The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

During the First World War, she worked at a hospital as a nurse later working at a hospital pharmacy, a job that influenced her work, as many of the murders in her books are carried out with poison.

The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880–1929), called Monty, ten years older than Agatha.īefore marrying and starting a family in London, she had served in a Devon hospital during the First World War, tending to troops coming back from the trenches. She is the creator of two of the most enduring figures in crime literature-Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple-and author of The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theatre.Īgatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. According to Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author, having been translated into at least 103 languages. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. She wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in Romance. I haven't read every Christie, but I have read most of the highly suggested ones.Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.ĭame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie is the best-selling author of all time. To give you an idea of my taste to compare with your own, here is a sampling of some of the best and worst, with most others falling into the Classic/standard category (2 to 4 stars). I usually categorize Christie's mysteries in three groups: * Fabulous * Classic/standard * Below average This one falls into the Classic/standard category wrt story. But she really played this one close to the vest for me.

As for the mystery and story: I never really guessed who it was, though I think I went through just about every character as a possibility at one time or another. She is now my favorite (non-detective) Christie character. The main reason I gave it a rating of 4 and not a 3 is because of the character of Katherine Grey. The story is engaging with interesting characters.

He's great in this, though the American accents are always a little forced and fake, but likely more because of Christie's writing. Hugh Fraser is my favorite Christie narrator.

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie