FOR THIRTEEN PAGES, THE GAUNTLET IS THROWN

“I know there are lots of talented bloggers in this group. I have a suggestion for a future post: A proper rebuke to Raymond Chandler's essay, The Simple Art of Murder. For those of you who haven't read it, it's 13 pages and free online as a pdf. It is a scathing indictment of everything this …

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THOSE ELEVEN DAYS

Personal tragedy or publicity stunt? This is the question that has run circles around Agatha Christie’s fans since December 3, 1926, when Christie disappeared from her home after a fight with her husband, Archie. He had informed her that he wanted a divorce in order to marry his mistress, Nancy Neele, and when Agatha refused, …

GAD = GORY AND DARK: Sarah Phelps Takes On the Establishment

The latest BBC rendition of an Agatha Christie classic , 1936’s The ABC Murders, has just dropped onto Amazon Prime. Now we forward-thinking Americans can add our two cents to the European reaction over Sarah Phelps’ treatment of the Mistress of Mystery. (I believe the words “Burn the witch and her laptop!” have been uttered in …

“THESE PRECIOUS ILLUSIONS IN MY HEAD DID NOT LET ME DOWN . . . “

Author and blogger Margot Kinberg, who comes up with something thought-provoking every . . . single . . . day . . . recently offered up a tantalizing article about illusion. Her focus was on characters in mysteries whose lives, built to varying degrees around an illusory view of the world around them, form the …

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: The Stirring of Memory in the Novels of Agatha Christie

I know, I know, friends! I was waxing reflective on Agatha Christie only the other day, and here I go again. Forgive me, but January is always a rough month to get some reading in. It’s the final stretch of rehearsals for the big school show, and this year’s entry, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, is …

SINISTER OR SILLY: When Does Agatha Go Too Far?

Last month on the Facebook Golden Age Detection page, the great blogger Xavier Lechard opened up the proverbial can of worms, and I have this to say about that! First, though: if you are a GAD fan like me (and still brave membership on Facebook) yet do not belong to this amazing group . . …

A CHRISTIE FOR CHRISTMAS: The Moving Finger

I grew up in a wondrous world where every year, as the yuletide approached, an advertisement would appear in the newspaper announcing that Agatha Christie had done it again! Mind you, this began for me in the late 60’s, so we’re not talking about the titles that regularly make it on anyone’s Top Ten list. …