Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Written by different members of the the Detection Club in 1930-31 and broadcasted (maybe just Behind the Screen was a broadcast) on the radio.
The Scoop 4 stars
I really enjoyed this one. The different styles of the authors wasn’t jarring, this is explained by them planning the whole thing together before writing their different parts. The story about a murder of a young woman with more than one lover in an isolated bungalow and investigated by different people (a journalist, a secretary, the police) is very good even though the ending did let the story down a little. I think by the last part it could only be one person, but the fun of the story was all the different twists it took before getting there.
Behind the Screen 3 stars
This one was created differently with the first three authors doing what they wanted and the last three concerting together to solve the clues... it doesn’t work as well. It was obvious to me who should have done it, but I was completely wrong and, normally, that makes me happy but the solution is not very good and mine was way better! Though mine was used earlier and later by Agatha Christie so it was not original just more logical than their solution. Anyway, the story is about a family assembled in a drawing room with someone behind the scree, the daughter’s semi-fiancé comes in and finds that the person behind the screen is dead and then we have the investigation by the fiancé, the police and a nosy neighbour.
I’m glad I bought the book, it was worth it, in the end the stories are fun to read and it’s interesting to see these authors working and enjoying themselves together.
These were delicious! Of the authors, I believe that I've only read Christie and Sayers. It seems as though each progressive chapter's author was upping the ante, daring the next author to be able to solve the crime! I'm going to look for more of this series.
These were fun! We read them after playing "The Scoop" computer game - a 1980s (?) game that Brandon remembered his sister playing. It was interesting, because we actually ended up liking the computer game version of "The Scoop" more than the book version, since it was more fleshed out. Both mysteries were fun, though I think the mysteries Agatha Christie wrote on her own are all around more impressive than these written by The Detection Club. There's a reason she became a lot more famous than the other contributors, I guess.
Não sei se tenho problema em ler livros feito em conjunto com a Agatha, confesso que coloco 5* em homenagem ao trabalho de criar, mas achei os textos bem cansativos.
O Cadáver Atrás do Biombo e Um Furo Jornalístico - resenha
"O Cadáver Atrás do Biombo"
Autores- Hugh Walpole, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, E. C. Bentley e Ronald Knox.
Gênero - Romance Policial
Classificação - 4,5⭐
Sinopse - "A vida de Wilfred Hope, estudante de medicina, é tudo o que sempre sonhou. Tem pela frente uma carreira promissora e está noivo da encantadora Amy Ellis. Mas a partir do momento em que o sombrio Paul Dudden aluga um quarto na casa dos Ellis, a vida da família desmorona. Todos vivem sempre nervosos e apreensivos, como se temessem o misterioso hóspede. Um dia, quando visita a namorada, Wilfred descobre, atrás de um biombo na sala de estar onde todos se encontravam, o corpo ensanguentado de Dudden."
"A morte tem várias portas para roubar a vida, como disse o poeta. Não tão largas como as de uma igreja mas o bastante para serem utilizadas."
Após admitir, como um pensionista, um senhor chamado Paul Dudden, a família Ellis passou a viver preocupada, aflita e, até mesmo, aterrorizada. Quem mais sentiu essa mudança foi o estudante de medicina, Wilfred Hope, noivo da encantadora Amy Ellis. Mas uma trágica reviravolta ameaça tirar a paz de todos, quando o corpo ensanguentado de Dudden é descoberto atrás do biombo.
Esse primeiro livro foi escrito por 6 autores diferentes. Todos eram membros do Detection Club (um clube só de autores de histórias policiais). Escreveram esse enredo para a televisão, e somente depois foi publicado em forma de livro.
A elaboração da trama aconteceu como uma espécie de jogo. Hugh Walpole escreveu o primeiro capítulo sem conversar com os demais autores. Agatha Christie e Dorothy L. Sayers fizeram suas criações da mesma forma, partindo do ponto onde o predecessor deixara. Os últimos três autores - Anthony Berkeley, E. C. Bentley e Ronald Knox- se reuniram para resolver o mistério e engendrar uma solução para o desfecho.
