Product Description

Pocket Essential guide to Agatha Christie, legendary author of high grade whodunits and author of the longest running play in the history of British theatre. Campbell provides an informed introduction to the Christie phenomenon, including a biography of the great author, in-depth profiles of ten of her most popular characters, analyses of the stories and a section on film, TV and stage adaptations. Appendices include an exhaustive biography and an overview of the best Christie websites around.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #380175 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

First Rate Guide to the Queen of Crime
Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, and died 12 January 1976. A ruthless woman, in her long life she killed well over one hundred people. And the whole world loves her for it.

Following an unhappy marriage to Archibald Christie, the woman known the world over as the Queen of Crime met and soon married the archaeologist Max Mallowen. She published her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920, and went on to write over eighty books, which have sold over two billion copies in more than one hundred languages.

With Styles, Christie created the character of the dapper Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. In 1930, she created the elderly spinster Miss Jane Marple. Between them, Poirot and Marple were to solve some of the most complex and heinous crimes in fiction.

Mark Campbell, author of books on Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, and the Carry On... films in the same series, has produced the ideal guide for the interested reader, with each book receiving a brief plot synopsis, notes as to the background, and a capsule review with a mark out of five. In addition, he provides a brief biography of Dame Agatha, and a chronology of her books. There is also a guide to all TV, film, radio, and stage adaptations of her work.

It would be difficult to praise this compact but detailed volume too highly. Succinctly, perceptively, and always honestly, Mark Campbell guides dedicated fan and casual reader alike into the wonderful, complex, and very dangerous world, of the greatest crime writer of them all.