Book Club

Poirot Stories

Poirot is Agatha Christie's most famous and popular detective.  No doubt he would agree that he deserves that accolade!

Here is the place to discuss all of his stories in detail with other fans.  The most insightful comments will be added to the Stories pages.  But remember to beware spoilers!

If you can't find your favourite Poirot story here, don't worry - we'll be adding them all soon.

Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

Curtain: Poirot's Last Case

Moderator1 10 Nov 09 at 8:18 a.m. GMT

Hastings is summoned back to Styles Court by Hercule Poirot.  It was the scene of their first investigation and Poirot knows there is a murderer on the loose here again.  He's too old and frail to do much himself so it seems only fitting that his faithful friend should be the one to be there at the end.

The big question has to be: should Christie have killed off Poirot?  Would it not have been better to leave him, perhaps very elderly, still able to solve crimes?  Should he be brought back from the dead and more stories written about him?

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47 replies

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youngmrquin 20 Mar 13 at 2:05 a.m. GMT

GKCfan

Christie fans have known for decades that Christie wrote Sleeping Murder long before she died, and kept it in the same bank vault as Curtain for some time, planning for it to be published posthumously.  For years, the commonly accepted story was that Sleeping Murder (originally titled Cover Her Face, though the name was changed when P.D. James published a book with that title, not knowing that Christie had an unpunlished novel by that titled) was written during WWII at the same time as Curtain, but John Curran's research has proven that Sleeping Murder was written some time after WWII, possibly in the 1950's.  Sleeping Murder was clearly written before The Mirror Crack'd because Col. Bantry is still alive in it.

Yes, I also noticed it when reading Sleeping Murder, one of the latest and possibly one of the favourites. Col. Bantry is still alive, because he exchanges a few words with Miss Marple about his wife while she goes to St. Mary Mead. This fact obviously puts the book before The Mirror Crack'd because there Mrs Bantry was widowed. In wider terms, it means that in the fictional timeline of Christie's universe, Sleeping Murder could have never been MM's last case.

john_c_hamilton 05 Jan 13 at 1:21 p.m. GMT

Christie had been contemplating the idea of a just punishment, even for those doing justice when they don't act within the law. Another example is the suicide of the Judge in 'And then there were None'.

I think that in the existing plot, killing Poirot was the only solution. Furthermore, it is not such a lamentable loss; she has written the maximum of Poirot novels she could in her lifetime, so what difference does his death make?

vinay 05 Jan 13 at 5:44 a.m. GMT

i feel that bringing him back from the dead is not such agreat idea

cause i feel that whatever she did was to increase the vlimax for us cause personaly i couldnt believe poirot murdered norton and norton was X

though i agree that poirot shouldnt have died

Tommy_A_Jones 30 Nov 12 at 4:57 p.m. GMT

While Adaptations are still being shown he will stay alive, Curtain Wasn't the Last Poirot I read so I have never felt that sad when reading Curtain which I admit is only twice.

CM36 30 Nov 12 at 4:49 p.m. GMT

Poirot is my favorite literary character (I'm obviously not the only one) and I haven't yet read all of his stories so I'm holding off reading this one. At the same time, and as ridiculous as it is, I'm not sure I ever will read Curtain because I'd rather think of Poirot as alive and well :)

Tommy_A_Jones 29 Oct 12 at 1:21 p.m. GMT

I will have to look out for mention of the Bantry's in Sleeping Murder. I don't think I noticed him last time.

GKCfan 28 Sep 12 at 10:47 p.m. GMT

Christie fans have known for decades that Christie wrote Sleeping Murder long before she died, and kept it in the same bank vault as Curtain for some time, planning for it to be published posthumously.  For years, the commonly accepted story was that Sleeping Murder (originally titled Cover Her Face, though the name was changed when P.D. James published a book with that title, not knowing that Christie had an unpunlished novel by that titled) was written during WWII at the same time as Curtain, but John Curran's research has proven that Sleeping Murder was written some time after WWII, possibly in the 1950's.  Sleeping Murder was clearly written before The Mirror Crack'd because Col. Bantry is still alive in it.

mysterious_quin 28 Sep 12 at 6:45 p.m. GMT

GKCfan

Curtain was written during WWII– Christie wanted it published if she was killed in the war, but instead it sat in a bank vault for thirty years before being released.

Thank you, GKC fan!  This solves another mystery for me. I recently read Miss Marple's last case, Sleeping Murder, and wondered if it was also written in the 1940's and published later.  There are a couple of brief mentions of things in that novel that could only have happened in the '40s or 50s, not the 1970s, when the book was published.

