Introduction

Abstract

The name Agatha Christie has connotations far beyond her authorship of many novels, plays and short stories. I am writing this introduction some 125 years after Christie’s birth, and nearly 40 years since her death, and yet there is no sign of her appeal diminishing, with new attempts to bring her stories to a general audience continuing to appear. It would be fair to say that there is something special about Agatha Christie. She is one of a select group of writers whom many people consider are genres in their own right, even though the stories that she wrote encompass mysteries, thrillers, romances, supernatural stories, historical dramas—and more. The fact that ‘an Agatha Christie’ can mean something to the general public shows that there is a constant in her writing that transcends simple categorisation. To explore the connotations of her name would be a study in itself, but for this book the important point is that she creates particular expectations from the audience—some may expect a mystery, perhaps starring one of her best-known detectives, while others may look for something light and whimsical, or dark and mysterious—but all will anticipate a well-plotted story full of incident that commands the attention.