O capítulo escrito pela Agatha Christie estabelece uma conexão com o restante da história. Ela consegue, com muita habilidade, armar as tramas a serem solucionadas.
Outro capítulo que ganhou destaque e me chamou atenção foi o primeiro, do Hugh Walpole. Ficou misterioso e eu amei a escrita com o ar um pouco poético.
"Um Furo Jornalístico"
Autores- Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Clemence Dane, E. C. Bentley, Anthony Berkeley, e Freeman Wills Crofts.
Gênero - Romance Policial
Classificação - 4,5⭐
Sinopse - "Como seu título indica, tem o desenrolar de seu enredo na redação de um matutino e gira em torno da morte de um repórter que estava investigando para seu jornal um misterioso crime cometido num isolado bangalô em Sussex."
Diferente de "O Cadáver Atrás do Biombo", "Um Furo Jornalístico" foi um trabalho em grupo dos autores. Primeiro criaram um esboço e depois, quando iniciada a fase de redação, Sayers assumiu a cordenação.
A história ficou robusta, com vários personagens e cheia de tramas. Confesso que não tentei descobrir quem era o assassino, e acredito que se tivesse tentado eu erraria feio mais uma vez haha...
A variedade, o estilo e as características dos autores, imprimem uma profundidade diferente ao enredo, deixando a história bem interessante.
Eu adorei essa leitura. Apesar de terem estilos bem diferentes, os dois livros me agradaram. Fiquei bem entretida tentando observar as diferenças de narração de um escritor para outro. Além da Agatha, eu fiquei encantada com o Walpole, gostei da técnica ousada da Sayers e dos levantamentos psicológicos de Clemence Dane.
(My edition only had The Scoop so I'll be reviewing that.)
So I didn't read the blurb when I borrowed the book, seeing Agatha Christie's name on the front cover was enough to sell it. And seeing the names of the other Golden Age Crime Writers, I thought that it was a book of mystery stories.
It's actually one long story made up of twelve chapters, each writer developing two of the chapters (Dorothy L. Sayers writing the first and last chapters). Put together it's supposed to be one cohesive mystery story. It works surprisingly well. The plot and character development is excellent, and I couldn't tell the difference in writing styles. My favourite chapters was Chapter 5, wehre Beryl comes into her own.
One problem that I had with it came at the very end. Oliver describes to Inspector Smart the way the murder was committed. Geraldine is supposed to have "chucked herself down on the floor in hysterics and said she never wanted to see him or his pin again. Then Hemingway saw red and stuck the pin in her back and killed her". I cannot even begin to explain how ridiculous that is. Firstly, no adult woman would ever chuck herself on the floor while arguing with her lover. Secondly, there is no secondly. It's such a dumb explanation, and what makes it worse is that Dorothy L. Sayers wrote it. I can't help but think she must have been tired and wanted to throw a tantrum at that point. What a let down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
1930’lu yıllarda Britanya’da Agatha Christie, G. K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, Anthony Berkeley gibi dedektif romanı yazarları dedektif öykülerini daha mükemmel hale getirmek için Çözüm Kulübü adında bir polisiye yazarları birliği kurup 1930 ve 1931 yıllarında BBC’de radyo dizisi olarak okunan iki ayrı kısa romana imza atarlar. Orijinal isimleri The Scoop ve Behind the Screen olan bu iki roman 1983 yılında birlikte yayınlanır ve bir yıl sonra da Altın Kitaplar tarafından Türkçeye kazandırılır.
Kitaptaki Son haber isimli hikâyede, bir köşkte işlenen cinayeti araştıran genç bir muhabir cinayet aletini bulup gazeteye dönerken öldürülür. Muhabir aynı katil tarafından mı öldürülmüştür yoksa olayın içinde başka bir muamma mı gizlidir? Artık her iki cinayeti de gazetenin tecrübeli polis muhabiri Oliver araştırmaya başlar. Paravanın Ardında’da ise bir ailenin yanında kiracı olan Dudden isimli adamın öldürülmesi ve katilinin bulunması anlatılıyor.