GKCfan 28 Sep 12 at 9:12 a.m. GMT

Curtain was written during WWII– Christie wanted it published if she was killed in the war, but instead it sat in a bank vault for thirty years before being released.

mysterious_quin 28 Sep 12 at 12:28 a.m. GMT

I found this website while searching for the answer to a question posed by the previous poster - did Christie write Curtain early in her career, to be published posthumously? It is a rumor I've heard before but have never seen confirmed.  If anyone finds the answer, please post!

andreasc 06 Jun 12 at 8:11 a.m. GMT

A great book, to my opinion amongst the first 5. An ingenious plot and a highly emotional ending. A tribute to Poirot's sense of justice both towards his fellow people and his own self and as for his ending I would not call it suicide (remember he just stops taking his pills) thus leaving fate take its course. Is it true that AC wrote this book shortly after World War II with specific instructions to be published immediately her death? The book was published in 1976 a few months after AC's death.

alzimi 02 Jun 12 at 3:05 a.m. GMT

Well, actually, the ending was quite funny! I do think AC made the good choice by killing Poirot, its realistic. The book was quite good, but I didnt really like the characters, except Judith and Norton. At the end, I felt bad for the ''murderer''...

ana79dom 31 May 12 at 12:40 a.m. GMT

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JasmineArini 26 Apr 12 at 2:43 p.m. GMT

I love Poirot by the way and I'm truly sad to know that he finally died in this book

Rris65Mi 18 Apr 12 at 12:01 a.m. GMT

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oranye 06 Mar 12 at 6:26 a.m. GMT

Hi all,

I'm studying English now, and in my Writing3 class I'd like to talk about this novel. Unfortunately it is difficult for me to find the topic thus it will be harder to make the thesis statement.

Any suggestion?

Or. does anyone here know the reason why Agatha Christie decided the ending like that?

Thanks before

sall75hol 06 Mar 12 at 6:17 a.m. GMT

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xxchristielover123xx 04 Mar 12 at 10:47 p.m. GMT

im kind of afraid to read this book, i might cry at the end! :(

autumnmorn8888 29 Jan 12 at 3:31 a.m. GMT

I do not like this one.  It is not the way  Hercule Poirot should go out.  I expected more.   I will forget this book.

StephenNorton 14 Jan 12 at 9:23 p.m. GMT

I kind of see that some of you are arguing that Poirot commited suicide, but Is that realy so, for how is it suicide to put ones life in the hand of destiny? If this realy were suicide, then all people who trusts theire lifes in the hands of fate would commit suicide themself, and that is -I may say so- a little too far fetched.

on my opinion This case was one of the most interessting I have read, not only by showing us a criminal with a perfect methode of ending other peoples lifes, but by giving one of the most peculiar characters Dame Christie ever invented a fitting and challenging final appearence on the stage where everything began.

LizzieLovesAgatha 06 Jan 12 at 8:20 a.m. GMT

Well, when you think about it, she said so herself she started him off at middle age, he was over 100 yrs old when he died, he couldn't live much older, plus if he had lived longer he would have suffered the pain of loosing his memory and knowing he was loosing it. Theres nothing worse than growing old and knowing your forgetting things, and it would be twice as worse for a once great mind like poirot's going downhill. I trust her that she knew what she was doing, and she didnt want anyone carrying his story on and ruining him! Plus Norton was a sick sick person and would have lived a long healthy life killing people in his sick way without a drop of blood on his hands, plus every person he killed in his way affect a group of people, the family and friends. He would have killed hundreds, poirot saved so many lives and put himself out of his misery. We'll miss you poirot but thank gosh you died doing what you do best! It would have been sadder if you had died all muddleheaded, and dependant on others. You live in our hearts!

Angelina_ 05 Dec 11 at 1:14 p.m. GMT

I am going to try and forget about this book completely. It was all wrong. Poirot had always been a man of high ethics, of duty. He referred to himself as a Catholic. He was good, compassionate, kind. To end up a murderer and commit suicide, has got no logic whatsoever. Unless AC wanted to prevent others from picking up where she left after her death...but that could be accomplished in much less hideous ways. I have to say I was revolted and outraged by the way she used her best selling hero.

LadyMary 29 Oct 11 at 9:33 p.m. GMT

I enjoyed this book as it was written, except for the ending where the solving of the crime is revealed.  I did not mind that Poirot was killed off...that is a natural occurrence!  He had a brilliant career.  I did not like the way the crime was perpetrated and I did not like the identity of the murderer.

notguilty 29 Oct 11 at 6:07 p.m. GMT

I enjoyed the story, not my favorite book though, but quite interesting.  I did find something odd though.  Simply, good Catholics don't commit suicide.  And we all know who was a good Catholic.

St. Augustine in his book "City of God" clearly wrote that suicide was a non-pardonable sin.  That's because suicide is murder (murder of self).  Murder, like all sins is pardonable, but a sin can only be absolved after it has been committed.  In suicide the sin isn't complete until the victim (also the killer) is dead.  Thus there is no time for the sinner to ask or receive absolution.  Thus the soul is judged without the possiblity of this sin beging absolved. 

