Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, came out in 1920. During her first marriage, Agatha published six novels, a collection of short stories, and a number of short stories in magazines. The book features Christie's famous character Hercule Poirot, as well as Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp. The Moult - house at South Sands in South Devon near Salcombe. Used for exterior shots of End House. [3] Perhaps it is amusing and droll, but it is barbed and rather unkind. It invites us to share a snide remark at the rather stolid Hastings’s expense. The following instance is not even amusing:

I can hardly express the gratitude I feel to him. He could so easily have uttered a few careless words of well-justified criticism and possibly discouraged me for life. As it was, he set out to help.” It seems an odd coincidence that all three detectives involved in solving this case should be on holiday, but this novel abounds with coincidences. The novel was adapted as an episode of the Japanese animated series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, under the title "The Mystery of End House". It aired in 2004. Colonel Weston had been omitted from the adaptation and Miss Lemon added. This episode was filmed in Salcombe, Devon near Agatha Christie's home town of Torquay, rather than on the Cornish Coast where the story is set.I was reading this and I really wanted to see the adaption of it on the big screen, because I had these great images in my head. Especially our main victim would be a pleasure to behold, and just think of the costumes - and the setting! An old abandoned house, called End House nonetheless! A young woman with death hanging over her, and the foreign detective who feels compelled to protect her. Isaac Anderson began his review in The New York Times Book Review on 6 March 1932, by writing "With Agatha Christie as the author and Hercule Poirot as the central figure, one is always assured of an entertaining story with a real mystery to it ... [T]he person who is responsible for the dirty work at End House is diabolically clever, but not quite clever enough to fool the little Belgian detective all the time. A good story with a most surprising finish." [4] Saltzman, Marc (27 November 2007). "Agatha Christie: Peril at End House Review". Gamezebo . Retrieved 23 October 2015. In chapter 9, there is an remark in passing, on the cleverest type of crime, which later became the theme of Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, which ends with his death.

In chapter 15, Poirot mentions the case The Chocolate Box included in the book Poirot's Early Cases, when he tells Commander Challenger that he indeed had failures in the past. a b Marcum, J.S. (May 2007). "The Classic Years 1930 - 1934". An American Tribute to Agatha Christie. J S Marcum . Retrieved 23 October 2015. No, I did not guess the ending. I could see how clever the idea was, but Poirot explaining every step in the midst of his sniping at Hastings, was very tiresome. And why bother to have Japp there at all; such a huge coincidence, with no point at all?Eden Phillpotts critiqued both the book and other examples of Agatha Christie’s writing, with helpful advice to the young author: There is, however, quite a lot of misdirection, in the choice of words for what the characters actually say. On its publication in 1932, “The Times Literary Supplement” gave it a favourable review and commented that “the actual solution is quite unusually ingenious, and well up to the standard of Mrs. Christie’s best stories.” The reviewer also also thought that, “This is certainly one of those detective stories which is pure puzzle, without any ornament or irrelevant interest in character,” and this is how it feels to read. The puzzle is a fiendishly clever one, but many other aspects of an enjoyable novel are sacrificed.

Facsimile edition (Facsimile of 1932 UK first edition), 2 April 2007, Hardcover, 256 pp ISBN 0-00-723439-2It is designed to make any reader shudder, and has just enough of the melodramatic about it, to make the narrative feel delightfully camp. Poirot is absolutely one of my favorite characters in literature. I just love this eccentric man and his brain cells. The story finds him investigating some accidents surrounding a young lady and these accidents seem fishy to him so he decides to protect the lady before the killer strikes again.