Hercule Poirot and fictional canon
The sets of rules involving "official" details of the "lives" and "works" of fictional characters vary from one fictional universe to the next according to the canon established by critics and/or enthusiasts. Some fans of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot have proposed that the novels are set on the date they were published, unless the novel itself gives a different date. It has further been proposed that only works written by her (including short stories, the novels and her play Black Coffee) are to be considered canon by most fans and biographers. This would render everything else (plays, movies, television adaptations, etc.) as an adaptation, or secondary material. A contradiction between the novels can be resolved, in most cases, by going with the novel that was published first.
An example of this would be the ongoing controversy over Poirot's age. Taken at face value it appears that Poirot was over 125 years old when he died. Though the majority of the Hercule Poirot novels are set between World War I and World War II, the later novels then set him in the 1960s (which is contemporary with the time Agatha Christie was writing even though it created minor discrepancies). Many people believe, from her later works, that Poirot retired from police work at around 50, but this is untrue, because as shown in the short story "The Chocolate Box", he retired at around 30. By accepting the date given in "The Chocolate Box" over later novels, which never gave precise ages anyway, it can be explained why Poirot is around for so long.
Also the debate over Poirot’s family is fuelled mainly by the fact that he mentions a sister in the original publication of "The Chocolate Box" but for some reason this reference was removed from the later editions.
The Poirot books are still under copyright. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is now public domain in the US but will not become public domain in the UK until 2046 (70 years after Christie's death). Christie's grandson, Matthew Prichard, now owns the copyright to his grandmother's works.
In 2014, the Christie estate authorised author Sophie Hannah to write a new Poirot book, The Monogram Murders.
Short story collections listed as "ss"
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
- The Murder on the Links (1923)
- Poirot Investigates (1924, ss)
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
- The Big Four (1927)
- The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
- Black Coffee (1930 play - novel adapted from play published in 1998)
- Peril at End House (1932)
- Lord Edgware Dies (1933) also published as Thirteen at Dinner
- Murder on the Orient Express (1934) also published as Murder in the Calais Coach
- Three Act Tragedy (1935) also published as Murder in Three Acts
- Death in the Clouds (1935) also published as Death in the Air
- The A.B.C. Murders (1936)
- Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
- Cards on the Table (1936)
- Dumb Witness (1937) also published as Poirot Loses a Client
- Death on the Nile (1937)
- Murder in the Mews (1937, ss) also published as Dead Man's Mirror
- Appointment with Death (1938)
- Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938) also published as Murder for Christmas and as A Holiday for Murder
- The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (1939, ss)
- Sad Cypress (1940)
- One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940) also published as Overdose of Death and as The Patriotic Murders
- Evil Under the Sun (1941)
- Five Little Pigs (1942) also published as Murder in Retrospect
- The Hollow (1946) also published as Murder after Hours
- The Labours of Hercules (1947, ss)
- Taken at the Flood (1948) also published as There Is a Tide
- The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951, ss)
- Mrs McGinty's Dead (1952) also published as Blood Will Tell
- After the Funeral (1953) also published as Funerals are Fatal
- Hickory Dickory Dock (1955) also published as Hickory Dickory Death
- Dead Man's Folly (1956)
- Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)
- The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960, ss)
- Double Sin and Other Stories (1961, ss)
- The Clocks (1963)
- Third Girl (1966)
- Hallowe'en Party (1969)
- Elephants Can Remember (1972)
- Poirot's Early Cases (1974, ss)
- Curtain (written about 1940, published 1975)
- Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (1991, ss)
- The Harlequin Tea Set (1997, ss)
- While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (1997, ss)
"The Chocolate Box" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
Shortly after Poirot flees to England (1916–1918)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
"The Kidnapped Prime Minister" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The LeMesurier Inheritance" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Affair at the Victory Ball" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
Poirot settles down in London and opens a private detective agency. These are the short story years (25 short stories and only 4 novels).
"The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Plymouth Express" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Adventure of the Cheap Flat" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Submarine Plans" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Cornish Mystery" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Mystery of the Hunters Lodge" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Market Basing Mystery" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The King of Clubs" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Double Clue" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Adventure of Johnny Waverly" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Case of the Missing Will" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Lost Mine" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Million Dollar Bond Robbery" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
"The Veiled Lady" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Adventure of the Western Star" (short story from Poirot Investigates)
Murder on the Links
"Double Sin" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" also published as The Theft Of The Royal Ruby (short story from The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding) is an expanded version of "The Christmas Adventure"
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Big Four
The Mystery of the Blue Train is an expanded version of "The Plymouth Express"
"The Third Floor Flat" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
"The Under Dog" (short story from The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding)
"Wasp's Nest" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases)
Christie increased her novel production during this time (14 novels, 21 total short stories and one theatre play). Twelve short stories form The Labours of Hercules. The other short stories listed here take place in this period but were published before and after the publication of Hercules. The theatre play is named Black Coffee and was written by Agatha Christie, who stated a frustration with other stage adaptations of her Poirot mysteries. In 1998, author Charles Osborne adapted the play into a novel.
