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 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