The Murder at the Vicarage was published in 1930; till that time, the novels by Christie had stand alone characters, or she had Hercule Poirot. This was the first novel in which she introduced the character of the elderly lady, Miss Marple (Miss Marple was there in earlier published short stories, but never in a novel length book). Miss Marple was very different from Hercule Poirot, this was an unassuming lady who was elderly, living in a small village, and yet like Poirot, who could understand the human nature and figure out how and why crimes were committed.
Miss Marple lives in St. Mary Mead, and it is in the vicar’s study that the body of Colonel Protheroe was found, murdered by being shot in the head (he was despised by the villagers, and 2 people confessed to the crime). And this was where the start of Miss Marple’s detective abilities is showcased. However, this first introduction to Miss Marple was not taken so well, with the story of a quiet village, with gossip, and with this lady who seems to know everything not being so engrossing.

The book is narrated by the Rev. Clements, and keeps the tale of the book tight and interesting. When Col. Protheroe is writing a note in the Vicar’s study, he is shot from the back and in the head; but nobody seems to have seen or heard anything happening. Nobody liked him, and there were 2 quick confessions to killing him.
As things start to run in the story, you start to discover that almost everybody had a motive for killing him, and there were enough unknowns to suspect everybody. Some of the characters in the book are Mrs. Price Ridley, Colonel Melchett, Dr. Haydock, and others. Things otherwise move slowly in the village, with gossip occurring everywhere. But Miss Marple does eventually find out who did it (even though the village policeman really does not believe her initially).

The Mystery of the Blue Train was a book by Agatha Christie (published in 1928); this was written at a time of great stress for Agatha Christie, since it was only recently that her husband had declared his intention of leaving her for another woman and had sought a divorce, her mother had died recently; she was also in need of money at this point of time. Writing this novel was not easy for her, since she did a word count regularly of what all she had written. At this time, she had also seen a number of her friends deserting her, and had come up with 2 lists:
Order of Rats – Friends who had not stood by her when required
Order of Faithful Dogs (O.F.D) – Charlotte Fisher, and her terrier Peter who provided her with a lot of affection.
This book was dedicated to the second group, those who supported her. The book was based on a short story by Agatha Christie herself, a short story of 1923 called The Plymouth Express (featuring Poirot).

The Blue Train is a murder mystery set on a train. Poirot is on the ‘Le Train Bleu’ train, bound for the French Riveria. On board are an assortment of people, such as Katherine Grey, who has inherited a huge sum and is enjoying herself with her first trip out of England. She meets an American heiress on board, Ruth Kettering, who is escaping from her marriage (although her estranged husband Derek Kettering with the dancer Mirelle); and then Ruth is found dead, having been strangulated to death. A famous diamond is also found missing, and the dead girl’s father commissions Poirot to investigate the crime.
At first glance, the husband would be the obvious suspect, but there could be more factors, since a famous diamond thief is also on board; is there more that meets the eye, and can Poirot be successful once again ?

‘The Secret of Chimneys’ is one of the early works of Agatha Christie, with the word Chimneys referring to a mansion, used in more works by Agatha Christie. Like some of the other books written by Christie, it incorporates political intrigue of that time, with assassinations, spying, monarchies, double identities, and so on. If you read the plot in one go, it can seem somewhat outlandish and out of this world, but if you get into some pleasure book reading and watch the plot twist and turn, then the book can be very interesting. In this case, the book deals with a monarchy of the fictional country of Herzoslovakia located in the Balkans, which had overthrown the king some time back and setup a Republic, but now wanted to restore the monarchy and had identified a relative of the murdered king, and had extended him an invitation to come back and take the throne (although in modern times it is difficult to find a country which would do something like this, unless it is setting a king for ceremonial purposes).

The cause of the uprising in the country was primarily due to the queen, who was a dancer, was of common stock, and was propped by a revolutionary organization to trap the king, but she double-crossed the organization and instead married the king. She was the primary cause of the uprising in which both the king and queen were killed by a mob. But, in a turnabout, the people want a distant cousin, Prince Michael Obolovitch, to take over, and the British are broking this deal (and since no one does something for free, they are looking for oil concessions in the country). However, this entire situation is mixed with some memoirs that could prove embarrassing, and which are being sent for publication. Mix this with some lady’s letter up for blackmail, and political discussion in the mansion of Chimneys, and you have a very interesting tale.

By this time of publication of this novel, Agatha Christie had developed a huge reputation, and a large number of fans. However, when this novel was published, Agatha Christie had gone through a major upheaval in her life, with her husband declaring that he wanted to divorce her (in late 1926) after stating that he was in love with somebody else, and in December, Agatha Christie had vanished for a period of 11 days after a fight with her husband, with a massive manhunt (and till now, there is no credible story of what happened in those 11 days).
‘The Big Four’ stars the famous detective Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings, and Inspector Japp, the familiar figures from the Hercule Poirot series. This book is not one single long book involving a crime, but instead a series of short crimes, all of them involving the Big Four villains (and these are in turn linked to a series of short stories that appeared in a magazine called ‘Sketch’). The novel however depicts characters that are very cliched, such as the Chinese villain characterised as a Fu-Manchu type of villain, a French charming and dangerous girl, and an American multi-millionaire.

The novel starts with Hastings going to meet Hercule Poirot, who is going to America after an invitation from millionaire Abe Ryland, who is a soap king. At this time, Poirot asks whether Hastings has ever heard of a group called ‘The Big Four’, but Hastings has no idea. Then a man comes in and starts describing the various members of the The Big Four:
- Number 1 – A Chinese mastermind called Li Chang Yen, the person behind The Big Four
- Number 2 – No Names, but represented by the sign $, so most likely an American
- Number 3 – A charming French lady
- Number 4 – Just the destroyer
Poirot and Hastings faked their departure, but when they come back to the house, they find the man to be dead; the man was identified by Inspector Japp as a member of the Secret Service. And then they get into more adventures, fighting with The Big Four, including more murders.