Agatha Christie

Why is Christie so popular? She produced almost a book a year since her debut in 1920 with The Mysterious Affair At Styles and was the chief proponent of the English village murder mystery. She created two enormously popular characters - the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, always on the brink of retirement, and the inquisitive elderly...

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Since her debut in 1920 with The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie has become the chief proponent of the English village murder mystery. Although she created two enormously popular characters - the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and the inquisitive elderly spinster and amateur sleuth Miss Jane Marple of St Mary Mead - it is not generally acknowledged that she wrote in many different genres: light-hearted mysteries (Why Didn't They Ask Evans?), atmospheric whodunits (Murder On The Orient Express), espionage thrillers (N or M?), romances under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott, plays (such as the enormously successful The Mousetrap) and even poetry and children's stories. She was never afraid to break the rules either, and provoked a storm of controversy with the unorthodox resolution of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, now acclaimed as one of the classics of British crime fiction. Christie wrote complex whodunits in a clear, readable style, which is why her books are as popular now as they were almost a century ago. Exemplary film and TV adaptations starring Peter Ustinov and David Suchet as Poirot, and Margaret Rutherford and Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, have also encouraged new readers to search out her work.

As well as an informed introduction to the Christie phenomenon, this book examines all her novels and short stories. The film, TV and stage adaptations are listed, and the appendices point you to books and websites where you can find out more.