Reviews - Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime

9 reviews for:

Agatha Christie: First Lady of Crime

I got this in a blind date with a book bag and felt like it was worth reading. I probably wouldn't have picked it out myself but it was interesting. Keating brings together a number of authors to look at various aspects of Christie to look at why she was so successful. The essays are varied and topics include: dissecting her writing style, talking about times they met her/her personal life, her disappearance (about which much has been made), the things people don't think of like Mary Westmacott or Christie's 12 plays, her take on artists and writers (not complimentary), and the way her works have been adapted for movies.

libraryassistant_4th's review against another edition

3.0

Some of this was interesting, but much of it was probably articles gathered from other sources. Various opinions about her and her work, written in that oddly verbose yet not very communicative way of magazines in the 1970s

louisemarley's review against another edition

3.0

This was very hit and miss. It started well. There were some 5* essays, about Agatha's writing style and writing method, and analysing her huge success. Other essays were written by people who obviously didn't like her, who never considered that her 'simplistic' writing style and lack of long descriptive passages might have been deliberate!

This anthology was originally written/published in the late 70s, meaning that the most recent TV adaptations and films were not mentioned; most of those that were, I'd never heard of.

The foreword by Sophie Hannah was excellent though!

terik's review against another edition

3.0

informative medium-paced

davianareads's review against another edition

I didn’t realize that this is a series of essays about Agatha Christie’s life and work. I should have known as it says clearly on the back cover; I was too excited to read a biography about Agatha Christie.