Assuming Dame Agatha was an Anglican, I found it difficult to believe she would put her protaganist in such a situation.  Any comments?  Am I dead wrong on this?

de_misteri 12 Oct 11 at 8:28 p.m. GMT

Yes; I suppose, when you look at it in that way, Christie wasn't wrong to kill of Poirot. Yes, if she didn't many people later would try and recreate him and fail. You're right :), even though I found his death quite abrupt and I am unsure of whether it was the heart attack or murder?

Even though he did take the law into his hands, and I suppose he is allowed to do so as he is a detective, I could not believe he murdered Norton. I know Norton was causing murder himself, but he wasn't breaking the law either- so Poirot wasn't necessarily suoposed to do that.

Any comments?

saxismyax 12 Oct 11 at 6:09 p.m. GMT

I've read the other posts and find what many of you say to be interesting.  I would not have chosen to kill off Poirot.  However, I think I actually consider it a wise move.  Someone else would have come along some day and attempted to resurrect this character and would not have been able to stay true to the silly little man with the egg-shaped head.  Christie created him and I am glad she let him die with her.

This particular novel caused more surprise for me, the reader, at the ending than any other novel I've read by Christie.  Not that she chose to let HP die, but that she chose to let HP murder.  Never saw that coming, never would have guessed that in a million years.  Yet I do not find it out of character for HP.  The man never missed a detail - everything had to be just so.  And, as he grew older, I could imagine that he would grow more and more frustrated by the lack of justice.  Knowing that justice would never be served in any fashion but by his own actions, I believe Poirot acted accordingly and believe Christie wrote it appropriately.  And though it is sad to have to see HP die, how wonderful that we have all of the stories to read again, to watch again.  Like Elvis, Hercule Poirot is not really dead.  He will live on forever in our imagination and on the pages of Christie's many novels!

de_misteri 04 Oct 11 at 8 a.m. GMT

The ending was so sad with Poirot's death- but was it a heart attack, or muder?? I thought it was a great story too. Would Poirot realy commit murder, even for the law though?

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tabolo 19 Apr 11 at 5:49 p.m. GMT

I like the novel very much, but I was so sad when it finished...

Tommy_A_Jones 18 Apr 11 at 4:25 p.m. GMT

I have read Curtain now and I loved it, but I have felt quite sads since finishing it this morning, even though I have read it before, I felt funny after eath On The Nile but in a different way.

Tommy_A_Jones 31 Mar 11 at 4:59 p.m. GMT

Oh Dear! I'm going to re-read it when I finish my Martha Grimes Book.

Skizo 31 Mar 11 at 12:31 a.m. GMT

I cried while reading the last chapter. That night I didn't eat talk sleep. I was completly devastated. In my opinion only 'And Then There Were None' beats this book. I didn't feel bored while reading it unlike other stories. Everything is well planned. 

rosebud5566 10 Oct 10 at 9:16 p.m. GMT

I've not been so moved by a book in a long time.  I felt as if I myself lost a friend after reading about Poirot's death.  I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and the incredibly toucihing moments of the deep bond between Poirot and Hastings.  I agree with other posters who have said that Hasting's daughter was not in line with the type of character you would expect him to have raised, but perhaps this was AC's way of showing the changing times and the free-spirited children of that era.  This one will stick with me for quite some time.  It was, I think, a very fitting end to a most lovable character.

Cicely 03 Oct 10 at 9:40 p.m. GMT

I really enjoyed reading this mystery recently.  I was dismayed at Judith's socialist worldview and I don't believe Hastings would have taught her that ideology.  She didn't seem like a very happy or thankful person.  I felt sorry for her.  She was intelligent, but just didn't have any love or forgiveness about her.  She was very selfish.  As I always like Hastings, I enjoyed having him take a larger role in this story.  He isn't very "deep", but he is compassionate, a real gentleman and a very loyal friend to Poirot.   I didn't really care for the way AC portrayed Poirot in this his last story.  I am also sorry to understand that she didn't care for Poirot, herself!  Why wouldn't she like him?  She created him and wrote so many stories around him.  I love him!  I would have preferred that AC just leave Poirot alive and not end his life.  No, he should not be brought back to life and new stories be written featuring him.  AC created Poirot and she is the proper person to have decided whether to end his life or not.  No one else could write an authentic Poirot mystery, only AC herself!

MissQuin 12 Jun 10 at 7:56 p.m. GMT

I love Hastings and was rather startled by some of the things he planned.

No I really disliked his daughter, she was nothing like either of her parents. Maybe whilst Hastings was away in England, tagging along with Poirot, Bella was lonely on the ranch and strayed!!

 I'm joking.

doctorlaura17 12 Jun 10 at 4:55 p.m. GMT

I haven't read the book but listened to Hugh Fraser reading it.

