Reading order · 33 books · 1920 to 1975 · Set in London
Hercule Poirot Books in Order
Hercule Poirot is a retired Belgian police officer living in London, a small man with an egg-shaped head, magnificent moustaches and an absolute faith in the little grey cells of his brain. In thirty-three novels and many stories he solves murders in country houses, on trains and on the Nile.
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Series facts
- Books
- 33
- Published
- 1920 to 1975
- First book
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- Latest
- Curtain (1975)
- Setting
- Set in London
The reading order
Every Hercule Poirot book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
33 books · Set in London
- 1The Mysterious Affair at Styles1920With Hercule PoirotEmily Inglethorp, the wealthy owner of Styles Court in Essex, dies of strychnine poisoning.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Murder on the Links1923With Hercule PoirotHercule Poirot receives a letter asking for help from a millionaire in France, but by the time he arrives, his client has been found stabbed and buried in a bunker on a golf course.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Murder of Roger Ackroyd1926With Hercule PoirotIn the village of King’s Abbot, Roger Ackroyd is found stabbed in his study shortly after learning the secret of a widow’s death.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Big Four1927With Hercule PoirotHercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings take on the Big Four, an international criminal organisation determined to rule the world.Buy on Amazon
- 5The Mystery of the Blue Train1928With Hercule PoirotAn American heiress is murdered on the Blue Train to the French Riviera, and her famous rubies are missing.Buy on Amazon
- 6Peril at End House1932With Hercule PoirotOn holiday in Cornwall, Hercule Poirot meets a young woman who has survived several narrow escapes from death, and decides to protect her at her home, End House.Buy on Amazon
- 7Lord Edgware Dies1933With Hercule PoirotAn American actress tells Hercule Poirot she wants to be rid of her husband, Lord Edgware.Buy on Amazon
- 8Murder on the Orient Express1934With Hercule PoirotThe Orient Express is stopped by a snowdrift in Yugoslavia, and in the morning an American businessman is found stabbed many times in his locked compartment.Buy on Amazon
- 9Three Act Tragedy1935With Hercule PoirotAn elderly clergyman dies after drinking a cocktail at a party given by a famous actor, and when a second guest dies in the same way, Hercule Poirot investigates.Buy on Amazon
- 10Death in the Clouds1935With Hercule PoirotA woman is found dead in her seat on a plane from Paris to London, apparently killed by a poisoned dart, and Hercule Poirot was one of the passengers.Buy on Amazon
- 11The A.B.C. Murders1936With Hercule PoirotA killer who signs himself A.B.C.Buy on Amazon
- 12Murder in Mesopotamia1936With Hercule PoirotA nurse is engaged to look after the nervous wife of an archaeologist at a dig in Iraq, where the wife is found murdered in her locked room.Buy on Amazon
- 13Cards on the Table1936CrossoverWith Hercule Poirot · Also a Superintendent Battle bookMr Shaitana, a sinister host, invites Hercule Poirot, Ariadne Oliver, Superintendent Battle and Colonel Race to dinner, along with four people he believes have got away with murder.Buy on Amazon
- 14Dumb Witness1937With Hercule PoirotHercule Poirot receives a letter from an elderly woman who fears for her life, but it arrives two months after it was written, and she has already died.Buy on Amazon
- 15Death on the Nile1937With Hercule PoirotOn a cruise down the Nile, a beautiful heiress on her honeymoon is shot dead, and her husband’s former fiancée seems the obvious suspect.Buy on Amazon
- 16Appointment with Death1938With Hercule PoirotIn Petra, a domineering American matriarch who tyrannises her family is found dead, and Hercule Poirot has twenty-four hours to solve the case.Buy on Amazon
- 17Hercule Poirot’s Christmas1938With Hercule PoirotA cruel old millionaire summons his family to his house for Christmas and is found murdered in his locked room.Buy on Amazon
