Agatha Christie’s Heirs
I couldn’t be more thrilled to be leading a virtual reading group at Brooklyn’s Center for Fiction! “Agatha Christie’s Heirs: Modern Mysteries Inspired by the Queen of Crime Fiction” will start on Thursday, March 10th, at 7pm EST. Here’s the course description:
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of Agatha Christie in the world of mystery fiction. Between 1920 and 1976, Christie published some 75 novels, 165 short stories, and 16 plays—a body of work that continues to fascinate and delight readers around the world. Christie’s fiction—and her perennially popular detectives Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot—endure in part because her impeccably crafted mysteries are logical puzzles that are almost unsolvable, and yet can be worked out by the most attentive readers. (Christie always provides the necessary clues, albeit in a mass of red herrings.)
Christie’s work has inspired many modern crime writers, who have created their own captivating locked-room mysteries and unforgettable detectives. The contemporary writers this course focuses on bring varied perspectives to their books, exploring themes of class, race, and gender, broadening and deepening the appeal of their work. Some are set in international settings far from Christie’s English villages, but all will intrigue fans of her classic mysteries.
- Session I (March 10): The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji
- Session II (March 31): The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
- Session III (April 21): Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
- Session IV (May 26): They All Fall Down by Rachel Howzell Hall
- Session V (June 23): The 7-1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
I hope you’ll join me! (Since it’s virtual, you can join from anywhere.) Sign up now at www.centerforfiction.org.