Poirot's first falls

Poirot's Early Cases (original title Poirot's Early Cases ) is a collection of short stories by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the UK in September 1974 at the Collins Crime Club . Although all short stories had been published earlier in the USA, the collection appeared there in 1974 under the slightly different title Hercule Poirot's Early Cases .

The collection was never published in this way in Germany, so publication in the German-speaking area was very complicated. It was not until 2011 that the 80th volume of The Official Collection Agatha Christie, published by the French publisher Hachette Collections , was the original compilation (except for six stories).

The stories

Murder at the victory ball

(Original title The Affair at the Victory Ball )

action

Hercule Poirot tries to solve the murder of Lord Cronshaw, who died at a fancy dress ball. A few hours later, his partner Coco Courtenay dies in her own apartment from an overdose of unspecified drugs. Poirot, Inspector Japp and Poirot's friend Hastings are investigating the case. Chris Davidson, friend of the two deceased, turns out to be a murderer. Since he as a dealer Cocos could not accept that Lord Cronshaw was trying to help his girlfriend out of the addiction, the lovers had to die. Hercule Poirot is meticulous in his appearance and in his investigations: “My little friend, neat and slick as always, with the egg-shaped head tilted slightly to one side, applied a new pomade to his mustache with the greatest care. A certain harmless vanity was characteristic of him and suited his love of order and his penchant for methodology. "

What is unusual about the story is that the following request can be found in between: “At this point the reader might want to take a break and look for the solution to the crime himself, so that he can later compare how close he has come to the author's solution. “In order to create more tension in the reader, he is addressed directly by the author and included in the investigation.

First publication in the UK

The Affair at the Victory Ball : March 7, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine 1571 issue. This story is the author's first published story.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 3 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

Looking for a cook

(Original title The Adventure of the Clapham Cook )

First publication in the UK

The Adventure of the Clapham Cook : November 14, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1607.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1977, first German-language publication in Punctuality can kill too , the only legitimate translation from English by Maria Meinert and Peter Naujack, Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 1 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

The mysterious Cornwall affair

(Original title The Cornish Mystery )

First publication in the UK

The Cornish Mystery : November 28, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1609.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1977, first German-language publication in Punctuality can kill too , the only legitimate translation from English by Maria Meinert and Peter Naujack, Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 2 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

Poirot and the kidnapper

(Original title The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly )

First publication in the UK

The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly : October 10, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1602 (entitled The Kidnapping of Johnny Waverly ).

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 1 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

One indication too many

(Original title The Double Clue )

First publication in the UK

The Double Clue : December 4, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1610.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot never sleeps , only valid translation from English by Hella von Brackel et al. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 3 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp, Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon and Kika Markham as Countess Vera Rossakoff.

References to other works

The story includes the first appearance of Countess Vera Rossakoff . In this story, the author uses the trick with the Cyrillic alphabet for the first time, which she uses again later in the Murder on the Orient Express .

The adventures of the king of the cross

(Original title The King of Clubs )

First publication in the UK

The King of Clubs : March 21, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1573 (entitled The Adventure of the King of Clubs ).

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1977, first German-language publication in Punctuality can kill too , the only legitimate translation from English by Maria Meinert and Peter Naujack, Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 1 (9th episode) for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

The legacy of the Lemesurian family

(Original title The Lemesurier Inheritance )

First publication in the UK

The LeMesurier Inheritance : December 18, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1612.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1977, first German-language publication in Punctuality can kill too , the only legitimate translation from English by Maria Meinert and Peter Naujack, Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Not yet filmed.

The lost mine

(Original title The Lost Mine )

First publication in the UK

The Lost Mine : November 21, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1608.

First release in the United States

The Lost Mine : April 1925 - Blue Book Magazine Volume 40, No. 6, a small unsigned illustration.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon and filmed in season 2 as the 3rd episode under "The Lost Silver Mine".

The secret of the Plymouth Express

(Original title The Plymouth Express )

First publication in the UK

The Plymouth Express : April 4, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine 1575 issue (entitled The Mystery of the Plymouth Express ).

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1977, first German-language publication in Punctuality can kill too , the only legitimate translation from English by Maria Meinert and Peter Naujack, Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 3 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

References to other works

In 1928 the author expanded the plot into the novel The Blue Express .

The box of chocolates

(Original title The Chocolate Box )

action

In the chronology of Poirot's cases, this is the first and also the only one to fall in Poirot's active police years.

Hercule Poirot tells his friend Hastings a case that he saw in 1893 as an active commissioner in Belgium. Another main character is the cousin of the allegedly murdered Paul Deroulard. Poirot is investigating because the cousin suspects murder in Deroulard's case. An essential indicator is a box of chocolates that was still full, although the late Paul Deroulard ate chocolates every evening, including on the day of the tattoo. Finally, Poirot finds out that the deceased's mother is the murderer. She wanted to murder her son because she thought he was a bad person: he had pushed his own wife down the stairs. Paul's mother didn't want him to destroy any more women's souls.

First publication in the UK

The Chocolate Box : May 23, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine 1581 issue (entitled The Clue of the Chocolate Box ).

First release in the United States

The Chocolate Box : February 1925 - Blue Book Magazine Volume 40, No. 4, a small unsigned illustration.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 5 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

References to other works

The case of The Chocolates Box is remembered in chapter 15 of the novel Das Haus an der Düne from 1932.

