Agatha Christie's True Crime Inspirations

by Mike Holgate

The true scandals, crimes, and murders that inspired the works of the Queen of Crime, and affected those around her  Fact proves far stranger than fiction in this collection of events that either influenced the works of the world’s most popular mystery writer or affected the lives of many famous personalities involved in her long career. These include the exploits of Jack the Ripper, which inspired the serial killings in The ABC Murders ; the kidnapping in Murder on the Orient Express  was based on a family tragedy that befell aviator Charles Lindbergh; The Mirror Cracked was dedicated to the Miss Marple actress Margaret Rutherford, whose father was committed to an asylum for murder, and Hercule Poirot actor Peter Ustinov was interviewing Indira Gandi when the Indian leader was assassinated. The twist in the plot for The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was suggested by Lord Mountbatten; while his son-in-law Lord Brabourne produced a series of star-studded Christie film adaptations before the two men became victims of an IRA bomb attack. There are also examples of how her books themselves became the unknowing inspiration for real life crimes, or how people reading them have been inspired to solve crimes. 

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Agatha Christie, Mystery, Crime, British Literature

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 2010

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm generally really surprised by the overwhelming negative reviews for this research collection, inspired by the writing ideas of Agatha Christie. I thought this book was an interesting and visual read. I've always been curious about what inspires famous writers to start writing bestsellers. Would recommend!

[Katherine Coble · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a waste of time.

This book was like visiting a doddering old gossip in a nursing home. There were ostensibly chapters that ostensibly related to various true crimes (i.e. Jack The Ripper), but the book was really one long pointless ramble by an Agatha Christie obsessive.

The author regularly interrupts whatever case he's talking about to mention some modern crime that happened in Christie's birthplace of Torquay (pronounced TOR-key). It's awkward to be reading about the Lindbergh kidnapping and then have him go on a ramble like "Christie may have appreciated another kidnapping that happened at the hotel where she spent her honeymoon."

It's just ODD.

It kind of reminded me of when my brother would have a crush on someone and that person's name would come up in every conversation. "Oh, you're buying a pair of gloves? Jamie has the best gloves."

It feels like this guy is someone who just really likes Agatha Christie so much he can't stop talking about her. So one day he sat down in front of Dragon Technically Speaking and rambled out a book.

[Viola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Labs piemērs tam,kā potenciāli interesantu faktu apkopojumu var padarīt teju nebaudāmu, saliekot to haotiski. Interesanti fakti, paniegti vājā manierē.

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

chaotic, frenetic account of every crime possibly associated with Agatha Christie, her novels, or anyone associated with her body of work.

[Jacquie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reminded me of channel surfing, just when a case was getting interesting it would jump to some news article that apparently was related in the author's mind but not in any way that was clear to the reader. Very superficial, many of the stories 'relate' to Agatha Christie only in a round-about way like the fourth cousin of a neighbor of the people who once rented Agatha's family a summer cottage shook hands with a suspected murderer. Can't say I learned anything new, just a light sloppy rehash of old general information.

[R.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

English review below the Greek one...

Ευκολοδιάβαστο, αλλά αποσπασματικό και σε κάποια κεφάλαια οι παραλληλισμοί και οι συνδέσεις που προσπαθεί να κάνει ο συγγραφέας ήταν τραβηγμένοι από τα μαλλιά.

This was an easy read, but kind of pointless and all over the place. The author mentions incidents, persons and trivia that are mentioned in Agatha Christie's works or might have been an inspiration for some of her plot elements or that she happened to know or encounter at some point of her life and/or are very very loosely connected -if at all- with her. In some of the chapters, he tries to link completely irrelevant stuff through Torquay, the place where Christie grew up. It feels a bit like applying the 6 degrees of separation principle. More or less everyone and everything is not so distantly connected, but this doesn't mean it makes for a compelling read!

I was aware of some crimes and persons and incidents mentioned in the book, I made mental notes to check others, it was an OK-ish read, but nothing very engaging. I often found more interesting the "Stranger than fiction" weird incidents mentioned at the end of some chapters, rather than the chapters theirselves!

Not extremely bad, but not great either.

[Kerrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book attempts to show the "true-crime" origins of a number of Agatha Christie novels and short stories. To my mind it falls well short of this aim. It feels like a poorly structured and badly written undergraduate thesis.

I remained unconvinced in most chapters of the links that the author attempts to claim between the story named and the "facts" described. For much of the time there is far too much historical detail given and not enough correlation shown. Some of the chapters ramble, and in reality we needed a much closer discussion of the plot of the novel or story and the factual elements claimed.

Sample Chapter Headings:
Jack the Ripper: Cat Among the Pigeons
Lady Nancy Astor: Appointment with Death
Lizzie Borden: After the Funeral
Oscar Wilde: A Woman on No Importance

For example, I could not really see the connection between the ABC murders and Jack the Ripper, despite a throw away line by Hercule Poirot to Captain Hastings. And there is almost no relevance to Cat Among the Pigeons which was an entirely different novel.

Similarly while we might agree that Lady Mary Westholme was modelled on Lady Astor, that is really where the connection with the plot of Appointment with Death ends.

A very disappointing, almost trivial, book that frustrated me beyond measure.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sort of surprised at some of the vitriol directed at this book in other reviews--I thought it was charming. It's rather like a family tree of sorts--or 6 degrees of Agatha Christie--the title is a bit misleading (only a bit-there are stories in the book that refer directly to Ms. Christie's books) but a lot of it is stuff that is peripheral to the books or her life. For instance there is a chapter on Margaret Rutherford, who memorably played Miss Marple in a series of films and in her real life was the daughter of a madman and mother who committed suicide. There is a good deal about Torquay but considering Agatha Christie's connection to the place, that seems appropriate to me. The chapters are very short and I would have had this done quite quickly but had a friend visiting from Chicago and did not read much while he was here. It's definitely a light read, but of interest to hardcore fans, which I consider myself to be.

