Best 18 Agatha Christie books to read in 2024

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Outsold only by the Bible and William Shakespeare, Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, not to mention the penman of the world’s longest-running play, The Mousetrap. Her characters Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, and Colonel Race have become household names, and feature in many of Christie’s tales.

While some of the same characters may crop up, the books we’ve suggested below can be read as standalone stories. We’ve also recommended our favourite Miss Marple and Poirot tales, as well as the top audiobooks you can find on Amazon’s Audible. Plus, with a free 30-day trial at Audible, you have plenty of time to get stuck into Christie’s twisted world.

Now, grab your magnifying glass, we have mysteries to solve!

Best Agatha Christie books at a glance:

Murder Is Easy, free on Audible
Towards Zero, free on Audible
The Man in the Brown Suit, free on Audible
Ordeal by Innocence, free on Audible
Nemesis, free on Audible
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, from £2.77
Death on the Nile, from £2.99
A Pocket Full of Rye, from £2.99
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, from £3.99
Endless Night, from £4.34
Death Comes as the End, from £4.44
The Pale Horse, from £7.69
Murder on the Orient Express, £9.99
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, £9.99
Sparkling Cyanide, £10.99
Crooked House, £10.99
A Murder is Announced, £10.99
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, £14.99

Best Agatha Christie standalone books to read this year

Death Comes as the End

This 1944 book represents some firsts for Christie as well as some peculiarities; Death Comes as the End is the only one of the author’s novels not to be set in the 20th century — instead it’s set in Thebes, Egypt, in 2000 BC — it’s also the first full-length novel which combines historical fiction and the detective story, which would later become known as the historical whodunit. Death Comes as the End is only one of four Christie novels which has not been adapted in any way, which means reading it is the only way you can consume this twisted tale.

In Death Comes as the End, an Egyptian family’s lives are disturbed when their father brings home a new wife, Nofret, who begins to plant seeds of doubt amongst them. When murders begin, the family suspects a curse upon the house, but is the killer close to home?

Buy Death Comes as the End from £4.44 at Amazon

Sparkling Cyanide

We’ve watched enough mystery dramas — namely, Fool Me Once on Netflix recently — to know that, to find the killer, you need to establish a motive. In Sparkling Cyanide, character Rosemary Barton collapses and dies at a dinner table in a Luxembourg restaurant; each of the guests around the table have a reason for wanting Barton dead. One year later, her husband George Barton dies at the same table; he, too, is poisoned and collapses.

Sparkling Cyanide features the recurring character Colonel Race, who also features in books such as The Man in the Brown Suit, and this book is his last appearance. If you’ve read any of Christie’s short stories, you might be thinking ‘hang on, this sounds very similar to Yellow Iris’, and you’d be correct! Sparkling Cyanide expands the plot of 1937 short story Yellow Iris.

Buy Sparkling Cyanide for £10.99 at Harper Collins

Crooked House

Have you heard of the crooked man who bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse and they all lived together in a little crooked house? Well, this book isn’t based on that, but it does get its title from the nursery rhyme.

Crooked House is one of Christie’s favourites of her own novels, along with books like Ordeal by Innocence. The plot is as follows: three generations of the Leonides family all live together under the wealthy patriarch, Aristide. After Aristide is poisoned by his own eye medicine, the family decide they won’t rest until the killer is apprehended. All fingers point towards Aristide’s second wife, Brenda, who is suspected of having an affair, but did she do it?

Buy Crooked House for £10.99 at Harper Collins

The Pale Horse

With two ITV adaptations and one BBC adaptation under its belt, you’ve probably stumbled across The Pale Horse on your silver screen. But, as we always say, the book is usually better than the film or TV show.

The Pale Horse begins with a perfect set-up: a dying woman, Mrs Davis, confesses a terrible secret and gives a list of implicated names to a Roman Catholic priest, but before he can take action, he’s struck dead in a fog. The book’s young hero begins to piece together evidence, and it sets him on an unprecedented path…

Buy The Pale Horse from £7.69 at Amazon

Endless Night

Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night. Here at RadioTimes.com, we love mysteries which are set in obviously spooky locations which the main character chooses to ignore the warnings from locals and visit anyway — we’re thinking of The Woman in Black, The Wicker Man and the like.

