Hercule Poirot Books in Order: All Novels & Stories

By Anna Marie CarrollMystery

Looking for Hercule Poirot books in order? Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective appears in novels, short stories, short-story collections, a stage play, and later continuation novels by Sophie Hannah, so this is one reading order where the “just give me the list” answer can get messy fast.

I’d start with The Mysterious Affair at Styles if you want the full Poirot experience from the beginning. It introduces Poirot through Captain Hastings and gives you a clean entry point before the better-known classics like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, and Death on the Nile.

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Where to Start with Hercule Poirot Books

For most readers, publication order is the best way to read Poirot. Start with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, then keep going through Christie’s novels and short-story collections as they were published.

That said, Poirot is easy to sample. If you only want to try one famous Christie mystery first, I’d pick Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, or The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. They are not the first Poirot books, but they show why the character became so iconic.

I’d save Sophie Hannah’s continuation novels until after Christie’s original Poirot books. They are official continuation stories, but Christie’s version of Poirot should come first.

Hercule Poirot Books in Publication Order

Publication order is the cleanest way to read Poirot from the beginning. I keep the short-story collections in the main list because they are part of the published Poirot sequence, not bonus material to chase later.

  1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)
  2. The Murder on the Links (1923)
  3. Poirot Investigates (1924) (Short Story Collection)
  4. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
  5. The Big Four (1927)
  6. The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
  7. Black Coffee (1930 Play; 1998 Novelization by Charles Osborne)
  8. Peril at End House (1932)
  9. Lord Edgware Dies (1933)
  10. Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
  11. Three Act Tragedy (1934)
  12. Death in the Clouds (1935)
  13. The ABC Murders (1936)
  14. Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
  15. Cards on the Table (1936)
  16. Murder in the Mews (1937) (Short Story Collection)
  17. Dumb Witness (1937)
  18. Death on the Nile (1937)
  19. Appointment with Death (1938)
  20. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (1938)
  21. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940)
  22. Sad Cypress (1940)
  23. Evil Under the Sun (1941)
  24. Five Little Pigs (1942)
  25. The Labors of Hercules (1947) (Short Story Collection)
  26. Taken at the Flood (1948)
  27. The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951) (Short Story Collection)
  28. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead (1952)
  29. After the Funeral (1953)
  30. Hickory Dickory Dock (1955)
  31. Dead Man’s Folly (1956)
  32. Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)
  33. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960) (Short Story Collection)
  34. Double Sin and Other Stories (1961) (Short Story Collection)
  35. The Clocks (1963)
  36. Third Girl (1966)
  37. Hallowe’en Party (1969)
  38. Elephants Can Remember (1972)
  39. Poirot’s Early Cases (1974) (Short Story Collection)
  40. Curtain (1975)
  41. Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly (2013) (Novella)

Sophie Hannah Poirot Books

Sophie Hannah’s Poirot books are official continuation novels authorized by the Agatha Christie estate. They take place before Curtain, but I’d read them after Christie’s original run so Christie’s Poirot is the version in your head first.

  1. The Monogram Murders (2014)
  2. Closed Casket (2016)
  3. The Mystery of Three Quarters (2018)
  4. The Killings at Kingfisher Hill (2020)
  5. Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night (2023)
  6. The Last Death of the Year (2025)

Hercule Poirot Books in Chronological Order

Chronological order works best for rereads. It moves some short-story collections much earlier than their publication dates because those cases fit earlier in Poirot’s career.

I still recommend publication order for a first read. Chronological order is more useful once you already know Poirot, Hastings, Ariadne Oliver, and the major late-series moments.

  1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
  2. Poirot Investigates (Short Story Collection)
  3. Poirot’s Early Cases (Short Story Collection)
  4. Double Sin and Other Stories (Short Story Collection)
  5. The Murder on the Links
  6. The Big Four
  7. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
  8. The Under Dog and Other Stories (Short Story Collection)
  9. The Mystery of the Blue Train
  10. Peril at End House
  11. Lord Edgware Dies
  12. Murder in Mesopotamia
  13. Murder on the Orient Express
  14. Three Act Tragedy
  15. Death in the Clouds
  16. The ABC Murders
  17. Poirot and the Regatta Mystery (Short Story)
  18. Dumb Witness
  19. Cards on the Table
  20. Murder in the Mews (Short Story Collection)
  21. Death on the Nile
  22. Appointment with Death
  23. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
  24. The Labors of Hercules (Short Story Collection)
  25. Sad Cypress
  26. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
  27. Evil Under the Sun
  28. Five Little Pigs
  29. The Hollow
  30. Taken at the Flood
  31. Mrs. McGinty’s Dead
  32. After the Funeral
  33. Hickory Dickory Dock
  34. Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly (Novella)
  35. Dead Man’s Folly
  36. Cat Among the Pigeons
  37. The Clocks
  38. Third Girl
  39. Hallowe’en Party
  40. Elephants Can Remember
  41. Curtain

Other Poirot Collections and Editions

These collections are useful if you want the shorter cases in one place or want to track alternate US and UK collection formats. For the actual reading order, use the publication and chronological lists above.

  1. Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories (2013)
  2. The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories (1997)
  3. While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (1997)

Broad gift books, quote books, children’s retellings, and public-domain-style reprint compilations don’t belong in the main reading order.

About Hercule Poirot

Hercule Poirot is Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian detective, known for his precise manners, egg-shaped head, waxed moustache, and absolute faith in his “little grey cells.” He first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles and became Christie’s most prolific detective.

Poirot is not a police detective. He’s a private investigator and retired Belgian police officer whose cases often turn on psychology, motive, observation, and the small human details other people overlook.

Christie eventually tired of Poirot, but readers never did. His final novel, Curtain, was published in 1975, and Poirot famously received a front-page obituary in The New York Times.

Hercule Poirot Books FAQ

How many Hercule Poirot books did Agatha Christie write?

Agatha Christie wrote 33 original Hercule Poirot novels and more than 50 Poirot short stories. The exact number of Poirot “books” can look different depending on whether you count short-story collections, omnibus editions, Black Coffee, and Sophie Hannah’s continuation novels.

What is the first Hercule Poirot book?

The first Hercule Poirot book is The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920. It is the best starting point if you want to read Poirot in publication order.

Should I read Hercule Poirot books in order?

Yes, I recommend publication order for the full experience. Many Poirot mysteries stand alone, but publication order gives you the cleanest progression through Christie’s writing, Poirot’s recurring relationships, and the later emotional weight of Curtain.

Is Hercule Poirot French or Belgian?

Hercule Poirot is Belgian. People often mistake him for French inside the stories, but Poirot is very proud of being Belgian and is quick to correct anyone who gets it wrong.

Is Black Coffee one of Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels?

Black Coffee is a Poirot stage play by Agatha Christie, first performed in 1930. Charles Osborne later adapted it into a novelization published in 1998, so it’s worth listing, but it is not one of Christie’s 33 original Poirot novels.

Are Sophie Hannah’s Poirot books canon?

Sophie Hannah’s Poirot novels are official continuation books authorized by the Agatha Christie estate. I’d still read them after Christie’s original Poirot books because they’re written by a different author decades later.

Is Hercule Poirot in every Agatha Christie book?

No. Poirot appears in many Christie novels and short stories, but Christie also wrote Miss Marple books, Tommy and Tuppence books, standalone mysteries, plays, and novels under the name Mary Westmacott.

Looking for similar books in order?

If you want more mystery authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Mystery Books in Order index.

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