Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie began her autobiography in Iraq on April 2nd 1950, and continued it over the next fifteen years when the spirit moved her. It's a cheerful, conversational, fascinating book; the story of her life moves along at a brisk clip over 600 pages, with photos in the middle. She learned pharmacy during World War I and put her knowledge to work when she began writing detective novels. She had trouble finding a publisher for her first book (The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920) but not long thereafter readers decided they liked this stuff and haven't changed their minds since. How did she think up her characters? Where did she get her ideas? What was her view of life? How did she feel about the break-up of her first marriage? How did the two world wars affect her? One thing about Agatha, she never bored her readers. She took care not to postpone her autobiography until she was too old to write it well; just as she took care to write Poirot's last case twenty years before it was published, while she was still in her prime, so he could go out in the style to which he was accustomed. Amazing when you think of it. I can never remember who did it when re-reading the novels so I am entertained all over again. I love the way she draws her characters too, in a fluent few lines like Honoré Daumier. Click on a title to read more on Amazon. These are only a sample. (The American editions now have the same titles as the English ones which is a help.)

Agatha Christie: An Autobiography 600-plus pages, Boulevard, US$6.99

The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 196 pages, Hercule Poirot's first case, US$5.50

The Mystery of the Blue Train, Hercule Poirot, US$5.50

Towards Zero (I remember thinking this one of her most ingenious plots, can't remember the detective but I think it's Poirot) US$5.99

Poirot Investigates, fourteen short stories, US$4.50

N or M?, highly regarded war novel, mystery, detective, spy (see Amazon comments), US$5.50

The 4:50 From Paddington, Miss Marple, US$4.99

And Then There Were None (see a set of rave reviews on Amazon from a new generation of fans), US$5.99

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Hercule Poirot, Agatha at her brilliant best, US$5.99

Murder on the Links, Hercule Poirot, US$5.99

Curtain, Poirot's last case. The question is, when to read it? I'd keep it for dessert. US$4.99

M.A., August 5, 1997