Hercule Poirot of Police of Brussels, until "the Great War" (World War I) forced him to leave for England. (In "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" Poirot had retired at age 55 in 1905) I had called in at my friend Poirot's rooms to find him sadly overworked. So much had he become the rage that every rich woman who had mislaid a bracelet or lost a pet kitten rushed to secure the services of the great Hercule Poirot. During World War I, Poirot left Belgium for England as a refugee (although he returned a few times). On 16 July 1916 he again
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