Friday, March 12, 2021

Agatha Christie and Me @LucyBurdette



 LUCY BURDETTE: I'm participating in a very interesting event tomorrow, a tea time celebration of traditional and cozy mystery writers, sponsored by the SW Florida Reading Festival and Sisters in Crime. (You are all invited, and I'll post the Zoom info at the end.) We were each assigned a well-known writer to discuss and compare to ourselves, and I was given Agatha Christie. (And that made me think of the New England Crimebake in 2015, where we were to dress for the banquet as mystery characters. The photo above is my writers' group, Ang Pompano and Chris Falcone, dressed as Poirot and his Marples. Or was it Poirot is losing his Marples??)

Anyway, this exercise allowed me to realize how little I knew about Agatha Christie. Of course, I know that her tea cozy provides the name for the genre of cozy mysteries, those associated with solving a puzzle without gratuitous sex and violence on the page, usually taking place in a small town with an amateur sleuth at the wheel. This is what I write.

I know I read And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, but I may have skipped the Miss Marple books altogether--an oversight I'll have to repair. Here are just a few fun facts about what Christie and I have in common, and some we don't...

Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring Hercule Poirot, was written in 1916 and published in 1920. So yes, it took each of us four years to get that first book published!

She wrote and published 66 mysteries and another dozen collections of short stories. (Oh rats, by next August, my total will be 19.) Her two most famous characters were Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and amateur consulting detective Miss Jane Marple of the fictional village St. Mary Mead. Miss Marple appeared in twelve novels and many short stories over the years from 1930 to 1976. Christie was the first writer to receive MWA Grand Master Award. And Then There Were None is the best-selling mystery in the world, with over 100 million copies sold. The plot involves a children’s nursery rhyme, which describes the killing of 10 characters until none are left. (This is the book that scared me death, so not exactly cozy--I couldn't have written this one.)

She used bits and pieces from her real life in her books, such as Abney Hall, the Victorian mansion belonging to her brother-in-law, her experience learning about poisons while working in a hospital pharmacy during WWII, and international train travel, which became the basis of her novel Murder on the Orient Express. Her 1961 novel The Pale Horse used the knowledge of thallium poisoning gained during the war. This we definitely have in common--when I'm writing, I borrow shamelessly from people and places and events in Key West!

Apparently, Miss Marple was known and respected by ex-Commissioner of Scotland Yard, Sir Henry Clithering. He often encouraged the detective in charge of a particular case to take Miss Marple’s advice seriously, when often they were inclined to dismiss her as just another interfering, elderly busybody. Hayley Snow is now married to her Key West detective, Nathan Bransford. He does not encourage her sleuthing. She has a little more luck with her pal, police officer Steve Torrence. (Who is a real pal in my life who helps me with all my police procedure questions.)

I could go on and on, but I'd love to hear from you! Were you/are you big fans of Agatha Christie? Which books were your favorites?

here's the link to join the tea celebration Saturday, 3/13 at 1 pm, plus the very clever trailer they put together!


58 comments:

  1. The tea celebration sounds absolutely marvelous, Lucy . . . .

    As for my favorite Agatha Christie book . . . it’s really difficult to choose only one, but I suppose it would have to be “And Then There Were None” . . . .

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  2. I'm absolutely an Agatha Christie fan. I'm pretty sure I've read all her books, but I did so over 30 years ago, probably closer to 40. At the time, Miss Marple was my favorite character, and I still adore her. I have reread a few of the books, but I think I'd like to reread more.

    Choosing a favorite isn't easy. "And Then There Were None" is fabulous, and I love the latest TV adaptation of it. I also would list Hallowe'en Party, The Body in the Library, and 4:50 from Paddington. I could go on and list others. There were so many I loved. Agatha Christie sealed the deal for me in loving mysteries.

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  3. What a fun celebration! I read Christie so long ago, I have no idea what my favorite is. Must do a refresher binge.

    I do have A is for Arsenic: the Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Markup on my research shelf - and use it. It explores 14 poisons used in Christie novels. A great resource!

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    1. I might need that book Edith, sounds perfect for a mystery writer...

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  4. ROBERTA: I love your costumes at New England Crime Bake! They did not do a costumed banquet when I attended in person waaay back in 2005.

    I started reading Agatha Christie when I was 11. The ABC Murders was the first Poirot I read and I was hooked, and so I went back to the beginning with The Mysterious Affair at Styles. And we read The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in grade 8 English class, which was so cool.

