Agatha Christie

Oh no, good point the book isn't (haven't read it for years). For the TV adaptation they put her in it.

The Pale Horse isn't a Miss Marple (at least, the book isn't, god knows what they might have done on TV)
It does have Mrs Dane Cslthrop in it, who also appears in The Moving Finger - were you thinking of that one?

I love Agatha Christie, I started by reading Death on The Nile when I was on holiday in Egypt and it went on from there. I must have read over half of her books, my dad has the whole collection, which he has read several times so I just borrow one when I have the urge.

OOOH Just remembered two other absolute corkers - Five Little Pigs and Sad Cypress. Both brilliant (and brilliant fairly recent TV adaptations too).

I love the ones with Poirot and Hastings - bless Hastings he never has a clue, does he?

Here is a useful summary of the order of the books, and the detectives featured in them
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agatha_Christie_bibliography

Murder of Roger Ackroyd, the perfect detective novel, just spectacular. Probably read it after you have read a few other AC books, and are comfortable with her style, the shock is even greater.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans is hilarious in the way that Frankie has a handy doctor friend willing to blatantly lie and deceive so she can gain access to a house where the suspect is.

I do not like the Curtain story, but I do know that she wrote in 1940, when she was worried she would not survive the Second World War. So I don't consider it as part of the Poirot set, more something she wrote to get it off her chest (she disliked Poirot).
Incidentally, Sleeping Murder was also written in the 1940s, for the same reason, which is why it has an old fashioned feel to it even though it was first published in 1976.

My favourite is 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans?' Not Poirot or Miss Marple, but I just love the storyline and have re-read it so many times.

First read it when I was eight and still love it.

Think I've read almost all of them. Best part about Agatha Christie is that you can re-read them and often you don't remember who the murderer is, so you can enjoy the story all over again.

I can't stand Tommy and Tuppence, except for the one with the batty aunt in the nursing home, can't remember the title. That one is fab.

My absolute favourites

Hallowe'en Party (Poirot)
Cat Amongst the Pigeon (Poirot)
Curtain (Poirot - but the last one do NOT read early on, no spoilers for other books but you need to know him well as a character to appreciate it. And you'll need tissues - or am I odd?)
Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple - scary)
The Pale Horse (Marple)
The Mirror Cracked From Side to Side (Marple)

There is a PP set in London. It's around here somewhere, I'll try and dig it out. Have yet to read a Christie I didn't like although I have my favourites. Love They Came to Bagdad and The Secret of Chimneys. Murder on the Orient Express is quite simply brilliant and must be read before Cards on the Table (another face). My very 1st Agatha was Murder at the Vicarage when I was 13.
I'm very excited at the moment as I'm off to London next week to see Mouse Trap. Ican'twaitIcan'twaitIcan'twait!!!

Is there any more Parker Pyne than the collection of short stories where he travels to the middle east?

I like Parker Pyne, but, I must admit, in contrast to others, I adore Tommy and Tuppence. I'm sad they have so few books between them.

Parker Pyne never appealed to me

I agree withe the recommendations to read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - I've never been so shocked and surprised by a story before!

It's just that if you come across a character from a previous book before you've read that book, when you do read it, you'll know from the start they weren't the murderer...

Any of you Christie fans rate Parker Pyne?

I don't think it matters which order they are read in. You do sometimes pick up on characters you have encountered before but it isn't necessary IMO to have read about them before. For instance in Evil under the Sun, one character mentions that Cornelia Benson (who is in Death on the Nile) had spoken to her of Hercule Poirot so she was thrilled to meet him. If you had read Death on the Nile first, you would know who she is referring to but if you had not, it wouldn't make any difference IYSWIM to your understanding of Evil under the Sun. The book also has Colonel Weston in it with whom HP worked on another case which is alluded to in passing - I like it was Peril at End House but not entirely sure

She had a bit of fun with that kind of thing I have the impression

OOOHHHH I love this thread! I am a huge Christie fan(see my posts re baby names). My all time favourites are-
Nemesis
A caribean mystery
At Bertrams Hotel
By the pricking of my thumbs
Cat amongst the pigeons
Evil under the sun

I could go on-love nearly all of them. My one exception would be The Blue train and I read that christie herself didnt rate it.

sieglinde - agreed. Have tried others, like Marjorie Allingham, but none like AC. I prefer DLS as novels, but as sheer escapism, nothing like AC.

I hate to say this, but I like the cheesy ones about conspiracies, like They came to Baghdad, and The Secret of Chimneys. Actually, I like them all. Nobody writes as well as she did in this genre now

I re-read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd recently (as in first read 25 years ago) and was surprised and shocked. And am surprise and shocked that I was surprised and shocked ... remembered how good she was. Nemesis is my favourite - very chilling. But actually, I loved them all. Loved Joan Hickson and David Suchet. Introduced ds1 to DS at Christmas with Murder on the Orient Express; it was fab.

I had the great honour and priviledge (sp) of meeting Joan Hickson nearly a quarter of a century ago when the BBC filmed The Moving Finger at my fathers farm. She told me what a gorgeous dog i had!!

Oh yes, The Hound of Death was very good.
And for a real Bluebeard chiller, read "Philomel Cottage" in "The Listerdale Mystery and Other Stories."