There is a reason that the works of Agatha Christie have endured for over a century and that so many television and film adaptations have been made of her books. Right from the publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920, she had readers hooked. But what is it that has made her such an enduring phenomenon?
I started devouring her work as a teenager, loving how, if I paid proper attention, I too could solve the murder. My father had a bookcase full of her novels and the lure of her “cosy crime” in relatively short volumes (around 50,000 words) bridged a gap between the childhood stories I had outgrown and more adult literature that did not yet appeal.
Along with her clear and readable writing style (Christie doesn’t bombard the reader with fancy words or complicated metaphors) came a genius that is unparalleled. She wrote compelling characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple being prime examples, and always had a delightfully eclectic supporting cast. Her plots were full of unexpected twists; from everyone committing the crime to unreliable narrators, ingenious alibis and even one where all the suspects ended up dead. She was truly ground-breaking.
For readers today, there is also a delicious element of nostalgia. Her stories were often set in quaint villages or large country houses – genteel settings that make the brutality of the crimes even more shocking. It is a world we hark back to – village communities and our terribly British class system. Conversely, she sometimes whisked us away to exotic locations or took us on board luxury trains, and all of it was peppered with her witty dialogue and astute observations on human nature.
She has long been an authorial inspiration and was on my shoulder as I wrote my latest book, At The Stroke of Midnight. Set in the 1920s, young Pearl Glenham finds herself in a country house where dark deeds have taken place. Unlike Christie, however, my story has an element of magical realism as Pearl is unexpectedly caught in a time loop, adding an extra dimension to her investigations. Can she catch the killer and solve the mystery of the past?
So, thank you to Agatha Christie for being such an inspiration, and I hope my book manages to surprise and delight the reader in some small way that pays homage to her genius.
Jenni x