16 September,2026 09:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Nandini Varma
The Agatha Christie Memorial at St Martin’s Cross in London. Pics Courtesy/Wikimedia Commons
The Secret Adversary (HarperCollins, 1922): THE best-known Agatha Christie books feature Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Here's one that introduces her lesser-known detectives, Tommy and Tuppence, two childhood friends.
The duo gets together to investigate a secret organisation that is associated with a missing document. This piece of paper could potentially bring the government down.
Pic courtesy/Youtube
Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel (HarperCollins India): Miss Marple returns in a new mystery set in the Swiss Alps. Everyone is a suspect at the Grand Alpine Hotel in the mountains and anyone could be next: a notorious actress, a politician, a shrewd doctor, a reckless friend. British crime author Lucy Foley breathes new life into Christie's much-loved character.
(William Morrow, 1934): Agatha Christie wrote some books under the name of Mary Westmacott. They freed her from the genre of mystery, and helped her explore human psychology better. In this novel, the protagonist Celia contemplates suicide after experiencing loss. One night, she meets a portrait painter whom she shares her story with, as her fate hangs by a thread.
Parker Pyne Investigates (William Morrow, 1934): A diamond is stolen during a party trick. A woman seeks advice after discovering her husband's relationship with a typist. Another believes she is the victim of a soul-transfer process. A German pilot narrates a story of two former passengers, one suspected of killing the other. In this short story collection, Christie's unconventional private investigator Parker Pyne travels the world, solving demanding cases.
The Sittaford Mystery (HarperCollins, 1931): Few Christie novels use the supernatural. This was the first time she employed it. In Mrs Willett's house in Dartmoor, six characters conduct a séance. The spirits have a message for them, prophesying the death of Captain Trevelyan. But his house is six miles away and one must pass through snowy roads to get there. Amateur but clever sleuth Emily Trefusis takes charge of this case.
Abu Simbel: Her classic Death on the Nile (left) makes this a prime location, where the passengers of the Karnak cruise, including Hercule Poirot, halt.
Venice: While it doesn't feature in her novels, a film adaptation A Haunting in Venice, based on The Hallowe'en Party, featuring Kenneth Branagh as Poirot, popularised the city.
London: The Paddington station, the London tube, and especially the Piccadilly Circus become key locations in several books from Miss Marple mysteries to Poirot as well as Tommy and Tuppence stories.
Istanbul and former Yugoslavia: Christie's most famous work Murder of the Orient Express begins in Istanbul but the heavy snowfall interrupts the journey in erstwhile Yugoslavia.
