Hercule Poirot in literature Chocolate Box" but for some reason this reference was removed from the later editions. The Poirot books are still under copyright. "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is now public domain in the US but will not become public domain in the UK until 2046 (70 years after Christie's death). Christie's grandson, Matthew Prichard, now owns the copyright to his grandmother's works. In 2014, the Christie estate authorised author Sophie Hannah to write a new Poirot book, "The Monogram Murders". "Short story collections listed as "ss"" Poirot settles down in London and opens a private detective agency. These are the short
Poirot Investigates accepted Lane's strictures about what would be published by them, but by the time of "Poirot Investigates" Christie insisted that their suggested title of "The Grey Cells of Monsieur Poirot" was not to her liking and that the book was to be included in the tally of six books within her contract. The Bodley Head opposed this because the stories had already been printed in "The Sketch". Christie held out and won her case. This was the first Christie book to carry no dedication. The dustjacket front flap of the first edition carried no specially written blurb. Instead it carried