Hugh Fraser

There's a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. And as a macabre calling card he leaves beside each victim the ABC Railway Guide open at the name of the town where the murder has taken place. There seems little chance of the murderer being caught - until he makes the vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans...

Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N. Owen. That evening, one of the guests is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide. The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again… and again…

Among the red cliffs of Petra sat the corpse of Mrs Boynton. A tiny puncture mark on her wrist was the only sign of the fatal injection that had killed her. Hercule Poirot recalled a chance remark he’d overheard back in Jerusalem: ‘You see, don’t you, that she’s got to be killed?’ Mrs Boynton was, indeed, the most detestable woman he’d ever met…

Framed in the doorway of Poirot's bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. Who was he? Above all, what was the significance of the figure 4, scribbled over and over again on a sheet of paper? Poirot finds himself plunged into a world of international intrigue, risking his life to uncover the truth about 'Number Four'.

Mr Shaitana was famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless, Poirot had some reservations about accepting a party invitation to view Shaitana’s private art collection. Indeed, what began as an absorbing evening of bridge was to turn into a more dangerous game altogether…

Two teachers investigate a mysterious flashing light in the sports pavilion. They stumble upon the body of the unpopular games mistress – shot through the heart from point blank range. The school is thrown into chaos when the ‘cat’ strikes again. Unfortunately, schoolgirl Julia Upjohn knows too much. In particular, she knows that without Hercule Poirot’s help, she will be the next victim…

Stenographer Sheila Webb let herself into the house at 19 Wilbraham Crescent and made a grisly discovery: the body of a dead man. What intrigued Poirot was the time factor. Sheila remembered having heard a cuckoo clock strike three o'clock. Yet, the four other clocks in the living room all showed the time as 4.13. However, only one of these clocks belonged to the owner of the house...

From seat No.9, Hercule Poirot could observe his fellow air passengers. Over to his right sat a pretty young woman, ahead, in seat No.13, sat a Countess with a poorly-concealed cocaine habit. What Poirot did not yet realize was that behind him, in seat No.2, sat the slumped, lifeless body of a woman...

Hercule Poirot is determined to solve an old husband and wife double murder that is still an open verdict. He delves back into the past and discovers that ‘old sin leave long shadows’.

At a Hallowe’en party, thirteen-year-old Joyce boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no-one believes her, she storms off. Within hours her body is found, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. Hercule Poirot is called in, but first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer.

Something is troubling Poirot's secretary, Miss Lemon. It seems an outbreak of kleptomania at the student hostel in which her sister works is distracting her. Deciding that desperate times call for desperate measures, he agrees to investigate. Unknown to Poirot, however, desperation is a motive he shares with a killer…

Hercule Poirot realises that what he at first thought was a clever hoax, is very real - there is a dead body by the swimming pool, accompanied by a hysterical woman. Poirot’s enquiries soon reveal a complex web of romantic attachments. It seems everyone in the drama is a suspect and each a victim of love.

In appearance Hercule Poirot hardly resembled an ancient Greek hero. Yet like Hercules he had been responsible for ridding society of some of its most unpleasant monsters. So leading up to his retirement, Poirot makes up his mind to accept just twelve more cases: his self-imposed ‘Labours’.

Poirot was present when Jane bragged of her plan to 'get rid' of her estranged husband. Now he is dead and Jane has a cast-iron alibi, she was dining with friends at the time and after all he had granted her a divorce, so what motive could she have?

On a French golf course, a millionaire is found stabbed in the back... But why is the dead man wearing his son's overcoat? And who was the impassioned love-letter in the pocket for? Before Poirot can answer these questions, the case is turned upside down by the discovery of a second, identically murdered corpse...

Roger Ackroyd knew that the woman he loved had poisoned her brutal first husband. He suspected also that someone had been blackmailing her. Now, tragically, came the news that she had taken her own life. The evening post brought Roger one last fatal scrap of information, but before he could finish the letter, he was stabbed to death…

So far, it had been a typical New Year’s Eve house party. But Mr Satterthwaite – a keen observer of human nature – sensed that the real drama of the evening was yet to unfold. So it proved when a mysterious stranger arrived after midnight. Who was this Mr Quin? And why did his presence have such a pronounced effect on Eleanor Portal, the woman with the dyed-black hair?

When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again – for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. The prime suspect is Ruth’s estranged husband, Derek. Yet Poirot is not convinced, so he stages an eerie re-enactment of the journey, complete with the murderer on board…

To understand the strange goings on at The Pale Horse Inn, Mark Easterbrook knew he had to begin at the beginning. But where exactly was the beginning? Wherever the beginning lies, Mark and his sidekick, Ginger Corrigan, may soon have cause to wish they’d never found it…

Pit Poirot against peril and you get perfection. Someone is stalking the lady of End House. She claims her only friend is a ghost. Hercule Poirot has his more earthbound theories of what's happening.

An engaging collection of three of the Queen of Crime's favourite detectives: Hercule Poirot, Parker Pyne, and Harley Quinn.

Bruce Chatwin provides a fascinating background to indigenous Australian life. The songlines are the invisible pathways that criss-cross Australia, tracks connecting communities and following ancient boundaries. Along these lines, Aboriginals passed the songs which revealed the creation of the land and the secrets of its past. In this magical account, Chatwin recalls his travels across the length and breadth of Australia seeking to find the truth about the songs and unravel the mysteries of their stories.

After marrying an attractive young widow, Gordon Cloade is tragically killed by a bomb blast in the London blitz. Overnight, the former Mrs Underhay finds herself in sole possession of the family fortune. Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man’s sister-in-law claiming that Mrs Underhay’s first husband is alive. Poirot has his suspicions...

Three single girls shared the same London flat. One of the girls came to Poirot for help, convinced she was a murderer. Without hard evidence, it would take all Poirot’s tenacity to establish whether the third girl was guilty, innocent or insane…

Thirteen guests arrived at dinner at the actor’s house. It was to be a particularly unlucky evening for the Reverend Stephen Babbington, who choked on his cocktail, went into convulsions and died. But when his martini glass was sent for chemical analysis, there was no trace of poison – just as Poirot had predicted. Even more troubling for the great detective, there was absolutely no motive…

In this collection of profiles, essays and travel stories, Chatwin takes us to Benin, where he is arrested as a mercenary during a coup; to Boston to meet an LSD guru who believes he is Christ; to India with Indira Ghandi when she attempted a political comeback in 1978; and to Nepal where he reminds us that 'Man's real home is not a house, but the Road, and that life itself is a journey to be walked on foot'