Books in Great Mystery Series series

Two newly dramatized Hercule Poirot mysteries starring John Moffait as the celebrated Belgian sleuth. The first, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, is one of Agatha Christie's best stories in which Poirot's "little grey cells" are put to the test. Agatha Christie's Murder on the Links is another new Radio 4 performance first broadcast in the autumn of 1989.

The Maltese Falcon is considered Dashiell Hammett's finest novel. The story introduces detective Sam Spade, a man of few words who displays little emotion. Hired by a woman - Miss Wonderly - to locate her sister, Spade gives the assignment to his partner Miles Archer. Archer tails the missing sister's companion, and within a single evening both Archer and the man have been shot dead. As Spade pursues the mystery of his partner's death, he is drawn into a circle of colorful characters: Miss Wonderly, who lies prettily and pathologically about everything; a fat, well-dressed man named Gutman; a jumpy man named Cairo; and an extremely stupid, impulsive gunman. All of them are in competition to find the legendary, jewel-encrusted Maltese Falcon, hidden for many centuries. As they get closer and closer to the statue, Spade gets closer and closer to identifying the person who murdered his partner.