    I read all the Poirots, some of the Tommy & Tuppence books but NONE of the Miss Marple books. I could relate more to the quirky foreigner Poirot but the spinster Miss Marple did not appeal to me (at the time).

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    1. thanks Grace, I love those costumes too. Lucky for me, my two writing pals love to dress up:).

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  5. I can't wait for this event - I'm participating and talking about Dorothy L Sayers and I had the same experience as you, Lucy. I knew her, but not nearly as well as I should have.

    I love Agatha Christie. I have to say my two favorite are MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. I love the intricacy of plotting in both of these.

    "See" you tomorrow!

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    1. I don't know how I missed all these wonderful writers Liz, but will be so interested to hear everyone's story.

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    2. LIZ AND ROBERTA: That's a great line-up of current and traditional mystery authors. I have only not read one of them. Looking forward to watching you both tomorrow!

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  6. "I have never read any Agatha Cristie," she whispered. Sorry. I did read some romantic mysteries as a teen, then left the genre almost entirely for many years. But, I am making up for it now, and am all caught up with Hayley Snow, and with lots of other JRW works, too.

    Love the character costumes and giggled at your pun. The party tomorrow looks like lots of fun.

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    1. I'm here whispering that self-same confession, Judy...I remember the books on my parents shelves, but I am not a Christie reader. When I have more time in the future, I shall have to explore her books.

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    2. No one has to whisper here at Jungle Red writers!

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    3. Agreed, no need to whisper here. I was just lucky that a librarian at the Toronto Public Library that pointed me towards Agatha Christie when I was getting bored with the reading collection in the children's section of my local branch. And I never stopped...

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    4. I didn't read Agatha's books. But I heard a lot about her and went to an exhibition about her in Montreal, a couple years ago.
      I love the picture.

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  7. Oh so much fun! I completely remember reading MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS—I was about 14, and it was absolutely life changing. It was certainly one of the books that put me on this path. After that, I read ALL of them. THE ABC MURDERS. and THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD—wow. In the past few years reread ACKROYD (some of my readers may understand why. )!And for inspiration, Orient express, which is somewhat different than the movie. The real movie, not the terrible remakes.
    Her books are fair, that’s what I love—all the clues are there, she’s just smarter than we are.
    And wow, you and Chris and Ang look fabulous!

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    1. I loved that year at Crime Bake. I think we should bring back the costume banquet - which Hank and Jonathan always rocked.

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    2. Awww, why did Crime Bake stop doing the costumed banquet? It sounds like a lot of fun!

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    3. For sure, Hank and Jonathan won every costume contest

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  8. And Ngaio Marsh and Josephine Tey—oh, MUST READS! Daughter of Time? One of the best ever. ! Dorothy Sayers and Margery Allingham—they are essential. Truly.

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    1. HANK: Yes, I read all these Golden Age writers right after Christie: Allingham and Marsh (my two faves), Sayers and Tey. I bought most of their books and still have them in my library. And Daughter of Time is a classic, for sure.

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    2. Now I'm whispering...I have not read any of those!

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    3. Don't you wonder how you've missed some authors others rave about? I've read one or two Ngaio Marsh, but only a single Josephine Tey, and it wasn't The Daughter of Time. That was a book club selection once, but I couldn't find a copy of the book in time to read it before the meeting.

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    4. My favorite Josephine Tey is Brat Farrar. Such a good story, with a really clever twist. I have a vague recollection of it being done for television years ago, but maybe I am making that up...

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  9. At Bertram's Hotel. Past events collide with the present, as Jane Marple observes and knits during teatime in the hotel gathering area.

    When we were in Egypt, in addition to my playing Amelia Peabody at every tomb, temple, and pyramid, our felucca guide took us past the Old Cataract Hotel and pointed out the windows of Agatha's suite and the balcony where she wrote every morning! Total fangirl moment. What a beautiful setting.

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  10. Loved the picture, Lucy! I must have been about 12 when I started reading Agatha Christie and one of the first one was the 4:50 from Paddington. I preferred Miss Marple to the other sleuths but I'm not sure why. Maybe because she was always figuring out who did it because he reminded her of so and so from another village. I can so relate to people reminding one of someone else.

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  11. Today’s blogpost convinces me that it’s time to begin rereading the Christie books.Again. I started reading them as a young adult, and continued reading and rereading them for many years. I last read them over twenty years ago. My favorite is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I remember getting to the last page and saying “wow!”

