Agatha Christie

Okay, so I know it's a general title, but I have a lot to say about Christie. For those of you who know me well, or who have even just lurked around the blog for any period of time, you know I'm a reader, and you probably know that I capped my Masters program by writing my dissertation on Agatha Christie. Yeah, I'm a fan...and since working on that mammoth of a paper, I have wanted to read all of her works. So, I've officially, finally, started reading my way through Agatha Christie's books, a lot of which I've read, but this time in chronological order by publication date. So far I've re-read The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is where it all began: Christie's first published novel, the book in which we meet both the little Belgian Hercule Poirot with his little grey cells and his would-be side-kick and documentarian Captain Arthur Hastings. Series regular, Inspector Japp of the Scotland Yard. It's a fun place to start and it greatly utilized Christie's experience working in a dispensary during the war. All in all a fun whodunnit that, as usual, with Christie, even though I'd read it before and was fairly certain of the conclusion, still had me second guessing myself.

The Secret Adversary is such a different book to Styles, however, based on some notes of Christie's, that was kind of the point. After doing a country manor murder mystery she wanted to try her hand at a thrilling spy story and the specific idea for this caper came to her when she overheard a conversation about a woman named Jane Fish. In Adversary we meet Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley; two young people facing a lack of employment after the first world war and dwindling funds. With a desire for adventure they agree to advertise their services as Adventurers - being willing to do anything, within reason, for the right compensation. Before they have a chance to advertise, though, they find themselves caught up in cloak and dagger international espionage with nation shattering consequences and the potential of starting another war! This is one of the books that gives me hope for one of my theories for future Christie study and I can't wait to keep reading through the Queen of Crime's stories.