I came home from Torquay with an interesting haul of books, and pride of place goes to Lucy Foley's latest. I'm pleased to say that Lucy has written an essay for Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery, edited by another Lucy (Ms Rowland) and myself for the British Library exhibition about the Queen of Crime. That book is due out on the day the exhibition opens officially, 30 October, but Lucy's novel is already available.
I've been interested in Lucy's writing ever since she turned to the crime genre with her fourth novel, The Hunting Party, eight years ago. That book established her distinctive style, which makes skilful use of multiple first person viewpoints, and was one of the novels that has helped to revive the 'whowasdunin' type of mystery, which I'd argue dates back to Anthony Berkeley's Murder in the Basement, in recent times. She has achieved huge success and, during the pandemic, I enjoyed moderating an online panel to which she made an excellent contribution.
Now she's been appointed by the Agatha Christie estate to write continuation novels featuring Miss Marple, and the first is Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel. She hasn't tried to ape Agatha's style, and again it's a 'whowasdunin' with multiple viewpoints (not Miss Marple's, though - some mysteries have to be preserved!). What I liked about this story was the cunning way she used one of Agatha's favourite pieces of trickery (no, I'm not going to say what it is, but it features in at least two novels and one short story, arguably more) but gave it a very distinctive twist of her own. So distinctive that I have to admit I didn't see it coming. I'm now kicking myself, of course...
A word too for a pleasing new 'stocking filler' book, Agatha Christie: The ABC of Murders, written and illustrated by Tom Racine. Well worth considering as a Christmas present for the Christie fan in your life.
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