Death in the Clouds is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company on 10 March 1935 under the title of Death in the Air and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in the July of the same year under Christie's original title. Five minutes before Prometheus touches down in Croydon, the steward on board the small aeroplane tries to wake up a passenger sitting at the back. No sooner has he shaken Madame Giselle than her body slumps in the seat. His face turns pale. Did she have a heart attack? Or, in the words of other passengers, has died from a wasp sting? Heads begin to stretch to see what has happened. ‘Pardon,’ said another, a little man with a big moustache, having approached the deceased. Going down on his knees, he takes a long thorn concealed by the edge of the deceased’s black skirt with a tweezer. ‘This object, gentlemen, is the native thorn shot from a blowpipe by certain tribes – er-I cannot be exactly certain now….’ declares Mr Clancy, a crime writer, a fellow passenger. ‘Is the famous arrow poison of South American Indians,’ finishes the little man – Hercule Poirot. During the police search, a blowpipe is found pushed on the side of his seat. In the inquest, a jury suggests that the Belgian is to become a suspect for the murder of the French woman. You can listen online to free English audiobook “Death in the Clouds” by Agatha Christie on our website.
