Hercule Poirot met his lifelong friend, Captain Arthur Hastings, and solved the first of his cases to be published, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles". It is clear that Hastings and Poirot are already friends when they meet in Chapter 2 of the novel, as Hastings tells Cynthia that he has not seen him for "some years". Particulars such as the date of 1916 for the case and that Hastings had met Poirot in Belgium, are given in "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case", Chapter 1. After that case, Poirot apparently came to the attention of the British secret service and undertook cases for the
Death on the Nile characters are very similar. The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The action takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River. While on holiday in Cairo, Hercule Poirot is approached by successful socialite Linnet Doyle. She requests his help in deterring her friend Jacqueline de Bellefort from hounding and stalking her. Linnet had recently married her friend's fiancé, Simon Doyle, which has made Jacqueline bitterly resentful of her. Poirot refuses the request, but attempts unsuccessfully to dissuade Jacqueline from pursuing her plans further. Simon and Linnet secretly board the steamer "Karnak", set to tour along the Nile, to