She did it with Numbers – 10 Agatha Christie books with numbers in the title

Posted September 14, 2021 by elzaread in Top Ten Tuesday / 64 Comments

 Greetings you guys! It’s still cold and raining outside and the perfect weather to snuggle with a good murder mystery. What can be better than an Agatha Christie one? That’s why we’ve decided to combine today’s Top Ten Tuesday with a list of Agatha Christie novels. Today’s theme for TTT is Ten Books with Numbers in the title and it was quite easy to go through our Agatha Christie bibliography and list 10 titles with numbers.
Towards Zero – We actually don’t know the Superintendent Battle series at all, but we will still get to it. An elderly widow is murdered at a clifftop seaside house…What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl, and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, apparently nothing. But when a houseparty gathers at Gull’s Point, the seaside home of an elderly widow, earlier events come to a dramatic head. It’s all part of a carefully paid plan – for murder…
 
One, Two, Buckle my Shoe – We don’t like dentists either.
What reason would an amiable dentist like Dr. Morely have for committing suicide? He didn’t have emotional difficulties, money problems, or love trouble. What he did have was an appointment with Hercule Poirot, who is not persuaded by the suicide story and has therefore taken it upon himself to question the good doctor’s patients, partners, and friends. All he’s come up with is the numbing fear that Dr. Morely wasn’t an unlikely victim at all. Nor the first.
 
Three Blind Mice and other stories – Three Blind Mice is of course better known as:
 

 

The longest running West End Show that ran continuously from 1952 until 16 March 2020 when it was discontinued due to the Covid 19 Pandemic. I wonder  what Dame Christie would have made of this pandemic….

The famous story opens with a blinding snowstorm trapping a small group of guests and owners in an isolated estate, recently re-purposed as a country inn. Although not fully aware of it, they are also trapped by a homicidal maniac! Out of this deceptively simple set-up, Agatha Christie fashioned one of her most ingenious puzzlers, which in turn provided the basis for “The Mousetrap,” the longest-running play in history. The book includes this classic and eight more deliciously clever gems (solved to perfection by Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple). 

 
Third Girl – Three young women share a London flat. The first is a coolly efficient secretary. The second is an artist. The third interrupts Hercule Poirot’s breakfast confessing that she is a murderer—and then promptly disappears.
Slowly, Poirot learns of the rumors surrounding the mysterious third girl, her family, and her disappearance. Yet hard evidence is needed before the great detective can pronounce her guilty, innocent, or insane.
 
4:50 from Paddington – But for the love of trains. We should still write a post on Agatha Christie’s books with trains.
For an instant the two trains ran together, going in the same direction side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth, riding in the one train, witnessed a murder in the other. Helplessly, she stared out her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman’s throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away.
Who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses… and no corpse. Not the police.
 
The Big Four – Framed in the doorway of Poirot’s bedroom stood an uninvited guest, coated from head to foot in dust. The man’s gaunt face stared for a moment, then he swayed and fell. Who was he? Was he suffering from shock or just exhaustion? 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’.
 
Five Little Pigs – One of our favorites. It was an open and shut case. All the evidence said Caroline Crale poisoned her philandering husband, a brilliant painter. She was quickly and easily convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent. But instead of setting the young woman’s mind at ease, the letter only raises disquieting questions. Did Caroline indeed write the truth? And if she didn’t kill her husband, who did?
To find out, the Crale’s daughter asks Hercule Poirot to reopen the case. His investigation takes him deep into the conflicting memories and motivations of the five other people who were with the Crales on the fatal day. With his keen understanding of human psychology, he manages to discover the surprising truth behind the artist’s death.
 
The Seven Dials Mystery – There really are still a few Agatha Christie novels we haven’t read it. What a marvelous realization.
A practical joke goes chillingly, murderously wrong in Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie’s classic detective story, The Seven Dials Mystery.
Gerry Wade had proved himself to be a champion sleeper, so the other houseguests decided to play a practical joke on him. Eight alarm clocks were set to go off, one after the other, starting at 6:30 a.m. But when morning arrived, one clock was missing and the prank then backfired, with tragic consequences.
For Jimmy Thesiger in particular, the words “Seven Dials” were to take on a new and chilling significance…
 
Ten Little Indians – Or better known as And then there were none…. Our favorite Christie by far.
And Then There Were None  is a mystery novel by English writer Agatha Christie, her best selling novel and described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 6 November 1939, as  Ten Little Niggers , after the British blackface song, which serves as a major plot point.
The US edition was released in January 1940 with the title And Then There Were None, which is taken from the last five words of the song. All successive American reprints and adaptations use that title, except for the Pocket Books paperbacks published between 1964 and 1986, which appeared under the title  Ten Little Indians .
The book is the world’s best-selling mystery, and with over 100 million copies sold is one of the best-selling books of all time. Publications International lists the novel as the sixth best-selling title.
 
