The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb
(A Hercule Poirot story)
Here Christie brought one of her favorite themes: ancient Egypt. An ancient Egyptian curse is murdering anyone who evacuated the tomb of Pharaoh Men-her-Ra. And it depends on the little grey cell of Hercule Poirot to solve the case. It reminded me instantly of one of my favorites in Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin: The Prisoners of the Sun. So, hopefully this story is at least as fun as I have expected.
The story was first published as a book in the collection Poirot Investigates, 1924, by Bodley Head. In 2004 the story was adapted for the Japanese anime series Agatha Christie's Great Detectives as a two-part episode, titled The Riddle of the Egyptian Tomb, where Poirot teams up with Miss Marple's great niece to solve the mystery. How exciting it sounds!
The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger
(A Tommy & Tuppence story)
This time the Beresfords must solve a mystery of some seemingly unrelated incidents: a mysterious cigarette lighter, the first anticipated blue Russian letter, and a doctor who keeps receiving hoax calls. Are they really unrelated?
This story was published by Collins in the collection Partners in Crime, 1929, where the Beresford’s adopt the style and methods of Francis and Desmond, the Okewood Brothers, created by Valentine Williams (1883-1946), writing as Douglas Valentine. The Okewoods’ methods typically involved Desmond getting into a life-threatening scrape, only to be rescued by Francis, who “turns up as the gardener or something in the nick of time, and saves the situation.” In this case Tuppence unwittingly takes Francis’s role. Can't wait to read this one!