[Thea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another reviewer mentioned that this book is a bit like "six degrees of Agatha Christie," which is a perfect way to describe it. Many of the "true crime inspirations" in the book were so far removed from Christie herself that it is difficult to imagine them influencing her work. Some of them happened after she was dead! Maybe this book should've been titled "Various Crimes I Want to Ramble About" rather than supposing to have much to do with Agatha Christie at all.

[Nellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I haven't read Agatha Christie's mysteries, I found this book to be a bit hodgepodge. It went from detail to detail so quickly, it became difficult to tell when he was referring to the real crimes and when he was referring to things in Christie's book. Still, it was a good read and enjoyable enough. If you have read Agatha Christie's books, I think this would be a fantastic book to read.

[Mary Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was rather disappointing. This book did not really focus on the crimes that inspired her novels. Some were mentioned, but not in any depth. There was quite a lot of trivia about events and people who in some way were connected to Christie or her books. The author gives away the murderer in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd so be warned if you read this and didn't read that. Still worth a look.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

How does one make true crime boring? Or Agatha Christie's romps pedantic? And the links between the two vague at best? This book proves that it's possible. Let's all put this book in one of Christie's famous locked rooms and do away with it.

[Lyn Stapleton · Rating 2 out of 5]

An OK account of the people and crimes that influenced Agatha Christie. It was a little rambling in parts but an easy read. Definitely of interest to Agatha Christie fans.

[Susan Hanson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly interesting, but less than noteworthy. Going through each of her books in chronological order of publication, a synopsis of an event (or events) that were current prior to the aforementioned book's release are given. Because she was such a prolific writer, these possible inspirations are only given limited space and the book suffers as a result.
I could not force myself to finish. I have discovered that I'm a self-indulgent reader. I easily immerse myself in books I enjoy and books like this one are like treading waist deep mud - not worth the effort.
That being said, this would be a good bathroom book. Each entry is short enough for the trip and does not hook the reader, therefore avoiding a stay longer than required for the job at hand.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel the title should have been "Anything That Can Possibly Be Linked to Agatha Christie, Ever."
There are really tenuous links between whatever the author is claiming is a link or inspiration to her all through the book.
Jack the Ripper inspiration for Cat Among the Pidgeons......how!?
Lizzie Borden and After the Funeral...because a woman was axed!?
Oscar Wilde......because he was represented by the same publisher for a bit.
Gracie Fields and A Murder Is Announced....no link except she played Miss Marple once.
Robert Graves and Towards Zero. ..because she dedicated the book to him. No other link, oh except he lived near her.
Its just a jumble of things. Basically just words sometimes making sense.

[Karine Lelièvre · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that this is history linked to Agatha's inspiration behind her writing. It doesn't just talk about true crime, but about the author herself. It's well structure in short little stories, that are easy to pick up for a few minutes on breaks or when you don't have long to read, but want to. It's perfect for those who say they don't have time to read! The interesting true crimes behind Agatha is very interesting. It follows also the idea that crimes do affect our lives in various way that we might not always realize, like bringing changes in policies, investigation techniques and whatnot. Or in this case influencing an author who changed the crime book world and became the who done it queen!

[Belinda Earl Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is quite interesting, I think. The author has done extensive research, and reveals the many influences that led Agatha Christie to be the mistress of mysteries that she was.
Many of her books were inspired by real life crimes. The author not only tells which ones feature in her stories, but also gives the details of the real crimes. Some are crimes from as far back as the 1800’s which wouldn’t have seemed so long ago to Agatha Christie perhaps. She was born in 1890.
Read Agatha Christie’s True Crime Inspirations. It may inspire you to read her mysteries. ❤️✝️✡️❤️

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Da amante di Agatha Christie e appassionata di ricerche giornalistiche storiche, questo mini libricino è stato per me puro divertimento. Consigliato agli amanti del settore! :)

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would have been a good listicle, or maybe even more than one. But it was not enough for a full book.

[Deborah Likens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a phenomenal book. Great "history" lesson!

[Éowyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christie connection rather obscure or tenuous in places!

[Alsjem · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is that the chapters are short.

[Deity World · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average could have been better, the true crime inspirations on each story are interesting but expected more

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read about the real-life stories that influenced parts of Agatha Christie's mysteries.

[Hope Vollm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unsure why the rating is so low.

This is a collection of true crime stories and also a rough bio of Agatha Christie.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the connections seemed a stretch to me. Also the chapters jumped around and were hard to follow.

[OutSideTheBoxox]

A very interesting book if you like true crime and Agatha Christie

[Danielle Reily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really don't understand how this book got published. I'm glad I found it for a dollar at a book sale because if I had paid any more I would be upset.
This book is poorly written and completely unorganized. The author flits from story to story without any transition. He seems to have no sense of a timeline, and the information is completely scattered throughout random tangents and uninteresting facts. This feels more like the notes for a college essay instead of an actual finished book. The only positive I can give this book is that the author obviously did a lot of research.

[Tommie Nicholas · Rating 3 out of 5]

You would think a book with this title would be a great read. I thought so and lasted until Chapter 9 and just gave up. I didn't learn anything new about Agatha Christie, but I learned a lot about Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle, which was interesting. The only tie they had was the Agatha Christie had dogs and Sir Doyle had written a book called Hounds of the Baskervilles. That wasted more of my time that I was willing to spend.