The Thirteen Problems – This one is actually on our Kindle and not in storage with the rest of the Christie Collections. I think we will start reading it tonight. For the love of Christie.
The Tuesday Night Club is the name for a varied group of guests who challenge each other to solve recent, and not so recent, crimes. It begins one evening when the group gathers at Miss Marple’s house and the conversation turns to unsolved crimes. Over the weeks, we learn about the case of the dripping bloodstains, the thief who committed his crime twice over, the message from the death-bed of a poisoned man who talked of a ‘heap of fish’, the strange case of the missing will, and a spiritualist who warned that ‘Blue Geraniums’ meant death.
Pit your wits against the powers of deduction of the ‘Tuesday Night Club’. But don’t forget that Miss Marple is present. Sometime later, many of the same people are present at a dinner given by Colonel and Dolly Bantry. Another set of six problems. Even later there’s a thirteenth. Can you match Miss Marple’s performance?
 

 

Have you read any of these numbered titles by Agatha Christie? What books made your selection for TTT this week? Remember to add your link and to share your post with your fellow bloggers.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!
Lots of Love,

 

 

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64 responses to “She did it with Numbers – 10 Agatha Christie books with numbers in the title

  1. What a great idea to use Agatha Christie books only. I have watched all her stories that have been put on screen but not read many of her books (I don't care too much about reading crime fiction). I never realized she did so many titles with numbers even though I know them all. LOL

    My TTT.

    • Hi Emma! I saw on your August update that you are making a huge dent in your Agatha Christie challenge. Well done! I love having to option of still a few to read myself and then the ones I can't wait to reread.

    • I am also excited for the ones I still have to read and there are quite a few still unread on my shelf. I've reread a couple of them as well. Just never get tired of her work.

  2. I don't know why it's taken me so long to read any Christie books, but I'm finally determined to delve in. I've found some opinions online, but which book would you personally recommend starting with?

    • Hi Marie! I'm sure your library will have a few. Otherwise, take a look at your secondhand bookshops! They should also have a few.

      Thanks for returning the favor!

  3. Pam

    Great list! I love Agatha Christie, and have been part of a reading challenge through the official Agatha Christie website. I'm hoping to read Towards Zero this month.

    I read And Then There Were None ages ago. The first time under the title Ten Little Indians, and then a few years later as And Then There Were None. It took me a while to realize it was the same book.

    When you get the opportunity, I hope you'll stop by my post: https://readbakecreate.com/books-counting-down-from-ten/

    • I am eyeing that challenge all the time and one of these days/years, I am going to do it. Glad to hear you are a fellow Christie fan!

      Thanks for stopping by, I'll gladly return the favor!

  4. I saw your post on IG and I'm really impressed that you thought of this idea! I had no idea that Christie had this many books with numbers in the title. And you're awfully close to having the numbers 1-10 in order too. Bravo!

    • Aaah yea! Jen picked up on me trying to do the numbers chronologically. Thank heavens, otherwise it might have all been in vain. I should really learn to link my posts more to IG and other Social Media. I'm just not good with it, but I know I can try harder.

    • Yes, mystery authors do tend to have patterns and Agatha Christie was/is the queen of those patterns. I'm surprised that not more bloggers went with the James Patterson Women's Murder Club series. They are all numbers.

    • Poirot is also my favorite detective. I like Miss Marple too, but there is just something so unique about the short little man with the patent leather shoes and his moustaches.

    • It's my favorite for sure! Have you seen the BBC mini series adaptation? I think it was the most scared I have ever been in any Agatha Christie adaptation! Loved it!!

    • Hi Dedra! Yes, it's very interesting. It was changed to Ten Little Niggers at a stage as well and that caused even more of a stir. As you can imagine. So they ended up just going with the last line of the poem.

    • You won't be disappointed. Do give it a try some time. Start with the great ones – Murder on the Orient Express, Murder on the Nile, And then there were None…

  5. I feel like I need to go on an Agatha Christie binge soon, especially with fall approaching here in the north and therefore spooky season. 🙂 I like that she had so many titles with numbers. And trains. Yay for murderous trains. Or murders on trains. whatever. 🙂

    "We don't like dentists either" :):)

    • That sounds like a great idea Greg! When I was drafting this post, I realized that I haven't read a Christie this year yet. Will have to get reading! The Thirteen Problems being right there on my kindle, is the perfect opportunity.

      Glad we could make you smile.

    • I have NEVER read Christie- can you believe that?? Well, I did start her Hallowe'en one a few years ago but fell away. But I'm sure once I find the right one I'll get the bug and then will probably read a ton of her books lol!

    • Most of the Agatha Christie adaptations are really good. Especially David Suchett as Poirot. I could remember 7 titles with numbers of my head, but had to search for the remaining three!

  6. I have Five Little Pigs in my top ten this week too. I've only read two of the others on your list – I still have a lot of Christie to look forward to!

    • I also haven't read all the Agatha Christie books yet. And the wonderful thing about her work is that you can read it over and over without getting tired of it.

  7. Hey, hey, I have One Two Buckle My Shoe, and Five Little Pigs on my list too. 🙂 The Dame really killed it with those numbers. This was a fun post, and I love the collage too! ~Lex