… pondering on character movements for Spider’s Web
‘Contents of letter given? Or Not’ … in the course of Cat among the Pigeons
‘How does she bring it about … What drug’ … while planning A Caribbean Mystery
‘Yes – better if dentist is dead’ … a decision reached during One, Two, Buckle my Shoe
‘Why? Why??? Why?????’ … frustration during One, Two, Buckle my Shoe
‘He could be murderer – if there is a murder’ … a possibility for Fiddlers Three
Like all true professionals she is self-critical:
‘unlike twin idea – woman servant one of them – NO!!’ … a decision during The Labours of Hercules
‘NB All v. unlikely’ … as she approaches the end of Mrs McGinty’s Dead
‘All right – a little elaboration – more mistresses?’ … not very happy with Cat among the Pigeons
She includes reminders to herself:
‘Look up datura poisoning … and re-read Cretan Bull’ … as she writes A Caribbean Mystery
‘Find story about child and other child plays with him’ … probably her short story ‘The Lamp’
‘Possible variant – (read a private eye book first before typing)’ … a reminder during The Clocks
‘A good idea – needs working on’ … for Nemesis
Things to line up’ … during Dead Man’s Folly
And there are the odd flashes of humour:
From Notebook 35 and One, Two, Buckle my Shoe – the essence of detective fiction distilled into six words.
‘Van D. pops off’ … during A Caribbean Mystery
‘Pennyfather is conked’ … a rather uncharitable description from At Bertram’s Hotel
‘Elephantine Suggestions’ … from, obviously, Elephants Can Remember
‘Suspicion of (clever!) reader to be directed toward Nurse’ … a typically astute observation from Curtain when the nurse is completely innocent (note the use of the exclamation mark after ‘clever’)
We now have a clearer idea of Christie’s approach to the construction of her stories. Using the Notebooks as a combination of sounding board and literary sketchpad, she devised and developed; she selected and rejected; she sharpened and polished; she revisited and recycled. And, as I hope to show by a more detailed analysis in the following chapters, out of this seeming chaos she produced a unique and immortal body of work.
‘One of the pleasures in writing detective stories is that there are so many types to choose from: the light-hearted thriller … the intricate detective story … and what I can only describe as the detective story that has a kind of passion behind it …’
An Autobiography
SOLUTIONS REVEALED
The ABC Murders • After the Funeral • Appointment with Death • The Body in the Library • Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case • Death in the Clouds • Death on the Nile • Endless Night • Evil under the Sun • 4.50 from Paddington • Hercule Poirot’s Christmas • The Hollow • Lord Edgware Dies • The Man in the Brown Suit; • ‘The Man in the Mist’ • ‘The Market Basing Mystery’ • The Mousetrap • The Murder at the Vicarage • ‘Murder in the Mews’ • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd • Murder on the Orient Express • The Mysterious Affair at Styles • One, Two, Buckle my Shoe • Ordeal by Innocence • A Pocket Full of Rye • Sparkling Cyanide • Taken at the Flood • They Came to Baghdad • They Do It with Mirrors • Three Act Tragedy • ‘The Unbreakable Alibi’ • ‘The Witness for the Prosecution’
‘Surely you won’t let Agatha Christie fool you again. That would be “again” – wouldn’t it?’ Thus read the advertisement, at the back of many of her early Crime Club books, announcing recent and forthcoming titles from the Queen of Crime. The first Crime Club novel bearing the now-famous hooded gunman logo, was Philip MacDonald’s The Noose in May 1930; Agatha Christie’s first Crime Club title, The Murder at the Vicarage, followed in October of that year. By then Collins had already published, between 1926 and 1929, five Christie titles – The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Big Four, The Mystery of the Blue Train, The Seven Dials Mystery and Partners in Crime – in their general fiction list. As soon as The Crime Club was founded, her’s was an obvious name to include and over the next half century she proved to be one of the most prolific authors – and by far the most successful – to appear under its imprint. This author/publisher relationship continued for the rest of her writing life, almost all of her titles appearing with the accompaniment of the hooded gunman.2
As the dustjacket on the first edition of The Murder at the Vicarage states, ‘The Crime Club has been formed so that all interested in Detective Fiction may, at NO COST TO THEMSELVES, be kept advised of the best new Detective Novels before they are published.’ By 1932 and Peril at End House, The Crime Club was boasting that ‘Over 25,000 have joined already. The list includes doctors, clergymen, lawyers, University Dons, civil servants, business men; it includes two millionaires, three world-famous statesmen, thirty-two knights, eleven peers of the realm, two princes of royal blood and one princess.’
This is the first edition title page of The Murder at the Vicarage, the first Agatha Christie title to appear under The Crime Club imprint on 13th October 1930.
And the advertisement on the first edition wrapper of The ABC Murders (1936) clearly states the Club’s aims and objectives:
The object of the Crime Club is to provide that vast section of the British Public which likes a good detective story with a continual supply of first-class books by the finest