- 18Sad Cypress1940With Hercule PoirotElinor Carlisle is on trial for poisoning a young woman who had taken her fiancé.Buy on Amazon
- 19One, Two, Buckle My Shoe1940With Hercule PoirotHercule Poirot’s dentist is found shot dead in his surgery shortly after treating Poirot, and the case draws in powerful people.Buy on Amazon
- 20Evil Under the Sun1941With Hercule PoirotAt a hotel on an island off the Devon coast, a beautiful actress who causes trouble wherever she goes is found strangled on a beach.Buy on Amazon
- 21Five Little Pigs1942With Hercule PoirotSixteen years after Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, a famous painter, her daughter asks Hercule Poirot to prove she was innocent.Buy on Amazon
- 22The Hollow1946With Hercule PoirotHercule Poirot is invited to lunch at a country house, where he finds what he thinks is a staged murder scene by the swimming pool, but the victim is really dead.Buy on Amazon
- 23Taken at the Flood1948With Hercule PoirotRosaleen Cloade inherits a fortune when her husband is killed in the Blitz, and his family, who had depended on him, are left with nothing.Buy on Amazon
- 24Mrs McGinty’s Dead1952With Hercule PoirotAn elderly charwoman has been killed and her lodger is to hang for it, but the policeman who arrested him has doubts.Buy on Amazon
- 25After the Funeral1953With Hercule PoirotAfter the funeral of Richard Abernethie, his sister Cora blurts out that he was murdered.Buy on Amazon
- 26Hickory Dickory Dock1955With Hercule PoirotStrange thefts at a student hostel in London lead to murder, and Hercule Poirot is asked to help by his secretary Miss Lemon, whose sister runs the hostel.Buy on Amazon
- 27Dead Man’s Folly1956With Hercule PoirotAriadne Oliver is asked to plan a murder hunt for a village fete at a Devon country house, and she senses something real is going wrong.Buy on Amazon
- 28Cat Among the Pigeons1959With Hercule PoirotMurder comes to Meadowbank, an exclusive girls’ school, and the trail leads back to a revolution in a Middle Eastern country and a fortune in jewels.Buy on Amazon
- 29The Clocks1963With Hercule PoirotA young typist is sent to a house in Crowdean where she finds a dead man surrounded by clocks, all showing the wrong time.Buy on Amazon
- 30Third Girl1966With Hercule PoirotA young woman tells Hercule Poirot she may have committed a murder, then decides he is too old to help and leaves.Buy on Amazon
- 31Hallowe’en Party1969With Hercule PoirotAt a children’s Hallowe’en party, a girl boasts that she once saw a murder.Buy on Amazon
- 32Elephants Can Remember1972With Hercule PoirotAriadne Oliver is asked by her goddaughter’s future mother-in-law about the deaths of the girl’s parents years ago, and Hercule Poirot helps her find people who remember.Buy on Amazon
- 33Curtain1975With Hercule PoirotHercule Poirot, old and ill, returns to Styles, where his first case took place, and asks Hastings to help him stop a murderer.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Each novel stands alone, so they can be read in any order, though Poirot ages slowly and Curtain was written as his last case and should be read last.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
Characters in the Hercule Poirot books
9 characters from Agatha Christie’s chart, with the number of Hercule Poirot books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Hercule PoirotBelgian detective who relies on his “little grey cells” | 33 | The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920 |
| Arthur HastingsPoirot’s friend and narrator | 8 | The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920 |
| Inspector JappScotland Yard detective | 7 | The Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920 |
| Ariadne OliverCrime novelist and Poirot’s friend | 6 | Cards on the Table 1936 |
| Superintendent SpenceRetired police officer | 3 | Mrs McGinty’s Dead 1952 |
| Colonel RaceIntelligence officer | 2 | Cards on the Table 1936 |
| Miss LemonPoirot’s secretary | 2 | Hickory Dickory Dock 1955 |
| Mr SatterthwaiteObserver of human nature | 1 | Three Act Tragedy 1935 |
| Superintendent BattleScotland Yard detective | 1 | Cards on the Table 1936 |
Crossovers with Agatha Christie’s other series
- Superintendent Battle: 1 book shared (Cards on the Table)