Stories: Parker Pyne Investigates

Mrs Packington felt alone, helpless and utterly forlorn. But her life changed when she stumbled upon an advertisement in The Times which read: ‘Are you happy? If not, consult Mr Parker Pyne.'

Parker Pyne is a most unconventional investigator. In a uniquely charming way, he solves matters of the heart, yearnings for adventure, and one or two crimes along the way.

This collection comprises fourteen tantalising cases for this intriguing retired civil servant.

Stories: Partners In Crime

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford were restless for adventure, so when they were asked to take over Blunt’s International Detective Agency, they leapt at the chance.

After their triumphant recovery of a pink pearl, intriguing cases kept on coming their way: a stabbing on Sunningdale golf course; cryptic messages in the personal columns of newspapers; and even a box of poisoned chocolates.

Stories: Hercule Poirot And The Greenshore Folly

An urgent telephone call summons Poirot to Devonshire on what Miss Lemon declares is a "wild goose chase". The caller is the eccentric detective novelist, Mrs Ariadne Oliver, and the reason for her alarm seems based solely on woman's intuition. Is the fictional murder scenario she has been asked to devise a cover-up for something more sinister? And what is the significance of the Greenshore Folly, an architectural embarrassment in the sweeping grounds of the otherwise impressive Greenshore House?

Stories: The Grand Tour

In 1922 Agatha Christie set sail on a 10-month voyage around the British Empire with her husband as part of a trade mission to promote the forthcoming British Empire Exhibition. Leaving her two-year-old daughter behind with her sister, Agatha set sail at the end of January and did not return until December, but she kept up a detailed weekly correspondence with her mother, describing in detail the exotic places and people she encountered.

Stories: A is for Arsenic : The Poisons of Agatha Christie

Fourteen novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because it's fiction doesn't mean it's all made-up...

In A is for Arsenic Kathryn Harkup explores the poisons used by Agatha Christie in her novels. Christie used poison to kill her characters more often than any other crime fiction writer. The poison was a central part of the novel, and her choice of deadly substances was far far from random; the chemical and physiological characteristics of each poison provide vital clues to the discovery of the murderer.

Stories: Little Grey Cells : The Quotable Poirot

Agatha Christie's famous Belgian detective solved some of the world's most puzzling crimes using only his 'little grey cells'. Now, pulled together by Agatha Christie's publisher David Brawn, discover the man behind the moustache, and the wit and wisdom of the Queen of Crime who created him.

Stories: Curtain Up - Agatha Christie: A Life in Theatre

Agatha Christie is revered around the world for her books and for the indelible characters she created. Less well-known today is her writing for the stage - an extraordinary repertoire of plays that firmly established her as the most successful female dramatist of all time. Now Julius Green raises the curtain on Agatha Christie's towering contribution to popular theatre, an element of her work previously disregarded by biographers and historians.

Stories: Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

When Agatha Christie died in 1976, at age eighty-five, she had become the world's most popular author. At the end of 2004, following the death of Christie's daughter, Rosalind, a remarkable legacy was revealed: seventy-three handwritten volumes of notes, lists, and drafts outlining all her plans for her many books, plays, and stories. Buried in this treasure trove, all in the beloved author's unmistakable handwriting, are revelations about her famous books that will fascinate anyone who has ever read or watched an Agatha Christie story.

Stories: Agatha Christie's Murder in the Making

In this follow-up volume to the acclaimed Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks, Christie expert John Curran leads the reader through the six decades of Agatha Christie's writing career, unearthing some remarkable clues to her success and a number of never-before-published excerpts and stories from her archives.

Stories: Poirot's Early Cases

Captain Hastings recounts 18 of Poirot’s early cases from the days before he was famous…

Hercule Poirot delighted in telling people that he was probably the best detective in the world. So turning back the clock to trace eighteen of the cases which helped establish his professional reputation was always going to be a fascinating experience. With his career still in its formative years, the panache with which Hercule Poirot could solve even the most puzzling mystery is obvious.

Chronicled by his friend Captain Hastings, these eighteen early cases - from theft and robbery to kidnapping and murder - were all guaranteed to test Poirot’s soon-to-be-famous ‘little grey cells’ to their absolute limit.