My Top 10 Best Agatha Christie Novels (Spoiler-free)

From Death on The Nile to The Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie has defined the murder mystery genre with some serious classic whodunnits, but which ones are her best? Join me as I walk you through my personal top ten Agatha Christie novels...with some suprising additions!
Books in this video:
The Man in The Brown Suit - amzn.to/3ximjdv
Murder at the Vicarage - amzn.to/4cFaoa2
The ABC Murders - amzn.to/3J1o95p
Crooked House - amzn.to/3J15dUa
Cards on the Table - amzn.to/3xtsP13
BBC Dramatization: amzn.to/4aEdmd3
4:50 from Paddington - amzn.to/43HDn96
The Mysterious Mr. Quin - amzn.to/43KxcB9
Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case - amzn.to/3J32Ujr
Murder on the Orient Express - amzn.to/3PRpm2P
And Then There Were None - amzn.to/3POyTrz
Agatha Christie's own ranking: tinyurl.com/2s3dbyaj
The links provided in this video are Amazon Affiliate links, which means if you buy a book through these links, it will not cost you extra, but it will earn me a small commission, which supports the channel. Do not feel obligated to buy through me, but if you do, thank you for your support!
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:26 The Man in The Brown Suit
01:14 Murder at the Vicarage
01:55 The ABC Murders
03:03 Crooked House
04:11 Cards on the Table
05:57 4:50 from Paddington
06:58 The Mysterious Mr. Quin
08:08 Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case
09:31 Murder on the Orient Express
10:46 And Then There Were None
Copyright:
Music by Bensound.com/free-music-for-videos
License code: YLK8ZZL27PXU9REB

[@cafeaulivre]

Which is your favorite Agatha Christie novel? Was it in this list or is it something totally different? Let me know down below and we'll talk Agatha Christie some more!

[@rebecca_is_book-hooked]

Taken by the Flood and Body in the Library are 2 of my favorites that I don’t hear people talking about as much.

[@haridaspal4146]

And then there were none

[@alidabaxter5849]

I think the plot of The ABC Murders is a work of genius. I also love The 4.50 from Paddington, The Murder at the Vicarage, and Three Act Tragedy.

[@cafeaulivre]

ABC is one of those great plots, I agree! 😊

[@sherrirabinowitz4618]

I love the Mysterious Mr. Quinn, I think they are fascinating. I think she loved them so much is because she was into the mystical and because she could write them whenever she wanted, there was no deadline. Which must have been pure joy. For your question, I like all Poirot's companions. I can't choose.

[@cafeaulivre]

Agreed, I think she wrote Quin purely for her own amusement, be damned what the public thought of it!

[@sherrirabinowitz4618]

@@cafeaulivre exactly, when I discovered them I ate them up, I read as many as I could. I have huge book of her short stories and most of them were in it, but I had to hunt to read some that were scattered in other collections.

[@Jannah1]

My two absolute favorites are Five Little Pigs and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. (Yes, her nursery rhyme titles are mixed in quality.) In the first, you need a profound understanding of character to solve the mystery. That’s it. You read the text, you think about people, and you can solve the case. The latter I love for what it reveals about Poirot. His values are tested here, and he has to face himself as an ageing man in a changing world.

[@cafeaulivre]

She did have a thing for nursery rhymes, didn’t she? 🤣 Have you read Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case? Think you might enjoy that one as well.

[@user-tm3xp9ph2v]

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd my favorite. Love from India

[@cafeaulivre]

Seems a popular one with a lot of people 😊

[@NellyVilla09]

I love all agatha christie twists, but The Murder of Roger Ackroyd will always be the one that I was personally most surprised by 🤍

[@cafeaulivre]

I can see that, yes…I was pondering giving it a place on the list, but for some reason, it always felt a bit ‘mediocre’ to me…maybe I was reading too many Agatha Christie’s in a row at that time 😝

[@rebecca_is_book-hooked]

Roger Ackroyd is also a huge favorite of mine and definitely delivered an unexpected twist, but I think the most surprising twist for me was Crooked House.

[@dhivyabharathialagirisamyr523]

The murder of rager Ackroyd was extremely unsettling for me. The ending felt like an itch I could not scratch, very anti climatic and not sure whether it was good or bad.

[@StefkoMinkov]

The pacing was kind of slow and not so entertaining for me but the end is my favorite. The opposite i feel about Then there were none. Loved the dynamic and the vibe but didn't like the end.

[@rebecca_is_book-hooked]

Thank you for keeping this spoiler-free!

[@cafeaulivre]

I want people to discover these books on their own 😋

[@paulclay8547]

I have read them all many times. Never get tired of them

[@cafeaulivre]

They truly are timeless!