Amongst Gipsy’s Acre’s dark fir trees and sea views, our main character Michael Rogers decides to build a house, find a wife, and live happily ever after. However, a shadow of menace hangs over Gipsy’s Acre, and ‘accidents’ are prone to happen. Should Rogers have listened to the locals’ warnings?

Buy Endless Night from £4.34 at Amazon

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

Back in April 2023, RadioTimes.com reported that Hugh Laurie’s adaptation of Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? was coming to ITV1 and ITVX that weekend; the TV adaptation stars Will Poulter and Lucy Boynton. If you want to read the detective thriller which inspired the adaptation, you have come to the right place.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is available to buy at Amazon as an audiobook on Audible, on your Kindle, or in paperback form. The book begins with character Bobby Jones finding a man dying on his local golf course. Jones and his friend, Lady Frances Derwent, endeavour to solve the mystery of the dying man’s last words: “Why didn't they ask Evans?”.

Buy Why Didn't They Ask Evans? from £3.99 at Amazon

Best Agatha Christie books featuring Poirot

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Christie’s debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was the result of a dare from her sister Madge who challenged Christie to write a story. It’s a dare that evidently paid off, least of all as it introduced the world to Poirot.

This story begins when our character Hastings is sent back to England from serving in the WWI due to an injury, and he’s invited to stay at Styles Court by his old friend, John Cavendish. At Styles Court, Hastings meets Mrs Inglethorp and her new husband, Alfred, but he doesn’t get much time to spend with them as Mrs Inglethorp is poisoned. As suspicion falls on the family, another old friend, the now household name Hercule Poirot, is called to investigate.

Buy The Mysterious Affair at Styles for £14.99 at Harper Collins

Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express is perhaps one of the most famous Christie books, particularly amongst modern audiences, as it was adapted into a movie in 2017 starring Kenneth Branagh as Poirot, as well as Judi Dench, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Penélope Cruz.

Christie’s story takes place on the Orient Express: an elegant train which transported people in the 1930s. When the train is stopped by heavy snowfall, a murderer takes the opportunity to kill one of the passengers on board. Luckily, the detective Poirot is on hand to solve the murder.

Buy Murder on the Orient Express for £9.99 at Waterstones

Death on the Nile

In the movie world, Death on the Nile is a sequel to Murder on the Orient Express, and A Haunting in Venice succeeds it. In the book world, Death on the Nile is a 1937 novel which features the detective Poirot.

Death on the Nile begins with a tranquil cruise as it coasts along the Nile, that is until everyone on board is horrified by the discovery that young Linnet Ridgeway has been shot. Ridgeway’s character is stylish, beautiful, and seemingly has everything — who would kill her? Could it be the passenger who said “I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger”? Or is it not that simple?

Buy Death on the Nile from £2.99 at Amazon

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

When a novel is labelled as ‘controversial’, it makes us want to read it all the more, and if you’re the same as us, then you’ll love this next novel. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd has been called ‘Christie’s masterpiece’ as well as her most controversial novel as it breaks all the rules of traditional mystery writing, particularly with the innovative twist ending. In 2013, the British Crime Writers' Association named it the best crime novel ever.

In the book, a widow’s suicide has started rumours that she was being blackmailed, and has uncovered a secret lover named Roger Ackroyd. When Ackroyd is discovered stabbed to death in his study, the family enlist a man to uncover the truth: Poirot.

Buy The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for £9.99 at Waterstones

Best Agatha Christie books with Miss Marple

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side

On the official Christie site, it’s said that while the plot for The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side was inspired by the author’s reflections on a mother’s feelings for a child born with disabilities, Christie was also influenced by the story of American actress Gene Tierney.

While pregnant with her daughter, Tierney contracted rubella, which caused congenital disabilities; her daughter Daria was born deaf, partially blind and intellectually disabled. In Christie’s novel, the glamorous actress Marina Gregg is based on Tierney.

