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
Agatha-Christie-Krimipreis Agatha-Christie-Krimipreis Agatha-Christie-Krimipreis (Agatha Christie Crime Award) was a German literary prize for unpublished crime short stories awarded from 2003 to 2014. Stories with a maximum of ten manuscript pages were requested on a specified topic, changing annually. The 25 best stories were published in an anthology]] by "Fischer Taschenbuchverlag". The awards were presented as part of the annual "Krimifestival München" (Munich Crime Story Festival), with the three best stories being awarded a non-cash prize. The namesake of the prize was the English crime writer Agatha Christie. Initially renowned sponsors could be found by the Fischer-Verlag and the annual awards were