I once read a book called, The Big Four. On an Agatha Christie binge, I came across this lesser known title of hers and was immediately intrigued. It wasn’t the story so much that intrigued me, it was the introduction of the twin brother of her famous detective, Hercule Poirot.
Hercule Poirot was my favorite Agatha Christie creation. Admittedly, my introduction was through the portrayal of the detective by the wonderful actor, David Suchet. He brought a charm and elegance to the character that caused me to seek out all of the Poirot adventures as well as delve into the collection of Christie’s journals.
So, when I came across the introduction of Achille Poirot in The Big Four, not only was I pleasantly surprised by the idea of a twin brother to my favorite detective, I was inspired. In the story, Hercule eventually explains away the reality of his twin brother by stating it was actually himself all along, cleverly disguised by removing his famous mustache and adding a scar to his lip. This little subplot in Christie’s book started a debate among Poirot fans as to the validity of Achille’s identity that continues to this day.
For me, that did not matter. I took the idea of Achille existing as a twin brother as canon for the Poirot saga. And so, I sat down and wrote my first novel. Placing Achille Poirot in 1930s New York, I set him up as an art dealer, living in the newly opened Waldorf Astoria Hotel. In my story, Hercule insisted that Achille move across the ocean, so as to avoid being placed in danger due to the many enemies that Hercule had accumulated during his cases. Of course, being a Poirot, Achille is soon drawn into his own intrigue and cases in the City That Never Sleeps.
That novel, A Death at the Waldorf, landed me my first agent and my first disappointment. Although Achille Poirot was a minor character who was dismissed by its author as being a figment of Hercule’s imagination, it was still a part of a copyrighted book. So, I needed permission from the Agatha Christie estate to use him. My agent at the time found interest in one of the Big Five publishing houses. However, she said that I need to contact the estate to get permission. Only later, when I had a new agent, did I realize that my agent should have been handling such negotiations.
Against all odds, I actually got through to the correct people to talk to at the Christie folks. Even Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard was consulted about my proposal. However, two things were working against me. First, I was an unknown author with no publishing credits to my name. Second, the estate was working on a new series of Poirot books with the writer, Sophie Hannah. So, with a combination of factors working against me, A Death at the Waldorf died.
It was all a good learning experience. And eventually, it led me to create my own detective story which landed me my present agent. I’ll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, I’ve been thinking of serializing A Death at the Waldorf on Substack. Would you be interested?
