Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #136523 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Publishers Weekly
“Beautifully designed.”

Review
"This book is a joy to hold, to browse, and to read. Anyone who picks it up will get lost in it for hours."  —Choice

"An entertaining romp through the world and works of the 'Queen of Crime.'"  —Mystery Scene

"Well-illustrated."  —Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

From the Inside Flap
Other crime writers may come and go, but the immortal Agatha Christie, the ‘Queen of Crime’, maintains her enduring appeal, and for her millions of fans this book is the next best thing to a new Christie novel.

The authors, avid fans themselves, have assembled a mouth-watering feast of period memorabilia - the jackets and bindings of first editions from both sides of the Atlantic, stills from films and television series, photographs of the places and buildings that Christie used as settings for her stories, contemporary reviews and magazine features – which effortlessly transport the reader back into the world that Christie and her characters inhabited.

Her first published novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) was partly inspired by a challenge from her sister and partly by her experiences during the First World War, when she served as a VAD nurse and qualified as a dispenser, which gave her a working knowledge of drugs and poisons. These were the fortuitous circumstances that provided the springboard for a writing career of unsurpassed length and brilliance.

The authors discuss each of the novels in chronological order of publication, with a summary of the plot-line and, in the case of the more famous books, bibliographical data, background information on Christie’s own life at the time the book was written, an account of its reception by readers and the press, and details of subsequent films and TV series.

The reader is thus able to trace Christie’s career as an author, and the way in which her detectives were introduced and developed, while following, in parallel, her own life and travels. The result is a unique companion to her novels which will have enormous appeal to everyone who loves her work.

Customer Reviews

I Like This Book!
I'm a huge Christie fan. This book takes a look at her books in order. It's a little collector guide and picture book of the first edition sleeves. It could be a little more edited or tightened up but it's a great book. I've read most of the Christie books but will re-read some of the information about the plots in this book. It's a great guide for any fan and it's priced reasonably too!

Pretty Special Tribute
Any fan of Agatha Christie should find this book chock full of delightful and sometimes eye-opening visuals and facts. The press summary does a fine job, and frankly can't be improved on. I add my voice to encourage Amazon mystery buffs, who must number on the hundreds of thousands, to give it a try.

The book can be gently perused for an overview of Agatha Christie's home sites, travel locations, and the like. Ms Chrisite used her own backdrop to a far greater extent than many people might imagine. Anyone reading this book should certainly come away not only with a better sense for place and image the next time you begin one of her mysteries, but also for the sharpness of vision she brought to her best writing.

A chronological listing of the works is convenient, and all in all the book as a whole is quite charming. I like it a great deal, and can't imagine an Agatha Christie fan being disappointed.

Note: Pictures of the many book covers showcase the difference the Atlantic ocean made during the height of Christie's fame: the English covers (and titles) are sometimes marked with an ugly racism already tabu in America.

This is also available in paperback.

Great Book!
This is the best book for any agatha christie fan. A good book about the author and her inspirations. Book arrived in excellent condition.