The investigations of Hercule Poirot in the novels of Agatha Christie
Hercule Poirot. An extraordinary little man! Height, five feet four inches, egg-shaped head carried a little to one side, eyes that shone green when he was excited, stiff military moustache, air of dignity immense! He was neat an d dandified in appearance.
Of course one knows of films like "Murder on the Orient Express", "Poirot on the Nile"; even the name Miss Marple, another of her characters, is known to many of us; but discovering the luminous depth of the works of Agatha Christi (1890-1976) is up to the one who immerses himself in reading them.
The first summer session in South Tyrol showed us how «for Poirot there was only one goal that fascinated him more than the psychological study of characters: the search for truth». Convinced that «the truth explains everything», he tried to «see the case as a whole» by trying to put the facts each in its place, as one would do with the individual pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
He doesn't let anything slip, not even the smallest detail, because, as he says:
‹...there are two people who know. Yes - two people. One is le bon Dieu...›. He raised a hand to heaven, and then settling back himself into his chair and shutting his eyelids, he murmured comfortably: ‹And the other is Hercule Poirot›.
Works covered
Novels:
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
Short stories:
Triangle at Rhodes (1936)
Wasps' Nest (1924)