After 'Seven Dials,' Netflix Needs To Adapt These 7 Agatha Christie Books Next

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Martin Freeman in a hat and mustache looking to the side outdoors in Agatha Christie's Seven Dials.

Published Jan 23, 2026, 6:19 PM EST

Andrea Ciriaco is a long-time script reader and former entertainment editor who specializes in classic movies and Hollywood history. She was a student film critic at Kent State University for three years and worked at Warner Bros Studio in Burbank and The Safran Company for several years. Based on her vast taste and range of knowledge, many consider Andrea to be a walking IMDb who knows dozens of underrated movies and is a vital assesst to any trivia night. While movies are her expertise, Andrea is also a diehard fan of iconic shows including The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, Will & Grace and South Park. Some of her favorite filmmakers are Walt Disney,John Huston, Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Mel Brooks, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and Howard Hawks.

Agatha Christie is one of the most famous names in the literary world whose great crime novels, such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Evil Under the Sun, have been frequently adapted to both the small and big screens for decades. Born in England in 1890, Christie initially rose to prominence with her 1920 novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which was the first of Christie's books to feature the Belgian private detective, Hercule Poirot, who became the author's most iconic recurring character.

The latest take on a Christie novel is Netflix's latest hit miniseries, Seven Dials, which is based on the Queen of Crime's 1929 novel, The Seven Dials Mysteries, and is one of the few adaptations that isn't a Poirot mystery. Between the dozens of standalone stories and even untouched Poirot mysteries, there's an abundance of material that deserves either a modernized remake or the star treatment. Out of Christie's collection of crime novels, including The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, Cards on the Table, and Postern of Fate, these are the Agatha Christie novels that Netflix should adapt next.

1 'Destination Unknown' (1954)

Book cover of Destination Unknown with artwork of an airplane by Agatha Christie.

Destination Unknown, also known as So Many Steps to Death, is an espionage thriller that follows a young woman, Hilary Craven, who, after a failed marriage, is contemplating suicide before she is recruited by the British Secret Service for a dangerous mission which involves her impersonating the wife of a nuclear scientist. Despite not being a traditional Christie mystery, Destination Unknown is still a worthwhile read and is one of several Christie novels that have never been adapted.

The novel is essentially a journey of self-discovery set against a complex backdrop of psychological warfare, kidnapping, and deception, which appeals to both television and movie audiences. The female protagonist's backstory is rich with intrigue and curiosity, and the character herself has an abundance of relatable qualities that make her story an alluring take on an everyday person who is thrown into unusual circumstances with emotionally and physically high stakes, and could easily be brought to life with a Hitchcockian style.

2 'The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side' (1962)

Christie's 1962 novel, The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, features another one of Christie's famous characters and one of the smartest amateur sleuths, Jane Marple, who is tasked with investigating the poisoning of a fan at a party held for the glamorous movie star Marina Gregg. As Marple conducts her investigation, she uncovers a slew of secrets from Gregg's past and eventually concludes that the poison was more than likely intended for Gregg, forcing Marple to find the killer before they have a chance to strike again.

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side has previously been adapted as part of several television series, notably Miss Marple, and the 2010 series, Marple, but the most famous version of Christie's novel is the 1980 movie, The Mirror Crack'd, starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak, and Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple, which is an obvious warm-up to the actress' notable role as Jessica Fletcher in the series, Murder, She Wrote. While The Mirror Crack'd is one of the most underrated adaptations of a Christie novel, its blend of celebrity drama, emotional pressure, and a cryptic murder mystery is what every audience craves in a crime thriller these days.

3 'Five Little Pigs' (1942)

Book cover of Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie.

Five Little Pigs, also known as Murder in Retrospect, is a tedious murder mystery featuring Detective Poirot, who is contacted by the daughter of a woman, Caroline Crale, who is adamant that she didn't murder her husband sixteen years ago. When Crale dies in prison, Poirot agrees to take another look at the case, and as he speaks to friends of the husband and wife, he starts to suspect that Crale was telling the truth and that the real murderer managed to slip through the hands of justice.

Five Little Pigs has been featured in a few television series, specifically the series Agatha Christie's Poirot, but considering the timeless popularity of Poirot, it's hard to believe that this particular Poirot mystery has never been adapted for the silver screen. Unlike other Poirot cases, Five Little Pigs features the private eye investigating a cold case instead of a crime that has recently occurred in his presence. The novel showcases another side of Poirot's sleuthing skills and proves that the great detective is capable of solving the most cryptic of cases, even if they are decades old.

