Royal Mail

It’s been 100 years since Agatha Christie wrote her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (published in 1920), giving life to Hercule Poirot. To mark the occasion, the U.K.’s Royal Mail has released a set of innovative stamps dedicated to six of her most famous works.

Designed by London-based Studio Sutherland in collaboration with British illustrator Neil Webb, the stamps are dedicated to key scenes and principal characters from Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Body in the Library, And Then There Were None, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and A Murder Is Announced.

Royal Mail

Royal Mail

Royal Mail

Mystery lovers can use UV light, body heat, or a magnifying glass to search for clues from each book that are embedded into the stamps using microtext and heat-sensitive and UV inks.

Studio Sutherl&

Studio Sutherl&

Studio Sutherl&

Studio Sutherl&

“Trying to sum up complex plots in one frame is tricky but very rewarding,” designer Jim Sutherland said in an email, “without giving anything away, other than the clues to the murderers.”

Royal Mail