Curtain (published in 1975) is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie. The novel features Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings in their final appearances in Christie's works (see below).

Christie wrote the novel in the late 1930s, during the onset of World War II. Partly fearing for her own survival, and partly wanting to have a fitting end to Poirot's series of novels, Christie had the novel locked away in a bank vault for almost 40 years. The final Poirot novel that Christie wrote, Elephants Can Remember, was published in the 1970s, followed by Christie's last novel, Postern of Fate. Knowing that she would no longer write any novels, the elderly Christie authorized Curtain's removal from the vault and subsequent publication.

Not only does the novel return the characters to the setting of her first, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, but it reunites Poirot and Hastings, who had not appeared together for a couple of decades.

Plot

Arthritic and immobilized, Poirot calls on his old friend Captain Hastings to join him at Styles to be the eyes and ears that will feed observations to Poirot's still razor sharp mind. Searching for the nameless murderer, known only as "X", Hastings becomes frustrated when he learns that Poirot actually knows the murderer's identity, and that he will strike again, but refuses to reveal any of the information to Hastings.

Trivia

On August 6, 1975, The New York Times published a front-page obituary of Hercule Poirot with a photograph to mark his death in the newly published 'Curtain'.

Agatha Christie novels | 1975 novels | Hercule Poirot

Zavjesa (roman) | Kurtyna (powieść) | Curtain | 幕 (小说)