The ABC Murders (Poirot)

Description

John Malkovich stars as Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's ingenious serial-killer thriller, newly adapted for BBC Television in 2018 by the award-winning team behind And Then There Were None, Witness for the Prosecution and Ordeal by Innocence. 'Let us see, Mr Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be.' Murder is a very simple crime. But at the hands of a maniac, a serial killer, it becomes a very complicated business. The 1930s is a time when the nation is dangerously divided and suspicion and hatred are on the rise. In the midst of this, Poirot faces a serial killer known only as A.B.C. First the killer strikes in Andover, then Bexhill. As the murder count rises, the only clue is the copy of The ABC Railway Guide at each crime scene. Poirot's investigations are thwarted at every turn by an enemy determined to outsmart him. If Poirot is to match his nemesis then everything about him will be called into question: his authority, his integrity, his past, his identity. This new tie-in edition coincides with the new BBC production adapted for television by Sarah Phelps, with an all-star cast including John Malkovich, Rupert Grint, Tara Fitzgerald, Andrew Buchan, Shirley Henderson, Kevin McNally, Gregor Fisher and Jack Farthing.

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign countries. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.

"It's Agatha Christie at her best." Daily Mirror "A masterwork of carefully concealed artifice... most stunningly original." Julian Symons "An Agatha Christie triumph." Morning Post "The best thing she has ever written, compact, witty and horribly exciting." Sunday Referee "An entirely original idea." Daily Telegraph "Mrs Christie has invented an entirely new plot for a detective story - a difficult thing in these days; she is to be congratulated on the perfection of her invention." The Times "Smooth and apparently effortless perfection." Guardian "Her best yet. Where does she get hold of these brilliant notions?" Bristol Evening Post "Vive Hercule Poirot! He is back again ... and I, for one, am thrilled to the marrow bones ... the most amazing finale for sheer ingenuity that I have ever come across ... Mrs Christie has pulled it off yet again." The Bystander