Agatha Christie: Plots, Clues and Misdirections

Description

Why do Agatha Christie’s novels continue to inspire each generation? The answer is the quality and range of her puzzles: her rich and varied structures of deception.

Christie broke the mould of detective fiction and rewrote the implicit rules of the whodunnit. Agatha Christie: Plots, Clues and Misdirections examines Christie’s skills as a whodunnit writer. It analyses her methods in setting her puzzles. It shows how she uses a combination of diverse plots, cunning clues and subtle misdirections. In the sheer variety and profusion of each of these elements Christie is without peer, and her combining genuine puzzles with entertaining narratives has never been surpassed.

In this unique analysis of how Christie sets her puzzles, two medical professionals and enthusiastic Christie fans explore the greatest of Christie’s deceptions – the impression that her writing is simple.

Sally and Tony Hope are retired medical doctors who have enjoyed Agatha Christie novels for forty years. Tony was the first Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Oxford. He has written many highly successful books including several for a general audience (Manage Your Mind; Medical Ethics: A Very Short Introduction). Sally is a retired general practitioner. She was the medical columnist on Best magazine for six years.