Agatha Christie And Her Heroes - Miss Marple And Hercule Poirot

Possibly the most commercially prolific novelist in modern history, Agatha Christie's eighty or more novels sell in hundreds of millions, and are translated into more languages than all the works of Shakespeare. Her books have sold four billion copies, in one estimation, a number only exceeded by sales of the Bible.The two primary fictional detectives featured in her novels are the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Agatha Christie books are enjoyed by many people all over the world, largely due to the adventures of these two characters.

Miss Jane Marple never married and residesin the village of St Mary Mead. She is constantly watching people, noting their characteristics and their motivations for their mundane daily actions. Even though the killer may conceal many of the facts, she requires only a small clue to nourish her vivid imagination - her insight into human psychology and her famous persistence ensure that the evil doer has very little opportunity at all to escape his just punishment.

Miss Marple appears in twelve of Agatha Christie's books and twenty short stories. Although described as an amateur detective, her successes are legion. She is probably the most famous of the author's creations and has been played many times on the small and big screen by famous actresses. Her first appearance was was in 'The Murder at the Vicarage ' ,published in 1939.

Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective, is another one of Agatha Christie's celebrated characters, appearing in excess of eighty short stories and books. Poirot has been played for radio, TV and film, by several notable actors, such as Albert Finney, Sir Peter Ustinov, and David Suchet, who plays Poirot in the television series for the BBC.

Captain Arthur Hastings, a onetime British officer, is Poirot's good friend and features in a good many novels and stories. Hastings is not a good private detective, in Poirot's opinion, but can be helpful due to the fact that he is quickly bamboozled by the killer and sometimes happens across the truth, giving Poirot that little extra piece of knowledge he needs to crack the case. Poirot's secretary, Felicity Lemon, (a deliciously unlikely name) he himself characterizes as being "Unbelievably ugly and incredibly efficient". The complete Agatha Christie book list must include the Marple and Poirot stories.