Three Act Tragedy: “Mr. Satterthwaite sat on the terrace of ‘Crow’s Nest’ and watched his host, Sir Charles Cartwright, climbing up the path from the sea.”
Also Published As: Murder in Three Acts
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Amateur Detectives: Mr. Satterwaite, Sir Charles Cartwright, Hermoine “Egg” Lytton
Published: 1934
Length: 224 pages
Setting: Cornwall, Monte Carlo,
Parker Pyne Investigates: “…. the mere sight of Mr. Parker Pyne brought a feeling of reassurance. He was large, not to say fat; he had a bald head of noble proportions, strong glasses, and little twinkling eyes.”
Detective: Mr. Parker Pyne
Published: November 1934
Length: 251 pages
Setting: London, Geneva, Paris, Venice, Trieste, Constantinople, Damascus, Iraq, Tehran, Shiraz, Delphi, Palma, Dartmouth and other places
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?: “Bobby Jones teed up his ball, gave a short preliminary waggle, took the club back slowly, then brought it down and through with the rapidity of lightning.”
Alternate Title: The Boomerang Clue
Detective: Lady Frances “Frankie” Derwent & Bobby Jones, childhood friends
Published: September 1934
Length: 351 pages
Setting: Wales & Hampshire
The Listerdale Mystery: “Mrs. St. Vincent was adding up figures.”
Detective: None, as these are various tales of murder & suspense
Published: June 1934
Length: 192 pages
Setting: various
Murder on the Orient Express: “It was five o’clock on a winter’s morning in Syria.”
Also Published as: Murder in the Calais Coach
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: January 1934
Length: 265 pages
Setting: Aleppo, Syria; Stamboul (Istanbul), Turkey; somewhere in Yugoslavia
In Murder on the Orient Express, after travelling from Aleppo to Istanbul, Hercule Poirot receives a telegram to return home and he books passage on The Orient Express, a well-known passenger train. Also onboard are:
The Hound of Death: “It was from William P. Ryan, American newspaper correspondent, that I first heard of the affair.”
Detective: None, as these are tales of the supernatural
Published: October 1933
Length: 218 pages
Setting: various:
A compilation of 12 short stories, The Hound of Death and Other Stories are not mysteries, but instead are tales of the macabre, tales of the supernatural, tales that are linked to the scary unknown. The tales were as follows:
Lord Edgware Dies: “The memory of the public is short.”
Also Published as: Thirteen at Dinner
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: September 1933
Length: 269 pages
Setting: London
The Thirteen Problems: “Unsolved mysteries.”
Detective: Miss Marple
Published: June 1932
Compilation: Short Stories
Length: 256 pages
Setting: St. Mary Mead, Downshire (fictional)
During two different dinner parties in St. Mary Mead, Miss Marple is host and guest. There is a suggestion of the sharing of puzzling mysteries, where one person in the group tells a story and the others surmise its outcome or solution. Surprisingly, the small town spinster, Miss Marple, demonstrates her superior brain power and deductive skills. As each dinner guest shares a puzzling mystery and the others surmise the solution, Miss Marple is able to navigate all the clues, both obvious and unexpected, to solve each mystery in her quiet yet practical manner.
“No seaside town in the south of England is, I think, as attractive as St. Loo.”
Detective: Hercule Poirot
Published: 1932
Length: 270 pages
Setting: St. Loo(e), Cornwall
“Major Burnaby drew on his gum boots, buttoned his overcoat collar around his neck, took from the shelf near the door a hurricane lantern, and cautiously opened the front door of his little bungalow and peered out.”
Originally Published as: The Murder at Hazelmoor
Detective: Emily Trefusis with Inspector Narracott
Published: 1931
Length: 228 pages
Setting: Sittaford & Exhampton, Dartmoor