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Agatha Christie: A Reader's Companion
Other crime writers may come and go, but Agatha Christie maintains her enduring appeal, and for her millions of fans, this book is the next best thing to a new Christie novel.
The authors, avid fans themselves, have assembled a mouth-watering feast of period memorabilia — the jackets and bindings of first editions from both sides of the Atlantic, stills from the television dramas, photographs of the places and buildings that Christie used as settings for her stories, contemporary reviews and magazine features — which effortlessly transports the reader back into the world that Christie and her characters inhabited.
Her first published novel, 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' (1920), was partly inspired by a challenge from her sister and partly by her experiences during the First World War, when she served as a VAD nurse and qualified as a dispenser, which gave her a working knowledge of drugs and posions. These were the fortuituous circumstances that provided the springboard for a writing career of unsurpassed length and brilliance.
The authors discuss each of her novels in chronological order of publication, with a summary of the plot-line, and, in the case of the more famous books, bibliographical data, background information on Christie’s own life at the time the book was written, an account of its reception by readers and the press, and details of subsequent films and TV series.
The reader is thus able to trace Christie’s career as an author, and the way in which her detectives were introduced and developed, while following, in parallel, her own life and travels. The result is a unique companion to her novels which will have enormous appeal to everyone who loves her work.
The authors, avid fans themselves, have assembled a mouth-watering feast of period memorabilia — the jackets and bindings of first editions from both sides of the Atlantic, stills from the television dramas, photographs of the places and buildings that Christie used as settings for her stories, contemporary reviews and magazine features — which effortlessly transports the reader back into the world that Christie and her characters inhabited.
Her first published novel, 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' (1920), was partly inspired by a challenge from her sister and partly by her experiences during the First World War, when she served as a VAD nurse and qualified as a dispenser, which gave her a working knowledge of drugs and posions. These were the fortuituous circumstances that provided the springboard for a writing career of unsurpassed length and brilliance.
The authors discuss each of her novels in chronological order of publication, with a summary of the plot-line, and, in the case of the more famous books, bibliographical data, background information on Christie’s own life at the time the book was written, an account of its reception by readers and the press, and details of subsequent films and TV series.
The reader is thus able to trace Christie’s career as an author, and the way in which her detectives were introduced and developed, while following, in parallel, her own life and travels. The result is a unique companion to her novels which will have enormous appeal to everyone who loves her work.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2004
74 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 16, 2019
This is a wonderful coffee table book from two fans of the great Agatha Christie. Vanessa Wagstaff is an artist and set designer and has provided costume research for the Poirot TV series and Stephen Poole manages a book dealer consortium in London.
Together they have created a guide to most, though not all, or Agatha Christie's work. Each book is accompanied by a brief plot outline, writing background details, film and television information and contemporary reviews. There are some excellent photographs showing original UK and US editions of the books as well as locations where the stories were set.
Originally published in 2004, this reader's companion is now sadly out of print. However, tracking down a secondhand copy is well worth the effort.
Together they have created a guide to most, though not all, or Agatha Christie's work. Each book is accompanied by a brief plot outline, writing background details, film and television information and contemporary reviews. There are some excellent photographs showing original UK and US editions of the books as well as locations where the stories were set.
Originally published in 2004, this reader's companion is now sadly out of print. However, tracking down a secondhand copy is well worth the effort.
August 10, 2022
This is, as the title suggests, a great companion to the novels of Agatha Christie. Every book is discussed with some superb illustrations of locations, dust wrappers and artefacts that are relevant to each one.
However, the book is, so to speak, in two distinct parts. The first part is excellent, the second part is, well, just very good! The reason for this is that as Stephen Poole comments in his foreword, 'I must apologise to our readers for the unequal coverage of the books. Understandable constraints on space are to blame.'
The result is that the first volumes through to the 1942 'The Body in the Library' are discussed in great detail while those thereafter are much more briefly mentioned with far fewer illustrations. In fairness there is nothing lost in this approach but the reader may find that having been spoiled with the early offerings, the later ones seem somewhat sparse.
The split coincides a little with the relative waning of Agatha's talents for reviews of some of the later titles are far from flattering. Comments from reviewers include such as 'Unusually with Mrs Christie, you can guess who did it.' and '[The Book] is a contrived affair that creeps from dullness to boredom.'
But we must not lose sight of the fact that Agatha Christie was, arguably, the greatest genius at inventing detective - story plots that ever lived or ever will live ... and, of course, she created those unforgettable characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
This gem of a book reveres her memory with a plethora of great detail and images.
However, the book is, so to speak, in two distinct parts. The first part is excellent, the second part is, well, just very good! The reason for this is that as Stephen Poole comments in his foreword, 'I must apologise to our readers for the unequal coverage of the books. Understandable constraints on space are to blame.'