4 'Passenger to Frankfurt' (1970)

Book cover of Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie.

The spy thriller, Passenger to Frankfurt, features a diplomat, Sir Stafford Nye, who, after lending his passport to a mysterious woman at the airport, unexpectedly becomes entangled in an international conspiracy, sending him into a world of political intrigue, dangerous spies, and a fight against a wealthy and powerful enemy. Passenger to Frankfurt was Christie's final tale of espionage and is also another one of the author's novels that has never received any kind of adaptation.

Similar to Destination Unknown, Passenger to Frankfurt is one of Christie's lesser-known spy novels that has immense potential to be a grand contribution to either television or the big screen. The novel focuses on an average man whose rare generosity ends up backfiring and sends him into a dangerous set of scenarios that he's ill-equipped to navigate his way through. The plot of Passenger to Frankfurt has an uncanny resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, but the novel's ingenious touch of Christie's cleverness and originality makes Passenger to Frankfurt one of the Queen of Crime's novels that deserves at least one adaptation.

5 'Death Comes as the End' (1944)

Book cover of Death Comes as the End by Agatha Christie.

Death Comes as the End is a historical mystery set in Ancient Egypt and tells the story of a wealthy priest, Imhotep, who, much to his family's displeasure, brings his beautiful but manipulative lover, Nofret, into his home, where her presence quickly becomes disruptive and destructive. When Nofret is found murdered, everyone becomes a potential suspect, and as more bodies follow, Imhotep's daughter, Renisenb, decides to investigate the string of murders herself.

Death Comes as the End is a unique novel by Christie, who takes her traditional whodunit mystery and tailors it to an unusual but fascinating historical setting, which lacks any of her usual lead detectives and instead relies on internal family dynamics to move the story along. The uncommon combination of a murder mystery taking place in Ancient Egypt alone is enough to pique any viewer's interest, and considering Death Comes as the End has never been adapted before, it would be a great follow-up series or movie to Seven Dials and would hopefully establish a trend for other studios and filmmakers to explore more of Christie's great but overshadowed novels.

6 'Postern of Fate' (1973)

Book cover of Postern of Fate by Agatha Christie.

Postern of Fate is the last novel written by Christie and features her lesser-known detectives, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, a retired elderly couple who, after discovering a hidden message in an old book, decide to investigate a decades-old cold case involving the murder of a female spy, Mary Jordan, during World War I. The novel was also the final appearance of Tommy and Tuppence, who made their literary debut in Christie's 1922 novel, The Secret Adversary.

Many people are not aware of Christie's crime-solving couple, Tommy and Tuppence, who appeared in five of Christie's novels and short stories, but considering the popularity of Poirot and Marple, it's mind-boggling that no one has ever thought about adapting Postern of Fate. While there's nothing wrong with the typical lone detective taking on a case, it would be a nice change of pace to present audiences with a husband and wife team like Tommy and Tuppence, who could potentially be as successful and appealing to audiences as The Thin Man's Nick and Nora Charles. Despite the lack of notoriety, Postern of Fate checks all the requirements of an alluring whodunit mystery, and with Christie's name on it, it solidifies the detective novel as a must for Netflix to adapt.

7 'Cards on the Table' (1936)

Book cover of Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie.

Christie's 1936 novel, Cards on the Table, features Detective Poirot, who attends a dinner party hosted by a wealthy collector of crime-related art, Mr. Shaitana, who brags about knowing four killers who have managed to escape justice. When the flamboyant host is found murdered, Poirot and the three other guests, Colonel Johnny Race, Superintendent Battle, and crime writer, Ariande Oliver, are left to find out who the killer is among the four of them.

Cards on the Table is a one-of-a-kind Christie novel that features several of her recurring characters and involves a different kind of literary puzzle from the Queen of Crime. Instead of depending on physical evidence and clues, the solution to solving the case in Cards on the Table relies on psychological tact and understanding the minds of the suspects, setting it apart from Christie's more traditional mysteries. Cards on the Table was praised for its humor, sharp wit, and for spinning a familiar farce into an unpredictable mystery that still manages to surprise readers in the end. Considering the uniqueness of Cards on the Table and its exclusive gathering of characters, anyone or any studio would be a fool to pass up on adapting this top-tier Christie novel.