Use Your Little Grey Cells Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Hercule Poirot is arguably the most popular of all Agatha Christie's sleuths. He was the detective who debuted in her first novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", in 1920. He subsequently appeared in another 32 novels, 51 short stories and two plays over Christie's 55-year writing career. By 1930, Christie was already tired of her character but he was so popular, she was stuck with him. In an interview, she claimed she found him "insufferable" but acknowledged that he was her chief source of income so it was not possible to retire him or kill him off.

Since he was the sleuth in her first book, it is fitting that he was featured in the last book she wrote, "Curtain", which was published in September 1975, shortly before Christie died in January 1976. Although "Curtain" was the last book she wrote, it was not the last to be published. That honour goes to the Miss Marple novel, "Sleeping Murder", which was published posthumously in 1976, but was actually written decades earlier during the Second World War.

Agatha Christie developed her character as a Belgian refugee and retired police inspector. He was described as a dapper and fastidious man, short, vain, with an egg-shaped head and a magnificent mustache. He placed a great deal of importance on order and method, and using one's "little grey cells". Sometimes he worked alone, and sometimes he solved mysteries with his friends, such as Captain Arthur Hastings (who acts as his Watson) and Ariadne Oliver, a writer who bears a strong resemblance to Agatha Christie herself. It was often the case that a chance remark or an erroneous theory by his current companion provided the inspiration for Poirot to solve the crime.

Of the incorrect answer options, "Sleeping Murder" was the last Miss Marple novel. "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Sign of Four", "The Valley of Fear", and "A Study in Scarlet" are all Sherlock Holmes' stories.