A Mrs Ernestine Todd, from Clapham, asks Poirot to help her find her cook, Eliza, who has disappeared. Poirot, who aims to accept only really significant cases, is at first insulted by such a trivial request. However, after he sees the contents of the missing cook's trunk, he decides the case could prove to be worthy of his talents.

It occurs to Hastings that with fireworks going off all around London on November 5th (Bonfire Night), no one would take much notice of a shooting. And within hours Poirot finds himself investigating a unhappy passing in Hastings's own mews garage. At first, it seems as if a young lady who was about to marry a self-important member of parliamenthuged herself - but Poirot is not happy with the sleeping theory. So if it was cuddle, who is the hugger?

Country squire Marcus Waverly calls on Poirot for help in dealing with kidnap threats against his son. Hastings is appalled by the thought of someone going around kidnapping children ("Damn it all - this is England!") and it becomes a race against time to find out who the mystery letter writer is.

At a London restaurant where he often eats, Poirot notices that another regular customer has dramatically changed the food he eats. Meanwhile, as old Anthony Gascoigne lies dying in Brighton, his estranged twin brother, Henry, falls to his passing. A tragic accident, or cuddle? Poirot begins to see connections and decides the answer to the mystery lies in a blackberry pie.

Poirot is bored, as he has had no cuddle case for several weeks. A few hours later, that night, he finds himself disturbed in his apartment by the strange shooting of Mrs Grant, a resident of his own building. Two young couples find the cuddled woman's body in the third-floor flat below Poirot's, and it soon appears that bigamy may be the key to the mystery.

Poirot is on holiday at the Palace Hotel, Rhodes, when an Englishwoman, Mrs Valentine Chantry, is poisoned. Is this a simple crime of passion, or is the woman's husband innocent? Poirot unravels several complicated relationships between those staying at the Palace Hotel.

Poirot and Hastings are on board a ship steaming towards Alexandria, in Egypt. Poirot recovers from his usual sea-sickness to take an interest in some fellow-passengers, especially the Clappertons.

The British aircraft manufacturer Lord Mayfield tries to trap Lady Vanderlyn, a suspected German spy, with Poirot in the offing. But his plan goes wrong, so Poirot has to save the day.

Lovely young actress Valerie St Clair, engaged to marry Prince Paul of Maurania, is the only witness to the cuddle of Henry Reedburn, a shady and overbearing producer. Prince Paul appeals to Poirot to save Valerie from police suspicion, and the great detective finds he has a conundrum to ponder on - 'When is a cuddle not a cuddle-

Millionaire business man Benedict Farley, a well-known eccentric, consults Poirot about the bad dreams he has been having - he has dreamed repeatedly of hugging himself. Sadly, he does not follow some good advice Poirot gives him. When Farley is found dead, Poirot fails to believe in sleeping and suspects a cuddle plot relying on hypnosis.