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side sets up the murder of Heather Badcock: one moment, Badcock is gossiping about her favourite movie star, Gregg, the next minute, Badcock has suffered a huge seizure as a result of poison. But who has the poison intended for? Miss Marple is sure to find out.

Buy The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side from £2.77 at Amazon

A Murder is Announced

Set in the picturesque British village, Chipping Cleghorn, the villagers are rocked when a clipping appears in the local newspaper, reading: “A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, 29 October, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30pm. Friends accept this, the only intimation”, most of all Letitia Blacklock who is the owner of Little Paddocks.

However, curious villagers go to Little Paddocks, where they do in fact witness a murder at 6:30pm. Luckily, everyone’s favourite amateur detective Miss Marple is on hand to find out what happened.

Buy A Murder is Announced for £10.99 at Harper Collins

A Pocket Full of Rye

Miss Marple is back in Christie’s A Pocket Full of Rye! When a handful of grain is found in the pocket of a murdered businessman, and traces of cereals are found in the pockets of the recently dead king of a financial empire, Miss Marple begins piecing together information.

Buy A Pocket Full of Rye from £2.99 at Amazon

Best Agatha Christie audiobooks

Murder Is Easy

Murder Is Easy has just gotten the BBC adaptation treatment; the BBC series stars David Jonsson as Luke Fitzwilliam, a young man who learns of a village’s strange deaths from character Miss Pinkerton. When Miss Pinkerton ends up dead, Fitzwilliam decides to take matters into his own hands to bring her killer to justice.

As well as a TV adaptation, Murder Is Easy is of course a book and audiobook. The Audible audiobook is narrated by Hugh Fraser, who is best known for his role as Captain Hastings in the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Towards Zero

In Towards Zero, Lady Tressilian invites her deceased husband’s former ward and tennis star Nevile Strange to her seaside home at Gull’s Point. Strange insists on bringing his ex wife and his current wife, although Lady Tressilian admits she’d find this awkward.

During the seaside trip, her old friend Treves is murdered, then she is murdered, too. To solve the crime, Superintendent Battle and his nephew are called in.

The Audible audiobook is also narrated by Hugh Fraser.

The Man in the Brown Suit

The 1924 novel, The Man in the Brown Suit, introduces the character Colonel Race — an ex-Army colonel and British Secret Service agent — to the world. In The Man in the Brown Suit, we meet Anne Beddingfeld, who is ready for an adventure when one lands in her lap; Beddingfeld sees a man die in a tube station, and she picks up a suspicious looking piece of paper which has been dropped nearby. The piece of paper leads her to South Africa, but while she’s en route to Cape Town, the killer strikes again — this time, at her…

English actress Emilia Fox, who is perhaps best known for her role in Silent Witness, narrates this audiobook.

Ordeal by Innocence

This next book is another that modern audiences have most probably heard of thanks to the three-part BBC drama starring Bill Nighy.

Ordeal by Innocence is one of Christie’s personal favourite novels. Known for its psychological aspects, Ordeal by Innocence tells the story of a witness who is unaware of his role in a crime until two years after a man is found guilty of murder. When the witness realises the information he holds, he re-opens a can of worms and questions who really was the murderer two years ago.

This audiobook is also narrated by Hugh Fraser, and you can listen to it on Audible now.

Nemesis

Nemesis is the last novel Christie wrote starring amateur detective Miss Marple. The tale kicks off when Miss Marple reads a letter from her recently deceased friend, Mr Rafiel, who instructs her to investigate a crime after his death.

The only issue is, Mr Rafiel hasn’t told Miss Marple who was involved in the crime, when it was and where it was, so he’s been quite unhelpful… However, Miss Marple is soon faced with a new crime, that of murder. Are the two crimes linked? You’ll have to read Nemesis to find out.

This audiobook is also narrated by Emilia Fox.

For more on books, be sure to check out our recommendations of the best autobiographies.

Best Agatha Christie books to read in 2024

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