Hercule Poirot's "Problem at Sea"

For fans of Agatha Christie's works finding and reading all 66 detective novels is a challenging task in its own right. But add to that the 153 short stories the Queen of Crime wrote and the task to read all of her work becomes herculean.

The challenge faced by collectors is even greater. If seeking to collect a novel, a decision must be made as to whether a first edition is sought or whether some other version is preferred - which is often a necessity due to scarcity or pricing. When one adds in magazine and paperback printings, it suddenly becomes obvious why the world of collecting can be confusing and challenging. Alternatively, some individuals may tend towards being a completist collector of a specific title (sometimes referred to as a focus collector). This is someone who collects all versions of a specific story. For example, Murder on the Orient Express is a common choice for a focus collector (see link).

Today, I've selected one of Christie's short stories to illustrate how many versions of a single short story title can exist. Uniquely with the short story Problem at Sea many of its versions are highly appealing for collectors or hobbyists for their uniqueness and scarcity. But first a little background on the selected story.

Problem at Sea - An Hercule Poirot short story.

Problem at Sea features many tropes of Christie's longer works that make it endearing and enjoyable story. These include a Colonel, bridge games, overseas travel, digitalin, stolen jewelry, and a locked door crime. It is also a short story that had numerous titles over its publishing history - something that was quite common.

While the majority of readers will likely read this story within the collection Poirot's Early Cases which was first published by Collins in 1974 (and many paperback versions in the years following), it is important to note that it was lightly abridged in this collection. To read the complete story an earlier printing that is not part of that collection will be needed.

Problem at Sea's Printing History.

As with many Christie stories, Problem at Sea first appeared in an American newspaper's magazine supplement on January 12th, 1936. The supplement that published this story first was This Week, a supplement initially launched by the New York Herald Tribune newspaper but syndicated to many other US newspapers. While the Herald's publication of This Week occurred on the same day as the papers it syndicated it to, collectors should consider the Herald's version as the true first edition of this story.

As shown above, the publication featured an illustration showing Poirot (on the left) staging his denouement at the story's end. The artist was Stanley Parkhouse who also illustrated Christie's Triangle at Rhodes, published the following month in This Week. He also was an illustrator for Disney Studios and other magazines such as Colliers and The Saturday Evening Post.

Value: While This Week supplements from the 1930s often sell for £10-20 ($15-$30), I'd value this particular supplement at £50-75 ($65-$100) given it contains a true first printing of a Christie story. The bigger challenge will be finding one.

Poirot and the Crime in Cabin 66.

In the UK, the story first appeared in The Strand magazine in February 1936. What is interesting here is the change in the title to Poirot and the Crime in Cabin 66 - especially when one considers that there is no reference to a cabin number in the story. One can speculate as to why the name was changed but the fact that Poirot was in a bigger font that Agatha Christie on the magazine's cover implies that the editor of The Strand believed Poirot's name would sell more copies - whether on the cover or in the story's title.

As you can see in the images a depiction of Poirot is provided on the cover as well as in the story's accompanying illustrations by Jack Faulks (one shown above). In addition to this illustration, Faulks also illustrated two other Christie short stories - The Rajah's Emerald in Red Magazine (1926) and Poirot and the Regatta Mystery in The Strand (1936)

Value: Editions of The Strand from the 1930s often sell for £100-£150 ($125-$225), especially when they contain a collected author's work - such as Christie. Copies of The Strand are generally far easier to find than This Week as magazines were more widely held onto than newspaper supplements.

The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories.

This first appearance of this short story in a hardback was in the Christie collection The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories published in America by Dodd Mead in June 1939, and priced $2.

As shown above, the story's title retained that used by This Week which was Problem at Sea rather than the modified title by The Strand. This particular hardback collection is highly collectible as it contains numerous first printings, many of which did not appear in print in the UK for decades. In addition, since it was a short story collection, the size of the print run at Dodd Mead was likely smaller than Christie's full length novels.

Value: This is one of the most valuable Dodd Mead Christie books from this era. A very good book in like jacket is certainly worth £2,000-£2,500 ($2,500-$3,000). An unjacketed book is fairly valued at far less - perhaps only £100-£150 ($125-$180).

