Death in the Clouds (published in 1935) is a novel by Agatha Christie. It is one of several of Christie's crime fiction novels to feature the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and Chief Inspector Japp.

In the book, Poirot is a passenger on board a flight from Paris to Croydon. Some time before landing, one of the passengers, Madame Giselle - a moneylender - is found dead. Initially, a reaction to a wasp sting is postulated, but Poirot spies the true cause of death: a poison-tipped dart, apparently fired from a blowpipe. It becomes apparent that the victim has been murdered.

The answer to the murder is found in a collection of the fellow passengers' clothes, where a matchbox that could have contained a wasp, and a white dentist's coat that could be used to disguise the murderer as a steward, are found.

As with many other works in the crime fiction genre, Death in the Clouds is an example of a locked room mystery,

Film versions

Adapted in 1992.

Agatha Christie novels | 1935 novels | Hercule Poirot

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