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 (usually Hercule Poirot). This occurs in "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", "Death on the Nile", "Dumb Witness", "Crooked House", "The Hollow", "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side", "Cat Among the Pigeons", "Peril at End House", "Nemesis", "Appointment with Death", "The Secret Adversary", and "Curtain". In the last of these ("Curtain"), no fewer than three culprits die during the course of the story. In "The A.B.C. Murders", the murderer has killed four innocent people and attempted to frame an unstable man for the crimes. Hercule Poirot, however, prevents this easy way out, ensuring a trial and hanging. In "And Then