Who created Hercule Poirot?
Quick answer
Hercule Poirot was created by English crime writer Agatha Christie. The fussy, brilliant Belgian detective first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), her first published novel. He went on to star in 33 novels and more than 50 short stories, solving crimes with his “little grey cells.”
Key facts
- Creator
- Agatha Christie (1890–1976)
- First appearance
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
- Final case
- Curtain (published 1975)
- Nationality
- Belgian
Who is Poirot?
| Trait | Detail |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Small, egg-shaped head, famous waxed mustache |
| Habits | Obsessed with order, symmetry and neatness |
| Method | Psychology and logic, not physical clues; his “little grey cells” |
| Background | A former Belgian police officer who came to England as a World War I refugee |
| Sidekick | Captain Arthur Hastings |
He often gathers all the suspects in one room to reveal the culprit.
Famous Poirot cases
| Novel | Year |
|---|---|
| The Murder of Roger Ackroyd | 1926; its twist shocked readers |
| Murder on the Orient Express | 1934 |
| Death on the Nile | 1937 |
| The ABC Murders | 1936 |
| Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case | Written in the 1940s, published 1975 |
When Curtain was published, The New York Times ran a front-page obituary for Poirot, the only fictional character ever to receive one.
Agatha Christie
Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, with an estimated 2 billion copies sold. She also created Miss Marple, and her play The Mousetrap has run in London’s West End since 1952, the longest initial run of any play. During both world wars she worked in hospital pharmacies, which gave her knowledge of poisons that she used in her plots.
Poirot on screen
| Actor | Adaptation |
|---|---|
| Albert Finney | Murder on the Orient Express (1974) |
| Peter Ustinov | Death on the Nile (1978) and others |
| David Suchet | ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Poirot (1989–2013), filming every Christie Poirot story |
| Kenneth Branagh | Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Death on the Nile (2022), A Haunting in Venice (2023) |
For another great fictional detective, see who created Sherlock Holmes.
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