When Cora is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard's funeral, suddenly takes on a chilling significance.

On the cliffs of Petra sits the corpse of Mrs Boynton. A puncture mark on her wrist is the only sign of the injection that killed her. With only 24 hours in which to solve the mystery, Poirot recalls a remark he had overheard back in Jerusalem: "You do see, don't you, that she's got to be killed?"

Sir Claud Amory has discovered the formula for a powerful explosive, which is stolen by one of his relatives or friends. Locking everyone in the library, Sir Claud switches off the lights to allow the thief to replace the formula on the table. When the lights come on, however, he is dead.

Mr Shaitana was famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless he was a man of whom everybody was a little afraid. So, when he boasted to Poirot that he considered murder an art form, the detective had some reservations about excepting a party invitation to view Shaitana's private collection.

The unpopular games mistress is found, shot through the heart from point blank range. The school is thrown into chaos when the "cat" strikes again. Unfortunately, schoolgirl Julia Upjohn knows too much. In particular, she knows that without Hercule Poirot's help, she will be the next victim.

As the wife of an eminent archaeologist, Agatha Christie took part in several expeditions to the Middle East. Drawing upon this experience and exhaustive research, she wrote this serial killer mystery set in Egypt 4000 years ago.

From his seat, Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers. To his right sat a pretty young woman; ahead, a Countess with a cocaine habit; and across the gangway, a detective writer. What Poirot didn't realize was that in the seat behind was the lifeless body of a woman.

After an accident on the stairs, Emily becomes convinced that one of her relatives is trying to kill her. On April 17th she writes her suspicions in a letter to Hercule Poirot. Mysteriously he doesn't receive the letter until June 28th... by which time Emily is already dead.

Poirot stood on the cliff-top. Here, a tragic accident had been followed by the grisly discovery of two more bodies - a husband and wife - shot dead. Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder? Poirot delves back into the past and discovers that "old sins leave long shadows".

It was not unusual to find the bronzed body of Arlena Stuart stretched out on a beach, face down. Only, on this occasion, she had been strangled. Ever since Arlena's arrival at the resort, Hercule Poirot had detected sexual tension in the seaside air.

Beautiful Caroline Crale was convicted of poisoning her husband, yet there were five other suspects; the stockbroker who went to market; the amateur herbalist who stayed at home; the three-time divorcee who had roast beef and the devoted governess who had none.

At a Halloween party, Joyce, a hostile 13-year-old, boasts that she once witnessed a murder. Within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.

It is Christmas Eve. The Lee family reunion is shattered when the tyrannical Simeon Lee is found dead, his throat slashed. But when Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man.

Poirot had been present when Jane bragged of her plan to "get rid of" her estranged husband. Now the monstrous man was dead. And yet the great Belgian detective couldn't help thinking he was being taken for a ride.

"Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe", declared the parson, "would be doing the world at large a service!" It was a careless remark which was to come back and haunt the clergyman just a few hours later. This is the first Miss Marple mystery.

It was clear to Amy that something sinister was going on at the Hassaneih dig; something associated with the presence of "Lovely Louise", wife of archaeologist, Dr Leidner. But with Louise suffering from terrifying hallucinations, Poirot might just be too late.

Fitzwilliam could not believe Miss Pinkerton's wild allegation that a multiple murderer was at work in the quiet English village of Wychwood - or her speculation that the local doctor was next in line. Within hours Miss Pinkerton is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Mere coincidence?

An urgent cry for help brings Poirot to France. He arrives too late to save his client, whose brutally stabbed body now lies face down in a shallow grave on a golf course. Poirot's investigation is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically-murdered corpse.

There had been some strange goings on at Styles St Mary. Evelyn had stormed out of the house and something indefinable had gone from the atmosphere. Her presence had spelled security; now the air seemed rife with impending evil. With impeccable timing Poirot makes his dramatic entrance.

When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again, for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her priceless rubies are missing.

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.

The abduction of a Prime Minister ... the disappearance of a banker ... a phone call from a dying man ... and, finally, the mystery of the missing will. What links these fascinating cases? Only the deductive powers of Hercule Poirot. This title is part of a new series of Hercule Poirot editions.

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have just become the owners of an old English house. Along with the property they have inherited a collection of antique books. When looking through "The Black Arrow", Tuppence comes upon a series of apparently random underlinings which spell out a disturbing message.

Beautiful young Elinor Carlisle stood serenely in the dock, accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. The evidence was damning: only Elinor had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison. Hercule Poirot was all that stood between Elinor and the gallows.

"Two adventurers for hire. Willing to go anywhere and do anything, pay must be good no reasonable offer refused". So read the advertisement placed by Tommy and Tuppence, but their first assignment finds the pair involved in international intrigue and more danger than they bargained for.

An uninvited guest, coated in dust, sways and falls in the doorway of Poirot's bedroom. Who is he? What is the significance of the figure 4, scribbled repeatedly on a sheet of paper? Poirot is plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about "Number Four".

It's seven in the morning. The Bantrys wake to find the body of a young woman in their library. But who is she? How did she get there? And what is the connection with another dead girl, whose remains are discovered in an abandoned quarry? The Bantrys invite Miss Marple to solve the mystery.