Mistress Of Mystery

Detective fiction is one of the most widely read forms of popular literature. The beginning of this genre is usually traced to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murder in the Rue Morgue' published in 1841. Inaugurated in England by Arthur Conan Doyle's introduction of Sherlock Holmes in 1887, detective fiction especially flourished during a period known as the genre's 'Golden Age', from 1918 until about 1930. English detective fiction of this era is represented by the works of E. C. Bentley, John Buchan, R. A. Freeman, E. W. Hornung, Dorothy Sayers, and particularly Agatha Christie who is honored as 'Mistress of Mystery'. However, there has been an inverse relationship between Christie's enormous popularity and serious critical attention. The comparative neglect has been a spur to this thesis.Representing popular culture, Christie's works of popularity makes it more difficult to evaluate her qualitatively. The first chapter 'Introduction' begins with an analysis of the definition of 'popular culture' as inferior culture and argues that misunderstandings of Christie's works result from this literary bias. It is, in fact, the literary qualities of Christie's detective novels that sustain her popular and cultural significance. As 'A Talent to Deceive', Christie's genius lies most of all in her ability to prey upon the reader's mind for his tendency to confuse expectations with conventions, and to invent generic blockers for her mysteries. This second chapter seeks to integrate the discussion of Christie's mystery tales with plot form by introducing the theory of genre. But plot alone does not make a novel. Christie's detective fiction is outstanding, both for the variety of plot development and for 'Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple: Two Detectives' (Chapter Three). Unlike Sherlock Holmes, Poirot is a purely cerebral armchair sleuth, for he solves his crimes by relying primarily on reason and imagination, shunning the physical and laborious tactics. Christie is also well known for her mystery novels involving the investigations of Miss Marple who uses intuition to solve crimes, often uncovering clues through gossip. Then 'Why Do People Read Christie?' Chapter Four tries to seek that'something timeless'. Christie attempts to convey a sense of danger beyond the confines of paper and ink. Contrary to the most popular convention of 'the least likely person', more often than not, Christie's murderers are 'the most likely' — that is, murderers much like those in real life. Blood there has, admittedly, to be in detective fiction while there are no nightmares in Christie's books. Following the British detective-story tradition, Christie creates a fantasy — a world, reassuring and comfortable. Composed in plain and good English, Christie's books are the easiest reading, and it is no wonder she gives Shakespeare and the Bible a run for prevalence. It is this writer's sincere hope expressed in the 'Conclusion' chapter that the tentative analysis in this thesis will be valuable for further studies of this 'Mistress of Mystery' — Agatha Christie.