The Agatha Christie Companion

by Dennis Sanders, Len Lovallo

Librarian's Note: this is an alternate cover edition

With over one billion books in print, she's the world's bestselling author, and the most renowned mystery writer of all time. Now everyone who loves the work of Agatha Christie will love this book. As entertaining as it is informative; it's the ideal reference that Christie fans will turn to again and again for a wealth of information on the Grand Dame of Mystery.

Genres: Agatha Christie, Nonfiction, Reference, Mystery, Crime

498 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

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Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what I call a "bedside book".........one that can be read in short sections before retiring for the night. It is a reference of all the novels/short stories/compilations written by the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie, during her long career.. It is arranged chronologically by publishing date, a short section of Christie's personal life at the time each story was written, critics' reviews, the plot of each story (no spoilers, thank heavens), and book/plays that were based on the story.

I am a fan of Christie's writing, so the book was enjoyable but I do have one gripe. The author tended to repeat to a fault certain events in Christie's life. How many times does the reader need to read about her first disastrous marriage and her second happy marriage to Sir Max Mallowan? I got it the first time it was mentioned. But it is a great guide to all of her works and a must read for those who are Christie/British mystery fans.

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite references re. her work, I purchased this ~1990 and read it extensively then, haven't looked at it much lately although I do dip into it from time-to-time to check on plotlines and story info. Remember it as being one of those "chatty" sorts of books, but with gorgeously wonderful write-ups of every Christie book, story, and play. Need to reread it a bit more thoroughly fairly soon.

[Geert Daelemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must have for the real Christie fans

With more than a billion books sold, she is definitely the world's bestselling author, and the most popular mystery writer of all time. In a writing career that spanned more than half a century, Agatha Christie wrote 79 novels and short story collections. It is needless to say that her oeuvre is the ideal topic for a companion.
The Agatha Christie Companion is exactly what the title promises: a book for every Christie lover who wants to enjoy her brilliant books even more. Forget reading this companion without at the same time devouring the books of Agatha Christie. It is pointless. Also if you are just an occasional Christie reader and want to know a bit about the life of the author, skip this book and read her autobiography. Although this companion refers to her life in abundance, it is always linked to a certain book and period in time. Therefore first reading her books and then using the companion to find out some background information would be the ideal use for this book.

Apart from a full catalogue of all Christie's mystery novels, short stories, plays, movies and television shows it also includes plot summaries (without revealing the murderer, of course), lists of characters, excerpts from major reviews and an explanation of the twists of Christie's life that inspired her most famous characters and plots. The authors are not afraid to give their personal opinions, a personal touch that effectively makes the book more digestible.

In conclusion, The Agatha Christie Companion is the ideal reference to which Christie fans will turn again and again for a wealth of information on the Grand Dame of Mystery.

[Glennie]

Excellent resourse for all of the Dame's works.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must for all Agatha Christie lovers.

[Gail Sacharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read two other companion books about the works of Agatha Christie recently, both very thorough & well done. This book is also very organized & well done with lots of information--the only downside being that it's a 1985 edition of a book published in 1984, less than 10 years after Christie's death & limited on the film/television information as there have been numerous productions since that time. It does provide lists of characters for all the books as well as the reviews each book was given by the prominent newspapers at the time of publication. It also provides information on what was happening in Agatha's life at the time she was writing each book & how it may have influenced her plotting & characters, comments she made on her books, as well as any history available on her book dedications--who they were & what role they played in her life. All in all, a comprehensive book full of interesting facts albeit being nearly 40 years short of current information.

[Charissa Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview: So, you have been introduced to the mystery genre. And someone, it could even have been Goodreads, has suggested the Queen of Mystery herself, the Dame Agatha Christie. But, where does one start? Mr. Sanders and Mr. Lovallo has your answer with this collection. The next question is: does it work?

Likes: The book titles were listed in order of their publication, including the year of publication and the American versions of the titles--if there were any.

Also we get a list of the theatrical and cinematic works that were made from Mrs. Christie’s novels and stories.

Conclusion: This is a good manual to know which books that you might have missed from any of Mrs. Christie’s series. Just one thing. Both Mrs. Christie, and her publisher, was wrong concerning killing off Hercule Poirot. There are still new books being released with her titular character.

[Teri-K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detailed discussion of every one of Christie's books. They don't include spoilers, which I understand but felt make it less than encyclopedic. Still It was interesting and led me to read some of her lesser known works that I'd not tried before. There was a fair amount of annoying repetition, I supposed because each entry was meant to stand alone. But it felt annoying to keep reading her second husband called just that and then be referred to by his full name, for instance. There's also a short biography and the entries discuss where she was and what she was doing when she wrote each book. (More room for repetition here.)

I would have enjoyed a more scholarly approach to the books. This reads more like a collection of essays by her biggest fan. Still It was interesting enough. 2.5 stars

[Bardfilm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this straight through gave a delightful sense of the chronology of Christie's life and work—much more so than reading through the Christie corpus in chronological order (which I did a few summers ago). It's a bit dated (and occasionally a bit insensitive to Christie's more insensitive moments), but it's a terrific resource.

[Catsalive · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/...

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great encyclopedia of knowledge of Agatha Christie and her work.

Great reference!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a Christie nut. And this is a heck of a resource--highly interesting and informative.

**The Agatha Christie Companion, rated 13+, rated 5/5 stars.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not useful for my purposes.