The story was ok but I couldn,t get my head around all the evidence that Poiot had against the "villian " (name escapes me)  the murders were comitted through out Britain but Poirot found a link and had photos etc showing the connection.So far fetched and can you get someone to commit murder by a few cunning words?

I also found Hastings annoying(normally love him)all that awe around his very offhand daughter.

MissQuin 10 Jun 10 at 3:17 p.m. GMT

I found the final Poirot intensely moving, but I'm pleased that Agatha  Chrisite had a final shock in store for us.

We might think we know Poirot- plump, glossy black hair, hates murderers. She took all those traits and changed them.

evanthetwain 09 Jun 10 at 11:14 p.m. GMT

I first read this book from my local Public Library, and was simply blown away by the ending, submitted to Arthur Hastings in manuscript format by a secret firm of lawyers hired by Poirot before his imminent death.  How ironic that the righteous little Belgian would be forced to undertake the very methodology he so despised in order to defeat the infamous X. 

It showed just how humane he really was, when even he admitted that he did not believe his actions to be altogether justified, and thus condemned himself to punishment by self-execution.  A fitting finale to end his journey at the place where it began, where he disappears just as quickly and mysteriously as he came from Styles St. Mary.

yamifannetje 28 Apr 10 at 3:44 p.m. GMT

"Curtain" has touched me more than all other Poirots I already read! It's a shame that Christie murdered her brilliant detective like that! But in fact, she might have hated him, his death just proves why we all love him so much: the warmth and kindness which filled his hearth.

It would be fantastic to see him revived in a film or even new books by the fans ourselves since we realy loves Poirot!

Lone_Wolf 24 Feb 10 at 5:03 p.m. GMT

You know what, while I disagree with Robert Barnard about Christie not having the ability to write characters so that "Curtain" would work, I agree with him that in "Curtain" the level of characterization wasn't good enough to sustain the idea. The story felt... lifeless. And Hastings was much more annoying then usual for me for some reason.

And a question to everyone: do you think that Poirot's actions are in character here?

HeiseiHolmes 24 Feb 10 at 4:14 p.m. GMT

If you think about it, Poirot lived to be about 130... And as for Miss Marple... well, I failed Maths, so I'm not even going to try that.

Lone_Wolf 24 Feb 10 at 4:09 p.m. GMT

"I couldn't eat after finishing this...If this had happened to my favourite Miss Marple I'd probably take to wearing nothing but black. She's far too lovable."

I just found the whole thing a bit false. I don't really like Poirot that much, I just believe in his (and Marple's, too) immortality.

HeiseiHolmes 24 Feb 10 at 4:03 p.m. GMT

I couldn't eat after finishing this...If this had happened to my favourite Miss Marple I'd probably take to wearing nothing but black. She's far too lovable.

Lone_Wolf 24 Feb 10 at 3:59 p.m. GMT

I've read it just now. The whole thing feels false - Poirot can't die, plain and simple, regardless of what Christie writes! I was spoiled in regards to Poirot's death (though not in regards to anything else), so, while I felt some excitement when reading it, I was unable to take the whole thing seriously.

Maybe the fact that I was reading it on my notebook, not in the paper form, increased the detachment.

The characterization was satisfactory, but not one of AC's best. I liked Poirot's moral dilemma which is revealed in the end, though.

16178 03 Feb 10 at 3:45 a.m. GMT

I love this novel! From beginning to ending it was a complete surprise!! Poirot is an incredible character, I can´t deny that the end really shock me, but may be that´s what make it special. 

No, i don´t really like the idea of leaving him!!! He fight with murder until the end! That was his goal!! 

go_leafs_nation 15 Dec 09 at 1:17 p.m. GMT

Curtain is one of Poirot's finest cases, as characters and their relationships with each other are emphasized. As an added bonus, the characterizations ring true. And, of course, it's a smashing story in the first place. Who can forget the moment when Hastings looks through the field glasses? Or when Poirot reveals the solution to Hastings... This is quite simply a delight from beginning to end, and is a worthy conclusion for Poirot- a far better note to end on than the previously published Elephants Can Remember.

japee 17 Nov 09 at 9:05 a.m. GMT

I rate this novel 9/10! This is like the best novel by Dame Agatha Christie! Everything is awesome! I love the characters, settings and atmosphere. Almost all of the characters are unhappy, and the setting is a sad and lonely place where a killer is lurking.

I love all the scenes, some scenes were surprising and thrilling. The ending is so awesome! I did not guess who the killer is. When Mr. and Mrs. Luttrell were introduced I thought they were the killer but I was wrong.

It would be better if Poirot lived and went somewhere else.

OMG Agatha Christie is really the best! OMG!!! :)

Read more about this story: Curtain: Poirot's Last Case