Agatha Christie Companion

With more than a billion books sold, she is definitely the world's bestselling author, and the most popular mystery writer of all time. In a writing career that spanned more than half a century, Agatha Christie wrote 79 novels and short story collections. It is needless to say that her oeuvre is the ideal topic for a companion.The Agatha Christie Companion is exactly what the title promises: a book for every Christie lover who wants to enjoy her brilliant books even more. Forget reading this companion without at the same time devouring the books of Agatha Christie. It is pointless. Also if you are just an occasional Christie reader and want to know a bit about the life of the author, skip this book and read her autobiography. Although this companion refers to her life in abundance, it is always linked to a certain book and period in time. Therefore first reading her books and then using the companion to find out some background information would be the ideal use for this book.Apart from a full catalogue of all Christie's mystery novels, short stories, plays, movies and television shows it also includes plot summaries (without revealing the murderer, of course), lists of characters, excerpts from major reviews and an explanation of the twists of Christie's life that inspired her most famous characters and plots. The authors are not afraid to give their personal opinions, a personal touch that effectively makes the book more digestible.In conclusion, The Agatha Christie Companion is the ideal reference to which Christie fans will turn again and again for a wealth of information on the Grand Dame of Mystery.

This book is a treasure trove of interesting information on Agatha Christie and her works. But, despite the authors' attempts not to give anything away there are definitely times where they do. The entry on "Mirror Crack'd" completely gives away the solution to the mystery. It's done via an anecdote explaining the inspiration for the story but, nevertheless, it would be a dim reader who didn't immediately see where the novel was going after reading the entry about it. And there are other instances too where too much information is given.So, buy this book if you're a Christie fan BUT read the entries for each novel only after you've read the books themselves if you don't want to accidentally spoil your enjoyment of them.

I can't BELIEVE this book is out of print; I would have thought it would never happen! If you've read at least under 20 of Agatha's books, then the Companion would make your day. If you've read them all, it is still undroppable. Every single book, play, and movie of AC's are listed in it. The books are gone into in great detail, telling the circumstances of their creation, what AC though about them, what various reviewers at the time thought about them, who is in them, and what they are about. Did you know AC was writing 'N or M?' as a hospital nurse at the time of the London air raids?...for example. I mean it--this book is an absolute dream-come-true for even the slightest Agatha Christie fans. You'll know what you want to read next, what you don't want to read next, what movies you'll want to see, etc. It's half biography and half Christie-Lovers book of dreams. Try to get it; I guarantee you won't be able to put it down.