The submarine plans

(Original title The Submarine Plans )

First publication in the UK

The Submarine Plans : November 7, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1606.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 2011, first German-language publication in The Official Collection Agatha Christie - Volume 80, in the translation by Heike Steffen, Hachette Collections (France)

References to other works

The story commemorates the short story The Kidnapped Prime Minister and Prime Minister David McAdam there.

The expanded version of the story, The Incredible Theft of Bomber Plans , was published in 1937 .

Dead on the third floor

(Original title The Third Floor Flat )

First publication in the UK

The Third Floor Flat : January 1929 issue - Hutchinson's Adventure & Mystery Story Magazine .

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in Season 1 (5th episode) for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

The double sin

(Original title Double Sin )

First publication in the UK

Double Sin : September 23, 1928 - Sunday Dispatch .

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1971, first German-language publication in Selected Stories , translated from English by Maria Meinert and others, Diogenes Verlag (Zurich)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 2 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

References to other works

The story refers to the theater agent Joseph Aarons, whom the reader knows from murder on the golf course .

Silence before the storm

(Original title The Market Basing Mystery )

First publication in the UK

The Market Basing Mystery : October 17th, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine Issue 1603.

Important later publications in collections

• 1966, The Market Basing Mystery , appeared in the UK in the Thirteen for Luck! which otherwise only contains short stories that were previously published in book form.
• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

References to other works

The plot, that is, to disguise a suicide as a murder in order to convict a blackmailer, Christie expanded in 1937 to the short story Poirot smells the roast .

The wasp nest

(Original title Wasp's Nest )

First publication in the UK

Wasp's Nest : Nov. 20, 1928 - Daily Mail .

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1964, first German-language publication in The Accident and Other Cases , only justified translation from English by Maria Meinert and Renate Weigl, Scherz Verlag (Bern; Stuttgart; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 3 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

Poirot goes stealing

(Original title The Veiled Lady )

First publication in the UK

The Veiled Lady : October 3, 1923 - The Sketch Magazine issue 1601 (entitled The Case of the Veiled Lady ).

First release in the United States

The Veiled Lady : March 1925 - Blue Book Magazine Volume 40, No. 5, a small unsigned illustration.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon and filmed in season 2 under the name "Blackmail and other trifles".

A door slams shut

(Original title Problem at Sea / Mystery of the Crime in Cabin 66 )

First publication in the UK

Problem at Sea : January 1936 - The Strand Magazine issue 540 (entitled Poirot and the Crime in Cabin 66 ).

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 1 (7th episode) for the English TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

The treacherous garden

(Original title How Does Your Garden Grow? )

First publication in the UK

How Does Your Garden Grow? : June 1935 - The Strand Magazine Issue 536.

Important later publications in collections

• September 1974, Poirot's Early Cases at the Collins Crime Club (London)
• 1974, Hercule Poirot's Early Cases , Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
• 1984, first German-language publication in Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards , only legitimate translation from English by Adi Oes a. a., Scherz Verlag (Bern; Munich; Vienna)

Film adaptations

Adapted and filmed in season 3 for the English television series Agatha Christie's Poirot with David Suchet as Poirot, Hugh Fraser as Hastings, Philip Jackson as Japp and Pauline Moran as Miss Lemon.

References to other works

The plot, which means that Poirot receives a very vague cry for help from a woman who has since died, was expanded into a novel by Christie in 1937 - The Dog Playing Ball .

Web links

• Poirot's Early Cases on the official Agatha Christie website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier, Jamie Sturgeon: Collins Crime Club - A checklist of First Editions. 2nd Edition. Dragonby Press, 1999, p. 15.
2. ^ Cooper and Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide: Second Edition (Pages 82 and 88) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
3. ↑ American Tribute to Agatha Christie
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Hercule Poirot's greatest trump cards - Scherz Verlag 1984
5. ↑ The Affair at the Victory Ball in the Internet Movie Database (English)
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Even punctuality can kill - Scherz Verlag 1977
7. ↑ The Adventure of the Clapham Cook in the Internet Movie Database (English)
8. ↑ The Cornish Mystery in the Internet Movie Database (English)
9. ↑ The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly in the Internet Movie Database (English)
10. ↑ Hercule Poirot never sleeps - Scherz Verlag 1984
11. ↑ The Double Clue in the Internet Movie Database (English)
12. ↑ The King of Clubs in the Internet Movie Database (English)
13. ^ ^{A b c} Holdings at the British Library (St. Pancras). Shelfmark: PP6264.iba
14. ↑ The Lost Mine in the Internet Movie Database (English)
15. ↑ The Plymouth Express in the Internet Movie Database (English)
16. ↑ Novel 'Das Haus an der Düne', Chapter 15
17. ↑ The Chocolate Box in the Internet Movie Database (English)
18. ↑ The Third Floor Flat in the Internet Movie Database (English)
19. ↑ Selected Stories - Diogenes Verlag (Zurich) 1971
20. ↑ Double Sin in the Internet Movie Database (English)
21. ^ The accident and other cases - Scherz Verlag 1964
22. ↑ Wasp's Nest in the Internet Movie Database (English)
23. ↑ The Veiled Lady in the Internet Movie Database (English)
24. ↑ Problem Sea at the Internet Movie Database (English)
25. ↑ How Does Your Garden Grow? in the Internet Movie Database (English)