Arthur Hastings of the short stories featuring Poirot, but appears in only eight of the novels, seven of which were written before 1940: Hastings is also the narrator of all stories in "Poirot Investigates" (1924), a collection of short stories. Hastings is also present in Christie's play "Black Coffee" (1930) and its novelisation alongside Poirot. Arthur Hastings Captain Arthur J. M. Hastings, OBE, is a fictional character created by Agatha Christie as the companion-chronicler and best friend of the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. He is first introduced in Christie's 1920 novel "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" and appears as a character in
Hercule Poirot in literature story years (25 short stories and only 4 novels). Christie increased her novel production during this time (14 novels, 21 total short stories and one theatre play). Twelve short stories form "The Labours of Hercules". The other short stories listed here take place in this period but were published before and after the publication of "Hercules". The theatre play is named "Black Coffee" and was written by Agatha Christie, who stated a frustration with other stage adaptations of her Poirot mysteries. In 1998, author Charles Osborne adapted the play into a novel. A new detective, Miss Marple, enters the stage