ‘ABC’. Together with his friend Arthur Hastings, and a team from Scotland Yard, Poirot must pursue the ABC serial killer – in a battle of wits that soon becomes very personal indeed. The murderer keeps one step ahead at first, but as Poirot puts it, ‘He cannot help throwing light upon himself …’ Unusually for Christie, The ABC Murders employs multiple narrators, spinning an ingenious web that culminates in a startling finale – a truly brilliant mystery.

Death on the Nile

Poirot has decided to escape the winter with a cruise down the Nile River in Egypt. Among his fellow travellers are a couple on honeymoon, Simon and Linnet Doyle. They are being stalked by Simon’s former fiancée, Jacqueline de Bellefort, who shows Poirot her pearl-handled pistol – ‘a dainty toy’. Shortly afterwards, Linnet Doyle is shot in the head. Suspicion falls on Jacqueline, but Poirot knows that other passengers had their own reasons to bring death to the Nile. Inspired by Christie’s travels with her archaeologist husband, this world-famous story has twice been adapted for the screen.

Illustrations from l-r: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, The ABC Murders.

For over 65 years The Folio Society has been publishing beautiful illustrated editions of the world's greatest books. We believe that the literary content of a book should be matched by its physical form. With specially commissioned and researched illustrations, many of our editions are further enhanced with introductions written by leading figures in their fields: novelists, journalists, academics, scientists and artists.

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Illustrations © Andrew Davidson