Hercule Poirot available to solve mysteries at an English country house. At the time of Christie's writing, it was considered patriotic to express sympathy towards the Belgians, since the invasion of their country had constituted Britain's "casus belli" for entering World War I, and British wartime propaganda emphasised the "Rape of Belgium". Poirot first appeared in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (published in 1920) and exited in "Curtain" (published in 1975). Following the latter, Poirot was the only fictional character to receive an obituary on the front page of "The New York Times". By 1930, Agatha Christie found Poirot "insufferable", and, by
Poirot Investigates clue. According to Poirot, Miss Marsh proved her superior intelligence by employing Poirot to solve the case. The American edition of the book, published one year later, featured an additional three stories which did not appear in book form in the UK until 1974 with the publication of "Poirot's Early Cases". The review in "The Times Literary Supplement" of 3 April 1924 began with a note of caution but then became more positive: "When in the first of M. Poirot's adventures, we find a famous diamond that has been the eye of a god and a cryptic message that it