Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making

by John Curran

Overview

A fascinating exploration of the contents of Agatha Christie's seventy-three private notebooks, including illustrations and two unpublished Poirot stories

When Agatha Christie died in 1976, at age eighty-five, she had become the world's most popular author. With sales of more than two billion copies worldwide, in more than one hundred countries, she had achieved the impossible—more than one book every year since the 1920s, every one a bestseller.

So prolific was Agatha Christie's output—sixty-six crime novels, twenty plays, six romance novels under a pseudonym and more than one hundred and fifty short stories—it was often claimed that she had a photographic memory. Was this true? Or did she resort over those fifty-five years to more mundane methods of working out her ingenious crimes?

Following the death of Agatha's daughter, Rosalind, at the end of 2004, a remarkable legacy was revealed. Unearthed among her affairs at the family home of Greenway were Agatha Christie's private notebooks, seventy-three handwritten volumes of notes, lists and drafts outlining all her plans for her many books, plays and stories. Buried in this treasure trove, all in her unmistakable handwriting, are revelations about her famous books that will fascinate anyone who has ever read or watched an Agatha Christie story.

How did the infamous twist in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd really come about? Which very famous Poirot novel started life as an adventure for Miss Marple? Which books were designed to have completely differ-ent endings, and what were they? What were the plot ideas that she considered but rejected?

Full of details she was too modest to reveal in her own autobiography, this remarkable new book includes a wealth of excerpts and pages reproduced directly from the notebooks and her letters, plus, for the first time, two newly discovered complete Hercule Poirot short stories never before published.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062006523
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/17/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	499
Sales rank:	554,386
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

John Curran is the longtime literary adviser to Agatha Christie’s estate. For many years he edited the official Agatha Christie newsletter and acted as consultant to the National Trust during its restoration of Greenway House, Christie’s Devon home. He lives in Dublin. 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 9

Notes 11

Foreword 13

Preface 15

Introduction 21

1 A Murder is Announced: The Beginning of a Career 29

2 Dumb Witness: The Evidence of the Notebooks 41

Exhibit A The Detection Club 60

3 The Moving Finger: Agatha Christie at Work 66

Exhibit B Other Crime Writers in the Notebooks 102

4 Cat among the Pigeons: The Nursery Rhyme Murders 105

Exhibit C Agatha Christie in the Notebooks 159

5 Blind Man's Buff: A Game of Murder 162

Exhibit D True Crime in the Notebooks 191

6 The Girl in the Train: Murder Aboard 195

7 Elephants Can Remember: Murder in Retrospect 217

Exhibit E N or M? a Titles Quiz 257

8 Destination Unknown: Murder Abroad 259

9 In a Glass Darkly: The Unknown Christie 286

Exhibit F The House of Dreams: Unused Ideas 303

10 Sanctuary: A Holiday for Murder 310

11 Poirot Investigates: The Labours of Hercules 346

Exhibit G Murder is Easy: Seeds of Inspiration 369

12 The Body in the Library: Murder by Quotation 373

Appendix: Swan Song - Two Last Stories 423

The Capture of Cerberus 425

The Incident of the Dog's Ball 453

Agatha Christie Chronology 485

Index of Titles 491

Editorial Reviews

…a must-have for any ardent fan of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot…For Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks Curran has extracted all the literary material from this archive and arranged it thematically. Thus one chapter is devoted to the various murders based on children's nursery rhymes (e.g., A Pocketful of Rye), another on those geared to holidays (e.g., Death on the Nile). Curran transcribes the often enigmatic notes, then interprets them, drawing on his seemingly perfect recall for all of Christie's oeuvre.
—The Washington Post

Michael Dirda

Curran, longtime literary adviser to the Agatha Christie estate, painstakingly describes and excerpts the private notebooks of one of the most influential names in detective fiction. Casual or even moderately well-versed fans of Christie may find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of minutiae Curran extracts from the 73 notebooks the author maintained. His effort, however, is admirable: the majority of the notebook entries lack dates and often jump between novels and stories written years apart, and Christie's handwriting is at times akin to shorthand. The most fascinating aspect of the notebooks is the rare glimpse they allow into the mind of a writer, especially one as imaginative as Christie, who, though not a prose stylist, was expert at devising intricate plots. For example, in the notebooks, she poses questions to herself (“how should all this be approached?” “Who is killed?” and “Someone shot or stalked at school Sports?”) while mapping out the novel Cat Among the Pigeons. The inclusion of two rare short stories featuring Hercule Poirot makes this an appealing read for Christie-philes. B&w photos. (Mar. 1)

Publishers Weekly

The most fascinating aspect of the notebooks is the rare glimpse they allow into the mind of a writer, especially one as imaginative as Christie....An appealing read for Christie-philes.” — Publishers Weekly

“A must-have for any ardent fan of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot.” — Washington Post

“A must for all Christie fans.” — Newark Star-Ledger

“Provides a unique look into the mind and working habits of one of the world’s most successful authors.” — Tulsa World

“Meticulously detailed and scrupulous in its judgments.” — Strand magazine on Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

“A meticulously detailed study that is packed with shrewd perceptions about Christie’s fiction....Curran has produced an enthralling miscellany of a book, in which her fans will rummage to their heart’s content.” — Sunday Times (London)

“Many of Curran’s discoveries will shape how Christie is read in future....This book is fascinating.” — The Independent on Sunday

“[Curran] has organized his material as efficiently as an Agatha Christie mystery….[His] enthusiasm for his subject carries us along.” — Irish Times

From the Publisher

Many of Curran’s discoveries will shape how Christie is read in future....This book is fascinating.

The Independent on Sunday

A must for all Christie fans.

Newark Star-Ledger

Provides a unique look into the mind and working habits of one of the world’s most successful authors.

Tulsa World

Meticulously detailed and scrupulous in its judgments.

Strand magazine on Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks

A must-have for any ardent fan of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot.

Washington Post

[Curran] has organized his material as efficiently as an Agatha Christie mystery….[His] enthusiasm for his subject carries us along.

Irish Times

A meticulously detailed study that is packed with shrewd perceptions about Christie’s fiction....Curran has produced an enthralling miscellany of a book, in which her fans will rummage to their heart’s content.

Sunday Times (London)

A must-have for any ardent fan of Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot.

Washington Post

"Many of Curran’s discoveries will shape how Christie is read in future....This book is fascinating."

The Independenton Sunday

Meticulously detailed and scrupulous in its judgments.

Strand magazine