Agatha Christie

Her first novel was published in 1920, but it wasn’t until 1926 when her novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, gained recognition that her novels hit the best-selling lists. After this novel, 75 subsequent novels hit the best-seller lists in England and the United States. It featured perhaps her best-known character, Hercule Poirot.

The best place to start is the Hercule Poirot series, the earliest of Agatha Christie's multi-book series: it opens with The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) and runs to 39 books across 1920–1975, ending with Curtain (1975). Agatha Christie's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Agatha Christie has 346 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1920 and 2026. 203 of them belong to 15 named series — the largest being the Hercule Poirot Short Stories/Novellas series with 55 books — and 143 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Agatha Christie's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Hercule Poirot (1920–1975, 39 books), Tommy and Tuppence (1922–1973, 5 books) and Hercule Poirot Short Stories/Novellas (1923–2019, 55 books), plus 12 more.

This guide splits Agatha Christie's 346 books into 15 named series and 143 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Hercule Poirot Short Stories/Novellas (55 books, 1923–2019); Hercule Poirot (39 books, 1920–1975); Miss Marple (16 books, 1930–2026); Miss Marple Short Stories/Novellas (14 books, 1928–2013); Tommy & Tuppence Short Stories/Novellas (14 books, 1929–2013), plus 10 further series.