[@ellenyoung9223]

I’ve read all of them and many of them multiple times. I suppose some were better than others but I just loved her characters. I ended up downsizing some years ago and passing on about 80 Christie paperbacks but such good memories.

[@cafeaulivre]

I’m on the fence myself: my AC collection is old and I do like the newer cover designs, but I can’t seem to part with them yet

[@paulclay8547]

My favourite all time Agatha Christie book is And Then There Were None

[@aissadibaga5892]

Mine too

[@avisilas]

Mine is Ordeal by Innocence. Thank you for your great vid.

[@paulclay8547]

My top ten are: 1) And Then There Were None 2) Murder In Mesopotamia 3) A Murder Is Announced 4) Murder On The Orient express 5) A Pocket Full Of Rye 6) Murder At The Vicarage 7) Crooked House 8) They Do It With Mirrors 9) Sparkling Cyanide 10) Elephants Can Remember

[@saraloveslfc]

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was my first Christie and I loved it so much I was scared that I had read the best one first for a minute. But then I went on to read Murder on the Orient Express and I have to say it’s my new number one. I guess I just really love a good plot-twist.

[@cafeaulivre]

Then do try Crooked House some time 😉

[@FrankBurnsie]

Curtain was written in the 1940s. It was not the last book she wrote. She originally wanted to keep it unpublished until after her death but was convinced by her editors to publish it while she was alive. So while it was the last novel published while she was alive, it was not the last novel she wrote. That would be the abysmal Elephants Can Remember.

[@cafeaulivre]

Elephants can remember is indeed something…special 😬

[@MyMessyBookshelf]

I love this video. I cannot get over how similar our lists are… not identical but similar. I enjoyed the Harley Quin stories too but not sure if they would be in my top ten. And Then There Were None was my first Agatha Christie and I think my first “adult” novel when I was 13. I have been hooked ever since.

[@cafeaulivre]

I can imagine you were! Seems quite intense for when you are 13 🫣

[@MyMessyBookshelf]

@@cafeaulivre it was on a school summer reading list to get extra credit and I read it during a thunderstorm on summer break…perfection. It may be why I am still so obsessed with her books almost three decades later. Have you read her Tommy and Tuppence books? I think they are my least favorite but I am wanting to read some and reevaluate how I feel.

[@cafeaulivre]

@@MyMessyBookshelf I have indeed and while they are not my favorite ones plotwise, I do remember liking the dynamics between T&T as a couple.

[@dubbelhenke854]

A good list. She has written so many good ones that its impossible for me to list them. Crooked house, 4.50, Cards on the table, they are all superb. Mr Quin was never my favorite - I rather more liked Parker Pyne. 😊 Curtain was not anong the last ones she wrote though. Like Sleeping Murder she wrote it in the 40s. It is very very good. I like Miss Marple more than Poirot and Murder in the vicarage is great. I loved Why didnt they ask Evans and Death on the Nile. I think that I have read all of the novels. Her last ones were not very good. The ones from 1930 to 1960 are the best IMO. Loved N or M.

[@duskden2]

Surprised you didn't mention Roger Ackroyd here

[@garryd7748]

We always love the novel that got us into Christie novels…. I read Cat Among the Pigeons at school, and the school setting made it totally memorable for me.

[@cafeaulivre]

Oh, I can imagine! I never got to read Agatha Christie at school, not even at uni. Guess she isn’t considered ‘classic lit’ enough 😢

[@sealfan1000]

I love Mr. Quinn! Thank you for including this gem!

[@cafeaulivre]

Im a big fan myself 😁

[@shisharma]

And then there were none is my all time favourite by Agatha but i also enjoyed murder on the orient express, the murder of roger ackroyd . I haven't heard of the mysterious mr. Quinn i would give it a shot . Thankyou for bringing up such recommendations ❤

[@beth3535]

Quinn was the first I read. Made me a fan even though it was so different.

[@beth3535]

I hated Poirot as well. Still read them as well.

[@cafeaulivre]

Definitely give Quin a try, it’s something totally different 😋

[@cafeaulivre]

He’s just a bit too perfect and arrogant 😝

[@alexlella8771]

I basically agree with you about "And then there were None". It was actually the first Agatha Christie book I ever read back when I was thirteen. In a way, that was a bad place to start because every Agatha Christie book I read after that was something of a disappointment.

[@cafeaulivre]

I can see how the bar was set high after that one, yes

[@librarylady868]

My favorite Agatha Christie is The Moving Finger. I loved the whole poison pen letter thing.

[@cafeaulivre]

If I’m not mistaken, it was one of her favorites too!

