The Christie Mystery

BlogChatter’s topic for April is books (and authors). I knew writing about my collection of books a single favorite book could be stressful. I’ll never be able to pick just one to start the blog. While I have similar concerns about my favorite authors, one person wins hands down- Agatha Christie, the Queen of Mysteries. 

I wasn’t aware of her until my early 20s (20, to be exact). But once hooked, I became a fan for a lifetime. 

“If you place your head in a lion's mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off.”

PC: Wikipedia

My Introduction to the Dame 

I took a friend with me to the British Library as she wanted to read Dracula (after devouring Breaking Dawn of the Twilight series). We were browsing the shelves when I picked a mystery by Christie. My friend wasn’t impressed, though. But the crime fiction lover in me yearned to try a new mystery author. 

That’s when another reader, a man in his 50s (I guess), asked if I read Christie before. I shook my head and said no. He then asked if I liked mysteries and smiled at my enthusiastic response. 

Take it, he said. It was more like a teacher ordering a student (maybe he was a teacher. I regret not asking). 

‘She’s the best in the genre. It doesn’t matter which book you start with. If you like it, you’ll want to read as many of her books as you can find. I hope you love her writing. Enjoy, beta!’ 

Encouraged by his words, I grabbed a book at random. My first Christie was The Hollow (I was never one to follow a series in its designed order). To be truthful, it took me a while to get into the book. I wasn’t fully invested until the second half. By the end of the book, I knew that the uncle was right. I already planned to grab more books written by her. 

Soon, I was bringing home two or three books (my membership allowed only three) by her with each trip. Needless to say, my parents were a tad concerned (I also binged the older episodes of CID and watched Adaalat, etc.) if I was having trouble processing so much crime. Once assured I had a sound sleep every night, they didn’t worry about it anymore. 

“Evil is not something superhuman, it's something less than human. Your criminal is someone who wants to be important, but who never will be important, because he'll always be less than a man.” – The Pale Horse 

 Connecting with Her Works 

Over time, I fell in love with Hercule Poirot’s grey cells and Miss Marple’s sharp mind. Toppy and Tuppence became my favorite couple. And then I came across a collection titled The Mysterious Mr Quin (all thanks to one of the fellow participants from an online Agatha Christie game). I watched shows about her, read the Wiki pages, articles, etc., and participated in the Facebook challenges organized by the official Agatha Christie website. 

Oh, boy! Mr. Quin stole my heart. Mr. Satterthwaite’s observations and Mr. Quin’s gentle nudges, their strange friendship that seems so natural, and the subtle philosophical touch in the cases they handle proved once again why Agatha Christie became such a favorite (not just mine but to millions out there).  

“The longer the time that has elapsed, the more things fall into proportion. One sees them in their true relationship to one another.”

Then last year, I read Absent in the Spring, written under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. I read Giant’s Bread a few years ago and wasn’t too impressed by it. But this book is a gem. Absent in the Spring is a psychological historical fiction where a character peels the layers of her life to see the truth of who she is. From being someone capable, assured, and loved by all, she realizes that she wasn’t as good or loving as she thought to be. 

“That was why she had had to come here, to the desert. This clear, terrible light would show her what she was. Would show her the truth of all the things she hadn't wanted to look at—the things that, really, she had known all along.”

The book evokes a myriad of emotions and forces us to follow the character’s footsteps and introspect our lives too. Later, I found that Christie called this her most satisfying work. I can see why. It’s a must-read, folks! 

And before I go on and on… I’ll end my post with a few recommendations if you want to try her works. Just go with the flow.

A Few Favorites and Recommendations 

This list excludes the titles I already mentioned above. 

• Five Little Pigs
• The Secret of Chimneys 
• The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side 
• Sad Cypress
• Sparkling Cyanide 
• The Secret Adversary 
• Partners in Crime 
• Murder on Orient Express
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
• Death on the Nile 
• Ordeal by Innocence 

“Everything must be taken into account. If the fact will not fit the theory---let the theory go.”