Hercule Poirot and Friends

Sophie Hannah and expert guests on the man behind the moustache...

In 1975 the New York Times ran the following front page: 'Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective who became internationally famous, has died in England. His age was unknown'. This news story announced, for the only time in history, the death of a fictional character.

The article continued: 'The news of his death, given by Dame Agatha, was not unexpected. Word that he was near death reached here last May'. Christie herself is known to have become annoyed by him, but audiences around the world have never grown tired of the egg-shaped detective.

Further proof that the appetite remains undimmed is the BBC’s upcoming creation of a new Poirot series, featuring a younger Hercule. But tonight it’s back to the original, as for one night only at the British Library all 5 foot 4 inches of the impeccably dressed and fastidious little man will be brought back to life.

Bring your little grey cells, and do not miss an evening of Poirot and friends!

Supported by Great Western Railway.

Our exhibition, Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery, is in collaboration with Agatha Christie Limited and The Christie Archive Trust.

Sophie's work has been published in forty-nine languages and fifty-one territories. She writes contemporary psychological thrillers and, at the request of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, the new series of Hercule Poirot novels. Sophie’s murder mystery musical, The Mystery of Mr E, was released as a feature film in 2023, directed by Martyn Tott. In 2023, Sophie won the Crime Writers Association’s Dagger in the Library Award for her body of work.

His Edgar-nominated Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks (2009) won the 2011 Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Awards and he published Agatha Christie’s Murder in the Making, also nominated for the same awards, in September 2011. In 2019 he published The Hooded Gunman, the official history of Collins Crime Club and last year The Murder Game: Play, Puzzles and the Golden Age.

He has published three books on Christie, with the most recent, Agatha Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness (HarperCollins, 2024), winning Crimefest's H.R.F. Keating Award for best critical or biographical work. He is also the co-producer and co-presenter of the podcast The Swinging Christies and Associate Professor of Screen Histories at Southampton Solent University.

Previously Jo Miles was Professor in Family Law & Policy at the University of Cambridge before becoming a professional gardener and accidental legal scholar of Agatha Christie. As one half of the project Legally Agatha, together with Professor Rebecca Probert, University of Exeter, she has co-authored the chapter on Agatha Christie & the Law in the British Library’s book accompanying the Christie exhibition. You can find out more on Instagram @legallyagatha.