    When I finished reading the last Christie book the library had, I was longing for more. It was a pleasant experience to browse in the library one day and discover some new titles! Then I realized that the titles were new to me, but the books weren’t. The books had been reprinted under their original British names. At this point in my life, most of the books will be “newish” to me except the Ackroyd book!

    Tomorrow’s event looks interesting. If I can get myself past my hatred of Zoom, I’ll sign up! Have fun with it, Roberta!

    DebRo

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    1. thanks DebRo, you are a true Christie fan! and LOL on the "newish" books

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  12. I married Harry Christie (Norwegian, not English). Often when asked my last name I'll say "Christie, as in Agatha" which sometimes falls flat except at the library. Shame on me for not having read any of her books. "The Mystery of Mrs. Christie" by Marie Benedict was interesting. Pam Christie

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    1. Oh you're so lucky to have Agatha's name! I wondered about the Mystery of Mrs. Christie...

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  13. Back in my personal Dark Ages, I devoured every Tommy & Tuppence book I could find. But I really don't remember much about them, and especially not any of the titles.

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  14. I love all of the Golden Age authors. My mother was an inveterate reader of mysteries and I just read them too. I had a part time job at the local library after school so had complete access to all of them.
    I love Lord Peter Wimsey. I know he is dated but it's a glamorous period and I love it. Ngaio Marsh is wonderful and A Clutch of Constables may be my favorite mystery ever. But then I think of A Daughter of Time or The Man in the Queue. I actually like Miss Marple better than Poirot. The 4:50 to Paddington is one of my favorites. It's all about women proving to be smarter than men. I read Allingham early and wanted to be part of the Pontisbright family. Plus Lugg, what's not to like?

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    1. For Marsh, I liked the ones set in the theatre, so FINAL CURTAIN or OPENING NIGHT are some of my faves. Also ARTISTS IN CRIME since this is the book where Inspector Alleyn meets Troy.

      And yes to LUGG and AMANDA FITTON of the PONTISBRIGHT family!

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  15. I love Agatha Christie! Read them all and have watched all the adaptations. What I’d really love is a book about her romance with her 2nd husband Max Mallowan - 13 years younger than her, an archeologist who proposed 6 months after meeting her at one of his digs, they traveled the world together until she passed away - they were together for 45 years. Also, Agatha Christie also wrote six romances under the name Mary Westmacott, which were written after she met Max :)

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    1. Sign me up for that book, Jenn! It's such a fascinating story, especially as she must have been dreadfully unhappy in her marriage to Archie Christie.

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    2. Jenn, would love to read that, and you're just the person to write it!

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  16. That was a fun Crime Bake, Roberta. You and Chris were the best Miss Marples ever! It sounds like it will be a great panel. It’s hard for me to choose between Miss Marple and Poirot. What I like about Miss Marple is that she solves crimes by relating the facts to observations she’s made of the villagers of St Mary Mead. My favorite Miss Marple novel is The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side. Poirot is interesting because he uses his little grey cells to bring order to the world. His sense of justice is a conclusion that is fair and not necessarily according to the letter of the law. That said, I didn’t care for the ending of Curtain. It brings him back to Styles to die where his adventures began. The manner of his demise didn’t seem to bother the New York Times which gave him a full-page obituary. The only one they ever did for a fictional character.

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  17. I was reading Phyllis Whitney during my teenage years and Helen MacInnes and Mary Stewart but not Agatha Christie. Not whispering here but I'll get there. I did purchase a book by Mrs. Christie but haven't read it yet, it's waiting in my Kindle. I remember seeing Murder on the Orient Express in high school. It was my first date and Earthquake was being shown in the next theater.

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    1. Love those memories Deana. That's exactly what I was reading, Helen MacInnes and Mary Stewart!

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  18. Love the photo, Lucy! And tomorrow's program looks like a MUST so I will look forward seeing you then! I did read Christie and all the Golden Age British writers, although not so much the Americans (big surprise.) I preferred Marple to Poirot--always found him a bit annoying. On the other hand I loved the Tommy and Tuppence novels and reread them many times. My very favorite Christie novel, however, is a standalone called They Came to Bagdad, about an independent young English woman who unwittingly becomes a spy in the Middle East.

    I find it interesting that Christie's novels are considered "cozy" because they don't have overt sex or bad language. Most of the murders--and the murderers--are quite ruthless, and so many of the stories are actually very dark. Look at the motivation behind the murder on the Orient Express for instance.

    I find the whole idea that murder is okay for genteel readers but sex and a few swear words are not pretty bizarre...

