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
Recurring characters in the Hercule Poirot stories of the deductions Poirot makes, he never doubts nor discounts them (as, for instance, Japp initially might), no matter how fantastical. "The Man in the Brown Suit" is perhaps the only novel in which the emotional side of Colonel Race's nature has been given consideration. It gives depth to his personality. In the 1978 film of "Death on the Nile" Colonel Race was played by David Niven. In the same book's 2004 TV adaptation for the television series "Agatha Christie's Poirot", he was played by James Fox. As Fox was unavailable for the 2006 adaptation of "Cards on the Table"