Ariadne Oliver - Literary Appearances

Literary Appearances

The true first appearance of Mrs Oliver was a brief appearance in the short story The Case of the Discontented Soldier which was first published, along with four other stories in the August 1932 issue of the U.S. version of Cosmopolitan magazine (issue number 554) under the sub-heading of Are You Happy? If Not Consult Mr. Parker Pyne. The story first appeared in the UK in issue 614 of Woman's Pictorial on 15 October 1932, and was later published in book form in 1934 as Parker Pyne Investigates (titled Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective in the USA). Within this story she appeared as part of Pyne's unorthodox team of freelance assistants. She also briefly appears in The Case of the Rich Woman, also published in the same book.

All her subsequent appearances (save The Pale Horse) were in Poirot novels:

• Cards on the Table (1936)
• Mrs McGinty's Dead (1952)
• Dead Man's Folly (1956)
• The Pale Horse (1961) — Oliver's only appearance in a Christie novel without Poirot
• Third Girl (1966)
• Hallowe'en Party (1969)
• Elephants Can Remember (1972)

An advert for Ariadne Oliver's With Vinegar and Brown Paper (as with Agatha Christie using nursery rhyme references) appears in the Frontispiece of Mark Gatiss's book The Devil in Amber along with other adverts for made up books.