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    1. Brat Farrar was done for TV in 1986, starring Mark Greenstreet. It was a great production but has never been made available on DVD or streaming. Someone has put all three episodes on YouTube but the video quality is pretty awful. Boo.

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    2. I totally agree with you, Deb, because Agatha's books were not really always so "cozy"---sex and ruthless murders were always underlying. That's part of what made them so intriguing! I don't think we even called the genre "cozies" back then, when I found them shortly after my young Nancy Drew phase! The Christie books were so much more mature, and British, which hooked me right away!

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  19. It has been years since I've read an Agatha Christie book! I've seen various movies based on her mysteries over the years so I can't really pick a favorite story since the movies influence what I can remember. Debs mentioned They Came to Baghdad and that sounds right up my alley. I can't remember if I've read it or not. I have seen many recent articles and documentaries on Dame Agatha and what a life she led!

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  20. What a collection of authors, past and present!
    As to Agatha Christie and me...I find the Hercule Poirot books aggravating because of how much French is thrown in with little or no context to help us non-speakers.
    I enjoy the Miss Marple stories when filmed (minus the unfortunate casting of Margaret Rutherford--what were they thinking?!).
    In general, though, I do not understand the high status her books hold. I find the plot lines to be cheaters in that all the necessary facts are not included until a ta-da! at the end when information the reader could not have pops up to solve the mystery. It always felt like a cheat to me.

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  21. I'm jumping in late today because I've been tied up in concert prep. Yes! We're back onstage on March 23!

    I loved Christie when I was in high school, and tried to read all of them. I don't think the mystery field would be the same without her. Like several of you mentioned, I think she was as fascinating as any character she put on the page. Is there a way to kill someone and tell the story about it that she didn't devise? My favorite is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd because of the delightful plot twist at the end.

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    1. Hurray on being back onstage Gigi--safely of course!

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    2. Yes, a reduced ensemble, socially distanced onstage, plus a smaller audience--also distanced. We'll all be wearing masks. But we will be making music.

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  22. Shalom Reds and friends. As a child, I didn’t know from Agatha Christie. Between the fourth and sixth grades, I think I finished every Hardy Boys book that was in the canon. I read a few other mystery series for young male readers, written in sort of an easy reading style. I don’t remember when I started going to the movies, but I was hooked and went to the cinema very often. I think I saw “And then There Were None” as a younger adolescent and I do remember seeing “Murder on the Orient Express.” That was as a young married adult. I still didn’t know from Agatha Christie. It’s like crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. You can be enamored of crossing large rivers and not give a thought to the architect.
    On my bookshelves for many years was a French translation that was called ABC Contre Poirot. I probably picked it up at the French bookstore that used to be in the Rockefeller Center concourse. Despite years of French classes, novels were a challenge. I am not positive if the book is the translation of the ABC Murders, but I would plow through reading, reading with a French/English English/French and with a French only dictionary, and then once again with only the book. I still didn’t pay attention to the noted writer.

    Leaving behind the Hardy Boys, the first series which having read, I wanted to read all of their work would be John Le Carre. I loved Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and over the years I read most everything he wrote, both good and bad.

    I help a blind friend of mine with many things, but over the past sixth months that we don’t go out so much, I’ve been helping him download audio books from a Library for the Blind. He is partial to Agatha Christie, Rex Stout, Dick Francis, Ellery Queen, Dorothy Sayers, and Erle Stanley Gardner, etc. So I am learning my titles and authors.

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    1. Love these lines so much David: I still didn’t know from Agatha Christie. It’s like crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. You can be enamored of crossing large rivers and not give a thought to the architect.

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  23. I'm sure I've read all the Poirot, Miss Marple, and Tommy and Tuppence books and think that I've read all the stand alones, short stories, plays, and Mary Westmacotts. I liked them all except And Then There Were None and Endless Night. Those were too dark for me.

    Speaking of sex and violence, my aunt saw Star Wars with me and fussed about the violence. She saw The Other Side of Midnight with my mother that had a rape scene in it. She liked that movie. I thought the violence in Star Wars was more cartoon type since that world isn't real. I find reading or seeing a filmed rape scene distressing because it really happens. Stay safe and well.

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  24. I've read all of the Agatha Christie books. The first one when I was a teen was "The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd" and I was hooked. I love an unreliable narrator. "And the There Were None" and all of the Miss Marple are great. During the past year, I couldn't handle new literature and took comfort in re-reading all of Miss Marple and Poirot.

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