Fasten your seat belts: let’s talk about censorship. In March, the Guardian reported that Agatha Christie’s publisher, Harper Collins, would be scrubbing some of the more problematic language out of her books in future reissues: “The updates follow edits made to books by Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming to remove offensive references to gender and race in … Continue reading “The most unkindest cut of all”: On Re-editing Christie
Agatha Christie
RANKING MARPLE #4: Sleeping Murder
“’Miss Marple and Dr. Kennedy both said, “Leave it alone.” Why don’t we, Giles? What makes us go on? Is it her?’ “’Her?’ “’Helen. Is that why I remember? Is my childish memory the only link she’s got with life – with truth? Is it Helen who’s using me – and you - so that the truth will … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #4: Sleeping Murder
THE PLAY’S . . . SORTA THE THING: Opening The Mousetrap
Today marks opening night for the production of The Mousetrap that I directed at the high school where I spent twenty-eight years teaching drama. I woke up all too early and checked my e-mail, only to find this missive, sent to the cast and crew from our play’s stage manager, a remarkable young woman named Kelania: "Hello, … Continue reading THE PLAY’S . . . SORTA THE THING: Opening The Mousetrap
BOOK CLUB DOES THREE-ACT TRAGEDY: A One-Act Comedy
The Members of Book Club (in order of appearance) Miss Dresden Mrs. Russet-Tate Arthur Mimms Gracie Mimms Mr. Panagotacos Oswald Ginch (Scene: Miss Dresden’s parlor. A small fire plays merrily in the grate. There is a comfortable settee, draped over with a lovely antimacassar, and three oddly assorted armchairs, on each of which rests a … Continue reading BOOK CLUB DOES THREE-ACT TRAGEDY: A One-Act Comedy
THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: My Tea with Agatha
My experiences meeting famous people have been few and far between – and they never turned out as I might have expected. I’m not an autograph (or, in these days, selfie) hound. I don’t want to bother someone who has just performed for me or who is on vacation in order, just so I can … Continue reading THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: My Tea with Agatha
RANKING MARPLE #3: The Moving Finger
“Of my detective books, I think the two that satisfy me best are Crooked House and Ordeal by Innocence. Rather to my surprise on rereading them the other day, I find that another one I am really pleased with is The Moving Finger. It is a great test to reread what one has written some 17 or 18 years … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #3: The Moving Finger
BIG WHOOP: The Murder on the Links Turns 100
“When Conan Doyle popularized Sherlock Holmes in The Strand of the nineties, he lit such a candle as the publishers will not willingly let out. Not a week passes which does not bring a 'detective' story from one quarter or another, and . . . among the later cultivators of this anything but lonely furrow the name of Agatha … Continue reading BIG WHOOP: The Murder on the Links Turns 100
RANKING MARPLE #2: The Body in the Library
“For several years I treasured up the possibility of a suitable ‘Variation on a well-known Theme’. I laid down for myself certain conditions. The library in question must be a highly orthodox and conventional library. The body, on the other hand, must be a wildly improbable and highly sensational body.” Agatha Christie, in her Foreword … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #2: The Body in the Library
RANKING MARPLE #1: The Murder at the Vicarage
“Murder at the Vicarage was published in 1930, but I cannot remember where, when or how I wrote it, why I came to write it, or even what suggested to me that I should select a new character – Miss Marple – to act as the sleuth in the story. Certainly at the time I had … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #1: The Murder at the Vicarage
RANKING MARPLE: A YEAR-LONG PROJECT
You can feel it in the air: 2023 is the Year of Marple. Whether it’s the start of a New Age, or merely continuing the joyous celebration that began when a story called “The Tuesday Night Club” appeared in The Royal Magazine in December 1927, is a matter up for discussion. What’s true is that the name … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE: A YEAR-LONG PROJECT
Ah Sweet Mystery! 