"The Mystery of the Spanish Chest" (short story from The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and The Regatta Mystery) is an expanded version of "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest"
Peril at End House
Lord Edgware Dies, also published as Thirteen at Dinner
Black Coffee
Murder in Mesopotamia
Murder on the Orient Express also published as Murder in the Calais Coach
Three Act Tragedy, also published as Murder in Three Acts
Death in the Clouds
"How Does Your Garden Grow?" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases and The Regatta Mystery)
"Dead Man's Mirror" (short story from Murder in the Mews) is an expanded version of The Second Gong in Problem at Pollensa Bay
The A.B.C. Murders
Poirot Loses a Client also published as Dumb Witness
"Problem at Sea" (short story from Poirot's Early Cases and The Regatta Mystery)
"Triangle at Rhodes" (short story from Murder in the Mews)
"The Incredible Theft" (short story from Murder in the Mews) is an expanded version of "The Submarine Plans"
"Murder in the Mews" (short story from Murder in the Mews) is an expanded version of The Market Basing Mystery"
Cards on the Table
Death on the Nile
Appointment with Death
Murder for Christmas also published as Hercule Poirot's Christmas and Holiday for Murder
"Yellow Iris" (short story from The Regatta Mystery)
"The Dream" (short story from The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding and The Regatta Mystery)
Patriotic Murders also published as One, Two, Buckle My Shoe and Overdose of Death
Sad Cypress
"The Nemean Lion" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Lernaean Hydra" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Arcadian Deer" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Erymanthian Boar" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Augean Stables" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Stymphalean Birds" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Cretan Bull" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Horses of Diomedes" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Girdle of Hyppolita" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Flock of Geryon" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Apples of Hesperides" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
"The Capture of Cerberus" (short story from The Labours of Hercules)
A new detective, Miss Marple, enters the stage and Hercule Poirot mysteries become rare. In 36 years Agatha Christie wrote only 13 novels and one short story.
Evil Under the Sun
"Four and Twenty Blackbirds" (short story from The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding)
Murder in Retrospect also published as Five Little Pigs
Murder after Hours also published as The Hollow
Taken at the Flood also published as There Is a Tide
Mrs McGinty's Dead also published as Blood Will Tell
After the Funeral also published as Funerals are Fatal
Hickory Dickory Dock also published as Hickory Dickory Death
Dead Man's Folly
Cat Among the Pigeons
The Clocks
Third Girl
Hallowe'en Party
Elephants Can Remember
Curtain, Hercule Poirot's last case (published in 1975)
The Monogram Murders, written by Sophie Hannah (published in 2014)
Closed Casket, written by Sophie Hannah (published 2016)
Expanded/Adapted stories
Some Poirot adventures were later expanded into other stories or re-written. They are:
The Plymouth Express (1923 short story) was expanded into the 1928 novel The Mystery of the Blue Train
The Market Basing Mystery (1923 short story) was expanded into the 1936 novella Murder In The Mews
The Submarine Plans (1923 short story) was expanded into the 1937 novella The Incredible Theft
Christmas Adventure (1923 short story) was expanded into the 1960 novella The Adventure Of The Christmas Pudding
The Mystery Of The Baghdad Chest (1932 short story) was expanded into the 1960 novella The Mystery Of The Spanish Chest
The Second Gong (1932 short story) was expanded into the 1937 novella Dead Man's Mirror
The Regatta Mystery (1936 short story) was re-written in 1939 featuring Parker Pyne instead of Poirot
Yellow Iris (1937 short story) was expanded into the 1945 novel Sparkling Cyanide featuring Col. John Race instead of Poirot
Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly (posthumous novella) expanded into the 1956 novel Dead Man's Folly
The Incident of the Dog's Ball (posthumous short story) expanded into the 1937 novel Dumb Witness
The Capture of Cerberus (posthumous short story), originally intended to be the last of The Labours of Hercules but re-written due to its political content
Other stories were adapted by Christie into plays, sometimes removing Poirot:
Alibi (1928 play) written together with Michael Morton
Wasp's Nest (1937 TV play)
The Yellow Iris (1937 radio play)
Appointment with Death (1945 play) in which Poirot doesn't appear
Hidden Horizon (1944 play) in which Poirot doesn't appear
The Hollow (1951 play) in which Poirot doesn't appear
In addition, the 1930 play Black Coffee was novelized by Charles Osborne in 1998.