İki romanda da yazarlar kendilerinden önceki yazarın bıraktığı yerden hikâyeyi devam ettirmişler. Whyn Nehri Cinayeti’yle kıyaslanınca –eğer çeviride kısaltmaya gidilmediyse tabii- her iki kısa romanda da daha sade bir anlatım göze çarpıyor, sanki bu iki kitaba Agatha Christie damga vurmuş gibi. Genel olarak başarılı olsa da ikinci hikâyeyi çok beğenmediğimi söylemeliyim.
This book is two short stories written in serial by members of the London Detection Club in the early 1930s. I enjoyed the set up for both of them a bit more than the conclusions. I picked this up because Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie (who were both presidents of the detection club) contribute to both stories. I loved that the voice and flow felt contiguous throughout the different stories, and it was fun to read Sayers's comments at the end on how the authors outlined the work together, but basically wrote their own ideas and jumped off from each other. In The Scoop, I figured out the "whodunit" which was satisfying, even if the ending turned a bit over the top. Behind the Curtain started out feeling SO terrifically ominous. I didn't feel like the ending was completely satisfying, but it was interesting to hear that the first three chapters/authors set the stage, which the second three authors/chapters had to figure out how to wrap things up. Certainly intriguing and a great light read for my tired brain.
In the early years of The Detection Club, a group of mostly British writers of detective fiction who met frequently, Agatha contributed to the collaboration of producing a detective story with chapters written by a variety of authors. This volume contains two of those collaborations, The Scoop & Behind the Screen. In The Scoop, Agatha is responsible for two of the chapters about a newspaper's coverage of a mysterious murder; a woman in a country cottage, supposedly married, is stabbed with an antique Chinese hairpin. There are a number of suspects & the newspaper's reporters are very involved in hunting down the clues pointing to each one. In Behind the Screen, a boarder in a family's home is found dead & hidden behind a screen in the parlor. Once again, suspects & theories abound until they are eliminated to reveal the true murderer. Agatha contributes one chapter in this story. It is quite interesting to observe the different writing styles & characters of each author & yet have the tale retain its cohesion & suspense. I liked them very much.
Questo libro è frutto della collaborazione tra alcuni giallisti dell'epoca che facevano parte del Detection Club, una prestigiosa associazione che raccoglieva i migliori scrittori anglosassoni di romanzi gialli. Un capitolo a testa, si costruisce un romanzo a più mani. Ciascun autore marca il territorio con un proprio stile e delle proprie idee: questo interessante mix di pisciatine è un divertente esperimento che porta a dei risultati un po' poveri. Quando le pisciatine cominciano ad essere di più di due proprietari, a mio parere il marchingegno si inceppa poiché farraginoso. �� ovvio che ognuno vorrebbe aggiungere un tassello con relativo colpo di scena, sennò che senso ha partecipare? Ma il lettore ne risente. Tanto fumo e poco arrosto. Menzione speciale a Dorothy L. Sayers e ad Agatha Christie per aver fatto le pisciatine più armoniose all'interno di questo nuvolone.
Two novellas produced by members of the Detection Club in the early 1930s, and first broadcast on radio. The first, "The Scoop", was planned in outline by all the contributors, but in "Behind the Screen", the plot was not planned in a collaborative way, but more along the lines of "The Floating Admiral." Although these are some of the finest crime writers in history, this format really doesn't show them at their best, and the resulting narratives are somewhat messy. "Behind the Screen" was the more enjoyable of the two, but sadly didn't realise the potential present in the first few chapters.
