writing

Walk into any bookshop and you will see a whole host of fictional genres – history, romance, supernatural, science fiction, thrillers…and crime.  And, even if you’re not a reader, you can turn the TV on and discover a whole host of great dramas featuring crimes and criminals.

So, what is it about the criminal mind that fascinates us?

It would be very enlightening to have a conversation with Agatha Christie today to see what she thinks of the modern day crime writing – but also to discover why she started writing crime fiction in the first place.

Her first full-length novel was ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’, published in 1920.  It was in this book that  she introduced the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, and the rest, as they say, is history!

It’s no wonder, then that heroine Janie Juke, young librarian and amateur sleuth, has been avidly following her hero Poirot, hoping to learn all there is to know about the criminal mind.

Find out how she does in the Janie Juke trilogy – The Sussex Crime Mysteries –  available now for pre-order as a compilation – at a special pre-birthday price!  Oh, did I forget to mention…on the 15th September is the great Agatha Christie’s birthday!  But until then you can grab yourself a bargain – it’s so cheap it’s criminal!

 

With her birthday on the horizon, I’ve been finding out more about that wonderful Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie – delving into her life to get a glimpse of what inspired her to write over 100 books!

Agatha Christie lived a full life – grasping opportunities to explore and to learn about people, places, experiences.  It seems to me that it was a life well lived.  Inevitably that spilled into her writing and her energy and enthusiasm meant that she just kept on going – writing and living.

Having recently read her biography, I have discovered some interesting facts about her.  Here are some of them:

·        her ideas for plots, characters and settings came in a random way – she filled numerous notebooks, but there was no order or organisation to her note-taking

·        she lived a busy life outside of her writing and was prepared to try her hand at all sorts of pursuits – even windsurfing!

·        she travelled extensively

·        she loved her privacy.

And, of course, over the years, many crime authors and scriptwriters have learned some tricks of the trade from Agatha Christie.

So, where does Janie Juke fit in?  Well, she is a young librarian with a passion for amateur sleuthing, having learned her trade from the great Hercule Poirot!  Set in the late 1960s, in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, the Janie Juke crime mysteries are perfect for everyone one loves a good whodunit!

Now, to help celebrate the birthday of our wonderful Queen of Crime, you can buy the whole Janie Juke trilogy in one compilation.

The Sussex Crime Mysteries is available now for pre-order via Amazon at a special discounted price for just eight more days – don’t delay, the clock is ticking…

 

 

 

 

While reading about Agatha Christie I have tried to deduce what it was about her writing that made her as famous and well-loved as she was – and still is.

Here are some thoughts:

·        Agatha Christie lived for 85 years and was writing for most of those years – her first book was published in 1920 – when she was thirty years old, and she was still getting great reviews for newly published works in the 1970s – fifty years later

·        her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been read by millions

·        it seems to me that her focus was always the story – she loved the psychology of crime – creating twists and turns throughout to keep her readers guessing.

In the words of her biographer:

‘Agatha’s books last because they are good, if sometimes hopelessly improbable stories.  The reader, once hooked, wants to know what happens next.  They deal with myths, fantasies, obsessions shared by people of every sort: quests and contests, death, sex, money, murder, conspiracy, transformation, power, the triumph of the simple over the complex, the importance of the mundane as well as the cosmic.  They construct a pattern, assigning facts and emotions to their appointed place as problems are resolved and guilt and innocence established.’

‘Agatha Christie – A biography’ by Janet Morgan (published 2017)

So, where does Janie Juke fit in?  Well, she is a young librarian with a passion for amateur sleuthing, having learned her trade from the great Hercule Poirot!  Set in the late 1960s, in the fictional seaside town of Tamarisk Bay, the Janie Juke crime mysteries are perfect for everyone one loves a good whodunit!

Now, to help celebrate the birthday of our wonderful Queen of Crime, you can buy the whole Janie Juke trilogy in one compilation.

The Sussex Crime Mysteries is available now for pre-order via Amazon at a special discounted price for just ten more days – don’t delay, the clock is ticking…