From Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders.
When Captain Hastings goes to London to find his friend, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, the two are happy to reconnect until Poirot finds himself dragged into a case. Poirot has received a letter taunting him and telling him to check the town of Andover on the 21st… signed only with the initials A.B.C. When Poirot and Hastings meet with the police on the 22nd, they are told that there was no murder or robbery in Andover the day before. However, when the Andover police investigate one of their minor crimes, they find the murdered body of Alice Ascher. Something doesn’t sit right with Poirot and he begins to investigate Ascher’s murder. With nothing taken from the scene, Poirot brings notice to the only item brought into the crime scene, an A.B.C. railway guide. While Ascher’s murder goes largely unsolved or publicized, Poirot receives a second letter listing Bexhill-on-Sea as the next murder location. However, Inspector Crome and the police give little weight to Poirot’s alphabet theories and Elizabeth Barnard is subsequently murdered. As the mysteries of the A.B.C. letters begin to pile up, Poirot continues to work with Crome, who considers Poirot a nuisance instead of an asset until Carmichael Clarke is killed in Churston. In an attempt to stop the next murder, Poirot and Hastings join forces with Mrs. Ascher’s niece (Mary), Ms. Barnard’s sister (Megan) and beau (Donald), and Sir Clarke’s brother (Franklin) and secretary (Thora) to pool their knowledge in hopes that Poirot can solve the mystery and stop the next murder from happening.
This classic murder mystery by Agatha Christie is a cunning and surprising ride that is timeless. The characters are unique, but easy to keep straight, much through the use of Hasting’s narration. The mystery is well-developed and possibly one of Christie’s most interesting Poirot mysteries, making The ABC Murders a must-read for fans of the genre.
First Sentence of a New World 
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