Agatha's Style & Writing
Agatha's writing and its style is as different from that of any other author's. She was well-known for not speaking much in public, but expressed her opinions on writing and described her writing process in her autobiography, simply titled An Autobiography. In this section, you'll learn about Christie's creative process and her writing. She had always been such an avid reader of literature, too. Her library ranged from Charles Dickens to P. G. Wodehouse, and Lewis Carroll to William Shakespeare. She was famous for creating mysteries around some famous nursery rhymes, too. She injected these authors' books (and more) plus nursery rhymes and poetry into her dialogue, plots, and titles.
Agatha's world is unique, like that of any other author. And yet, it is familiar with its quaint and quiet English villages and the influence of politics in people's lives. Hers is a little more real than a reader suspects. We also provide tips how a Christie mystery lover can separate the villains from the rest of the cast. Finally, in this section, her book dedications are listed, with meaningful background information on the people who touched Christie's life.
For a great start, read about how her books came to be and how she wrote them in the featured article "Modus Operandi". Would you like a head start in figuring out the guilty party in any book? Read some tips to figure out "Whodunit?". And you don't have to worry about the books' secrets. None are revealed here! Lastly, learn about Christie's family and friends by reading the dedications she left to them. Click here or on "Dedications" to browse through the dedications by decade.
The newest feature (added in July 2010) to this section lists all the medical personnel found in Agatha's detective novels. In every mini-bio, an attempt is made to either give a physical description of the character and/or a quote from them. Don't worry, there are no spoilers given! Read up on the famous doctors, the kind ones, and the wicked ones right here or click on "Harley Street".
New in September 2010, we compare the British titles versus the American titles of many of Agatha's famous novels. Can't you believe Dumb Witness was published in the UK when the American title is Poirot Loses a Client? The UK-titled Sparkling Cyanide doesn't sound like its US counterpart Remembered Death. Which was published first of these two? The novel with the US title! So, let's analyze the differences between the title of a Christie novel in the UK versus that in the US. We'll choose a clear winner between the two, and visitors to this site can vote for their preference!