Four years later, New York based publisher Lawrence Spivak published the first paperback version of this collection as part of their Bestseller Mystery imprint. Issue No. 36 was published in 1943 and contained the same nine short stories from the Dodd Mead edition. Unlike many other Bestseller Mystery imprints, none of the stories was abridged which is clearly stated below the table of contents. This makes this the true first paperback of these stories.

Value: As the first paperback of many of these stories, including Problem at Sea, this paperback is more collectible than others from Spivak's various imprints. Fair value for a very good copy is £30-£40 ($40-$50) but it can often be found for far less so there is value to be found in this book.

Wartime Paperbacks.

This short story appear in four exceptionally rare British wartime paperbacks. Some of these paperbacks contained one short story, some two and others three. The paperbacks that contained Problem at Sea are as follows:

1943: The Mystery of the Crime in Cabin 66, Todd Publishing. While this book is known to exist, sadly it is not in my collection and I have no pictures of it. If any readers do, please share them with me for inclusion in this article.

1943: Poirot on Holiday, Todd Publishing, Nov 1943. This paperback contains two short stories: The Regatta Mystery and The Crime in Cabin 66 - here with the addition of the 'The'.

1944: Crime in Cabin 66, Vallancey Press, 1944. Todd-Bantam, London. Here it was published with a slightly shorter title than the variant used by The Strand.

1946: Poirot Knows the Murderer (Polybooks, March 1946. This paperback contains three short-stories: The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest, Crime in Cabin 66 and Christmas Adventure.

Values: Those that contain one or two stories, very good copies are likely fairly valued at £500-£750 ($650-$900). The latter, Poirot Knows the Murderer, appears to have had a slightly larger print run and thus is worth around £200-£300 ($250-$400). Unfortunately none of these show up for sale frequently and a collector may go a decade before finding one. Thus, if you want one the price will be determined by how many other collectors want it at the same time you do!

Other Editions of Note.

The story appeared under another variant title when it was published in March 1964 in the Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The specific edition was their 23rd Anniversary Issue ( Volume 43, No. 3, Issue No. 244). The new title was The Quickness of the Hand. With no reference to Poirot, it was an odd choice to change the title from the original Problem at Sea.

First UK Hardback Appearance.

Almost forty years after its first appearance, Problem at Sea finally appeared in a UK hardback in September 1974 when Collins' Crime Club published Poirot's Early Cases.

As mentioned earlier, the story was very lightly abridged when it was included in this collection. In a very good jacket this book is worth £40-£50 ($50-$65), but if the wrap around belly band is present then valuation is closer to £100-£150 ($125-$200).

This collection was also published in the USA in late December 1974 but under the slightly longer title of Hercule Poirot's Early Cases. The short story remained titled Problem at Sea. This book is also fairly valued at £30-£40 ($40-$55).

Fontana's First Paperback.

In 1975 Fontana first published the collection Poirot's Early Cases, initially without any cover art by Tom Adams but rather with a cover photograph by Andy Seymour. Number 3885, this is the 1st global paperback of this title. It was issued as a 'Continental Edition' and is noted as having been 'Litho’d in Canada' but it is unclear if it was sold in Canada in addition to Europe (below left).

In 1979, Fontana reissued the collection with cover art by Tom Adams. Numbered 5676, it is still the 1st UK Fontana printing, though not the 'New in paperback' as it proclaimed on the cover (below right).

Values: Both these paperbacks can generally be found for used paperback prices.

Closing Thoughts.

As always, if you have other additions or any corrections to this article please let me know. Also, while still six months away, the 2025 International Agatha Christie Festival has already announced a number events for their Fringe Festival (September 13-17). The Literary Festival will run from September 18-21. Events and tickets for those items should be online by the end of this month. More details on the festival can be found here: link. I look forward to reconnecting with those I've met in prior years and meeting new fans of Christie's works.

Subscribe & the Socials.

If you are not a subscriber to my website, please consider subscribing here: link. This ensures you receive an email any time I write and post an article. Re: Social Media accounts - do consider following me on X (formerly Twitter) @collectchristie , on BlueSky @collectchristie.bsky.social  and on Facebook (link). The content on X and BlueSky is identical, but will vary on Facebook. All should be of interest for any fan of Agatha Christie.

Happy Hunting!