Passions: 'I don't think there's a single Agatha Christie story that I haven't read'

There is a reason that Agatha Christie is the best selling fiction author of all time.

The rain is falling outside, the pitter patter of the drops on the pavement outside is the only noise complimenting the fading afternoon light. Steam swirls and rises off a hot cup of tea and you are wrapped in a cosy blanket, nestled into the sofa. Your hand reaches for a book to vanish into, the stresses of the day melting away.

In my household, the book is, without fail, a murder mystery. And more often than not, an Agatha Christie.

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I had read pretty much every book written by the Queen of crime by the age of around 14 years old. In fact, I devoured almost every novel from the Golden Age of Crime fiction, an era defined by the “who dunnit” mystery books which exploded into the market in the early 20th century, and even now, over 15 years later, the books still make me feel like I’m burrowed away in a small nook, safe, snug and enthralled.

I won’t be the first person to tell you that Agatha Christie ruled this era, with her 66 detective novels and 14 short stories being so popular that she is still the best selling fiction author of all time, selling around two billion copies.

She defined the genre, with authors then and now still clambering to keep up. The twist at the end of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd showed her willingness to launch the ‘who dunnit’ rule book straight out of the window, and novel And Then There Were None not only is the best selling mystery of all time, but one of the best selling books, and has inspired a generation of horror writers with it’s macabre plot and high body count.

Her detectives, Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple, Tommy and Tuppance and Harley Quin, amongst others, use various methods to solve wickedly cunning and creative murders and mysteries, but we always end with that perfect cadence. They catch the culprit and the world is righted again. Justice is done.

We read these books knowing that, whatever the journey, this is our destination, and that certainty we feel goes a long way to explaining why her books have endured, and why, especially to me, they are so cherished.

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