The Scoop & Behind The Screen by Detection Club ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ There were two stories in the book, the second one was way shorter. I really enjoyed The Scoop. It was so gripping, fast-paced and suspenseful. The different styles of the authors wasn’t jarring for the story instead, it kept the tension alive till the end and made the story more exciting. 5/5 Behind The Sceeen was very short, around 60 pages. It was scary and complex. That made the case very interesting. But the story dragged easily. The ending was a bit ambiguous and bad for that kind of story. 3/5
Table of Contents Preface: A Brief Account of the Detection Club by Julian Symons
The Scoop 1. Over the Wire by Dorothy L. Sayers 2. At the Inquest by Agatha Christie 3. Fisher's Alibi by E. C. Bentley 4. The Weapon by Agatha Christie 5. Tracing Tracey by Anthony Berkeley 6. Scotland Yard on the Job by Freeman Wills Crofts 7. Beryl in Broad Street by Clemence Dane 8 The Sad Truth about Potts by E.C. Bentley 9 Bond Street and Broad Street by Anthony Berkeley 10 Beryl Takes the Consequences by Clemence Dane 11 Inspector Smart gets a Nasty Jar by Freeman Wills Crofts 12 The Final Scoop by Dorothy L. Sayers
Behind the Screen 1. By Hugh Walpole 2. By Agatha Christie 3. By Dorothy L. Sayers 4. In the Aspidistra by Anthony Berkeley 5. By E. C. Bentley 6. Mr. Parsons on the Case by Father Ronald Knox
Por ignorância minha ,pensei que o livro era escrito apenas por Agatha .Foi total surpresa ao perceber que ela dividiu a cena com diversos outros autores de suspense. Os mistérios em si ,confesso que não sei dizer se gostei. Sem dúvida o desfecho de "The Scoop "é melhor que de "Behind the screen", mas nenhum dos dois foi para mim casos memoráveis ou emocionantes .
2.5 stars Two novellas, each a curiosity -fun to imagine all those Golden Age novelists meeting, but it feels like too many cooks in the kitchen. Just 3 stars for The Scoop which worked as a puzzle but was otherwise bare-boned and 2 stars for the muddled Behind the Screen.
Entertaining and collaborative concept of two tales (each co-written by about a half-dozen mystery authors) with some afterwords. The drawbacks of such an endeavor (such as failure to mention specific clues) don’t take away from the enjoyment of this one.
3.5 stars. An entertaining premise, but the first story fared better than the second in the final solution resulting logically from the chapters preceding it.
Um conto escrito a seis mãos, um pouco como O Mistério da Estrada de Sintra. Nota-se que os autores se divertiram, mas, no final, tornou-se muito forçada a costura do final.
Divertente “esperimento” di scrittura collettiva: "Le sei mani" contiene due romanzi brevi (o racconti lunghi), che la Christie scrisse insieme con altri cinque membri del Detection Club; un’ associazione di cui hanno fatto parte alcuni dei migliori giallisti inglesi, e qualche raro statunitense. Per finanziare le attività del club, i suoi membri scrissero a più mani alcuni libri. A due di questi, "L'ammiraglio alla deriva" e questo "Le sei mani", partecipò anche Agatha Christie. In ciascun libro, ogni autore scriveva uno o più capitoli, con l'intento comune di scrivere una storia omogenea, sia per stile sia per trama. In questo caso, il risultato non è eccelso: entrambi i romanzi scontano la molteplicità degli autori con una trama un po’ macchinosa. E’ divertente pero’ l’ esercizio di stile, puro noir anni 20-30. Da consigliare solo agli amanti del genere. Tre stelle perche' sono una fan di Agatha Christie.
I am a huge fan of Agatha Christie. I picked this up years ago because I saw her name on the cover but I didn't realize until recently that she is just one of the authors of these two short story murder mysteries. Each chapter of these stories is written by a different author, who make up the London detection club. These stories were written in the 1930s. The stories flowed seamlessly even though each chapter was written by a different individual. I very much enjoyed these stories and I will be looking for more books written by the London detection club. Highly recommend!
The mystery that the 80s computer game is based on. Super fun and total nostalgia! Interestingly, the game actually fleshed out the characters more and had more subplots. Behind the Screen was a little sub-par, but we just read it for The Scoop.