The result is that the first volumes through to the 1942 'The Body in the Library' are discussed in great detail while those thereafter are much more briefly mentioned with far fewer illustrations. In fairness there is nothing lost in this approach but the reader may find that having been spoiled with the early offerings, the later ones seem somewhat sparse.
The split coincides a little with the relative waning of Agatha's talents for reviews of some of the later titles are far from flattering. Comments from reviewers include such as 'Unusually with Mrs Christie, you can guess who did it.' and '[The Book] is a contrived affair that creeps from dullness to boredom.'
But we must not lose sight of the fact that Agatha Christie was, arguably, the greatest genius at inventing detective - story plots that ever lived or ever will live ... and, of course, she created those unforgettable characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
This gem of a book reveres her memory with a plethora of great detail and images.
October 7, 2017
A most enjoyable book for Christie fans. All the novels are covered, accompanied by pictures of the first edition covers along with other photos to set the scene. A mix of text about the plots, background and technical details about the book production.
November 6, 2022
I felt cheated by this Christie companion, because the book is essentially just a rip-off. Unless you’re interested in knowing what the covers of the first editions of Christie’s murder mysteries and thrillers looked like, do not buy this book. Even reading it is more or less a waste of time. The reason is that the text is essentially just slightly reworded and abridged copy from Charles Osborne’s excellent The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie. Here’s an example from Peril at End House:
Osborne: “Poirot is convinced that someone is trying to kill her, but Nick appears to treat the matter as a huge joke until her cousin is killed at End House, perhaps having been mistaken for her.”
Poole (who is the one responsible for the texts of the book): “Poirot is convinced someone is trying to kill her, a suggestion which the young woman laughingly rejects until her cousin is killed at End House presumably mistaken by the murderer for Nick.”
Osborne and his publisher certainly have a right to be rather annoyed by this.
In addition to being a copy, it’s also incomplete. It ignores all Mary Westmacott novels, Christie’s plays and poems and both of her autobiographies. And although the earlier novels get a decent amount of attention, the latter ones are just glossed over. And despite the fact that the figures are supposedly the whole idea of this book, the layout hasn’t been thought out properly. Do we really need, on several occasions, just a little bit enlarged detail of the cover? And is it necessary to mention every time that “The volume measures 190 mm by 130 mm and consists of 256 pages...”? The only interesting bit there is that most of her books had 256 pages.
Anyway, it’s nice to see the original book covers, hence two stars. But as far as the text is concerned, this is a one star book. Buy and read Osborne’s brilliant book instead.
Osborne: “Poirot is convinced that someone is trying to kill her, but Nick appears to treat the matter as a huge joke until her cousin is killed at End House, perhaps having been mistaken for her.”
Poole (who is the one responsible for the texts of the book): “Poirot is convinced someone is trying to kill her, a suggestion which the young woman laughingly rejects until her cousin is killed at End House presumably mistaken by the murderer for Nick.”
Osborne and his publisher certainly have a right to be rather annoyed by this.
In addition to being a copy, it’s also incomplete. It ignores all Mary Westmacott novels, Christie’s plays and poems and both of her autobiographies. And although the earlier novels get a decent amount of attention, the latter ones are just glossed over. And despite the fact that the figures are supposedly the whole idea of this book, the layout hasn’t been thought out properly. Do we really need, on several occasions, just a little bit enlarged detail of the cover? And is it necessary to mention every time that “The volume measures 190 mm by 130 mm and consists of 256 pages...”? The only interesting bit there is that most of her books had 256 pages.
Anyway, it’s nice to see the original book covers, hence two stars. But as far as the text is concerned, this is a one star book. Buy and read Osborne’s brilliant book instead.
March 14, 2025
I was a bit disappointed with this book, because it didn't give a lot of new information. I was not interested in the dimensions of each book or even the inside flaps. Some of the book covers were interesting, but the plot descriptions got shorter and shorter towards the end of the book. It was a light read, but not a keeper.
August 29, 2012
Nothing new to me, but the photos of locations, period fashion, memorabilia, etc. are beautiful. The biggest disappoint is that the book covers half of Agatha's career (2-8 pages per book, with the depth mentioned in the above book summary)... and then switches over to two books per page (one small paragraph and a book cover, each) for the latter half of her career. It looks like the authors gave up half way through writing their "companion."
Recommended: Agatha Christie A to Z: The Essential Reference to Her Life and Writings
Recommended: Agatha Christie A to Z: The Essential Reference to Her Life and Writings
January 10, 2010
Not useful for my purposes.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews