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
Hercule Poirot matter of twenty years. None of the explanations is especially attractive. In terms of a rudimentary chronology, Poirot speaks of retiring to grow marrows in Chapter 18 of "The Big Four" (1927) which places that novel out of published order before "Roger Ackroyd". He declines to solve a case for the Home Secretary because he is retired in Chapter One of "Peril at End House" (1932). He is certainly retired at the time of "Three Act Tragedy" (1935) but he does not enjoy his retirement and repeatedly takes cases thereafter when his curiosity is engaged. He continues to employ his