Agatha Christie's
Golden Age
The ‘Golden Age’ of detective fiction in the United Kingdom can fairly be regarded as being roughly the period between 1918 and 1945. Between those years the first 34 of Agatha Christie’s 66 crime novels were published in the UK. The puzzle elements in those 34 novels – Solution, Plot and Clues – are comprehensively examined for the first time in Volumes I and II of Agatha Christie's Golden Age. John Goddard brings to this unofficial analysis of Christie’s work not only the enthusiasm and warmth of a lifelong Christie fan but also the forensic skills of a former lawyer who was for many years a partner in a major City law firm in London.
Of the 34 Golden Age novels, 21 feature Hercule Poirot as the principal detective. Those 21 novels are analysed in Volume I (2018).
“Agatha Christie’s Golden Age serves to deepen and enrich her success and mystery … and brilliantly shows how she wove particular tales around the universal themes of greed, lust, hate, redemption and atonement”
Roger Lewis
THE DAILY MAIL, October 2018.
The other 13 Golden Age novels comprise a mixture of detective stories (including three with Jane Marple) and thrillers (including two with Tommy and Tuppence Beresford) and among them is Christie’s most famous and popular novel, And Then There were None. Those 13 novels are analysed in Volume II (2021).
“As previously … a highly original method which proved an accessible way for both Christie scholars and general readers to understand the novels as puzzles … Even seasoned Christie addicts will find much to ponder…”
Dr John Curran
AGATHA CHRISTIE ARCHIVIST, EXPERT AND INTERPRETER OF HER NOTEBOOKS.
“Poirot locked the door on the inside, and proceeded to a minute inspection of the room ….. ‘We have found in this room’, he said, writing busily, ‘six points of interest. Shall I enumerate them, or will you?’”
THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES (CHAPTER 4).