Agatha Christie at work.
In writing my September column I had to exercise my little grey cells and do a little research. For I wanted to write about one of my favourite authors, Agatha Christie, who had the good sense to be born in Devon.
Agatha was born on September 15, 1890 in Torquay and maintained her links with the county throughout her life. She was such an iconic, prolific and popular writer that even if you've never read one of her books you must have seen a film or TV series based on her work.
Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in translation. Remarkably she wrote more than one book every year since the 1920s, every one a bestseller.
During the First World War she worked with the Voluntary Aid Detachment in the Red Cross hospital in Torquay. She spent some of the time in the dispensary where she picked up a working knowledge of poisons - very useful for the soon-to-be crime writer.
She introduced Hercule Poirot in her first book The Mysterious Affair at Styles, getting inspiration for the little sleuth from the Belgian refugees who lived in Torquay during the war. That gave Agatha the idea that a former Belgian policeman would make a good detective.
For that first book, she says she worked out the plot and then based various characters on people she had encountered on a Torquay tram. She finished the book while on holiday at the Moorland Hotel at Haytor.
Her other iconic detective was, of course, Miss Marple. I love Miss Marple in the books and in all her film and TV incarnations. For me the question is not, who’s your favourite James Bond, but who’s your favourite Miss Marple? I have to say I have a soft spot for the delightfully dotty (but astute, of course, underneath the bumbling exterior) Miss Marple played by Margaret Rutherford, although Agatha Christie herself hated the depiction. In fact, so appalled was she at this Miss Marple that she said she was “sick” and “ashamed” of her decision to sell the rights to MGM.
She was better pleased with Joan Hickson who in the 1940s appeared on stage in Appointment with Death. Christie wrote her a note saying, "I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple," which, of course, she did in the 1980s TV series, although Christie never saw the BBC’s faithful rendering of the detective of the books as she died in 1976. Then Julia Mackenzie and Geraldine McEwan took on Miss Marple's mantle. All were excellent Miss Marples in their own way.
A few years ago I visited Greenway on the River Dart, the holiday home bought by Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan in 1938, a wonderful property now owned by the National Trust.
It is little changed from when Agatha Christie stayed there. It’s a little like visiting a favourite aunt who has given you free rein of her house while she is out for the day. There are shelves of books and many family photos, hats lying about, collections of china and archaeological finds. With Agatha Christie out for the day, I half expected Miss Marple to pop out of a room and ask me if I wanted a cup of tea. The grounds too are beautiful.
But it wasn't the plants and the glorious views that sent shivers down my spine, but matching the landmarks to scenes in the books. The most memorable was the boat house where the first murder victim was discovered in Dead Man's Folly. The greenhouse and tennis court also feature in the book. Agatha Christie aficionados will also recognize scenes from Five Little Pigs and Towards Zero.
I now feel I need to take you all with me into the drawing room at Greenway for the denouement of this column, but I have no murderer to unmask, just the comment, “Happy birthday, Agatha.”
Look at this:
Here's her other book: Not So Sweet Toffee
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