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
The Monogram Murders she wanted to avoid reusing any of Christie's supporting cast. "The Monogram Murders" is the first original novel including Hercule Poirot to be commissioned by the Christie estate, more than thirty-eight years after her death in 1976. It is the thirty-fourth novel to feature the character. Agatha Christie wrote her last Poirot novel, "Elephants Can Remember", in 1972. The last featuring Poirot and written by Christie was "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case", published 1975 but written in the 1940s to be a swansong. The Christie estate authorised Charles Osborne to novelise several of her plays. The Monogram Murders The Monogram Murders