[@lindybjork2712]

Hastings is my favorite sidekick and Poirot's my favorite detective. Death on the Nile is my favorite Poirot. I just love the characters and the plot of that one.

[@cafeaulivre]

I didn’t include Death on the Nile because I already had MotOE, which I still prefer. But maybe I’m biased, because I love the actual Orient Express train 😍

[@lindybjork2712]

@@cafeaulivre It is a good one. It's next in my reread.

[@karengustafson7666]

Almost all of these are favorites of mine also.

[@cafeaulivre]

Then you have an excellent taste 😉

[@matthewhines9787]

Death On The Nile is probably my fave. I do love Sparkling Cyanide though.

[@cafeaulivre]

Sparkling cyanide is a great one, I agree, another excellent example of her mastery of poisons

[@matthewhines9787]

@@cafeaulivre I love it because of the whole directly observable yet never seen actions of the villain. Like the subtle redirection of seating just by changing one place to put the right person in front of the cyanide, or the waiter's jacket that basically allowed the others' subconscious to fill in the rest of the "waiter" role so no attention was paid to him. It was almost like he was using their subconscious to help him manipulate the situation. It's really a lowkey commentary on how classist the London social culture was.

[@paulclay8547]

My favourite Agatha Christie book is Murder In Mesopotamia

[@cafeaulivre]

She knew her archeological digs very well, as she accompanied her second husband on his expeditions

[@paulclay8547]

I should of said Murder In Mesopotamia is my favourite Hercule Poirot book

[@clearestlittlekid]

I LOVE YOUR LIST 🤩 BUT FOR ME DEATH ON THE NILE IS MY FAV

[@aiscahill]

I’ve only just put down an Agatha Christie book that I didn’t love and had been wondering which ones I should try instead. The perfect list at the right time ☺️

[@cafeaulivre]

Which one did you dnf?

[@aiscahill]

@@cafeaulivre The Murder on the Links. Maybe it was a case of right book, wrong time but I couldn’t get into it at all.

[@cafeaulivre]

I don’t really like Murder on the Links myself

[@jesusdelcanto9715]

I disagree about some. Brown Suit is not even one of her better thrillers. I would have put there Death Comes as the End (the one set in Ancient Egypt) or Pale Horse (the one about witchcraft). The best Marple is A murder is announced, hands down. About the Poirot stories, the list should include Five Little Pigs and/or Peril at End House.

[@cafeaulivre]

Luckily she has written so many that all tastes can find their favorites 😊

[@Daria-4215]

I like your Top 10 although I haven’t read Curtain just because I don’t want to say good bye to Poirot . Also among my favorites there are Why didn’t They Ask Evans, Absent In The Spring and her An Autobiography.

[@cafeaulivre]

Poirot will always live on 😊

[@thelavenderhatter5924]

I recently just played Hercule Poirot in my college’s theatre show of Murder on the Orient Express. It was a deep honor to wear the mustache of the famous Belgian detective! I did my hw on the various actors and adaptations and partially read the novel, wanting to be as authentic as I could. The dean of the college library bought me Murder on the Orient Express, Cards on the Table, and And Then There Were None. Now that I have leisure time in my semester I was going crazy deciding which one to read first. From what I understand, the Poirot books are generally stand alone? I was thinking of reading Cards cause I was already familiar with Orient Express plot (for 3 months🤣), but then you mentioned the Avengers Assemble moment. Could you enlighten me about the first appearances of these other detectives with Poirot? Are there other books that they are in that I should read first? Furthermore, if you could give me recommendations for your favorite three other Poirot novels (excluding Orient and Cards), I would be very grateful. I want to have a small collection of the “best” For now I will be reading And Then There Were None since that’s separate from Poirot series. 🕵🏻‍♂️ Merci beaucoup for the video!

[@cafeaulivre]

All books are standalone, so there is no particular order you need to read them in. As for other Poirot novels: Murder on the Nile is certainly worth the read. I’m also a fan of the short stories: they are ideal if you don’t have the time for a full novel. Also, I think I’d include The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I’ve done another video on where to start reading Agatha Christie books that might be useful too, so feel free to browse my channel for that one as well.

[@thelavenderhatter5924]

@@cafeaulivre Thank you again! The short story collection does interest me greatly as well as Roger Ackroyd. I’ll check out the video!

[@phyycxis1159]

i read a few 10 years ago but don’t remember them except the orient express. recently i wanted to get back to her books and roger ackroyd seem to be in the top favorites but it was so boring for me, took a month to finish it when it’s a 2 day length book 😅 the letter didn’t surprised me at all

[@cafeaulivre]

I know a lot of people have Ackroyd in their top rankings….I didn’t find it one of her best personally 🫣