Voted by the British Crime Writers' Association as the "Best Crime Novel of all Time"

Hercule Poirot comes out of retirement in one of Agatha Christie's ten favorite novels, The Murder of Rojer Ackroyd.

Roger Ackroyd knew too much. He knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Then, tragically, came the news that she

Robbery and brutal murder aboard a luxury transport ensnares the ever-attentive Hercule Poirot in The Mystery of the Blue Train, from Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie

When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again—for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious

In Agatha Christie's classic mystery, Cards on the Table, the wily Hercule Poirot is on the case when a bridge night turns deadly

Mr. Shaitana is famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless, he is a man of whom everybody is a little afraid. So when he boasts to Hercule Poirot that he considers murder an art form, the detective has some reservations about accepting a party invitation to view Shaitana's "private collection."

Indeed,

In Hercule Poirot's Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder—and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case.

Christmas Eve, and the Lee family's reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed.

When Hercule Poirot offers

In appearance Hercule Poirot hardly resembled an ancient Greek hero. Yet—reasoned the detective—like Hercules he had been responsible for ridding society of some of its most unpleasant monsters.

So, in the period leading up to his retirement, Poirot made up his mind to accept just twelve more cases: his self-imposed 'Labors.' Each would go down in the annals of crime as a heroic feat of deduction.