The Agatha Christie Festival

I was lucky enough to be invited to take part in last week's Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay. The festival has been running for some years, but it was my first time in attendance, and it was good to be back on "the English Riviera". The last time I stayed at the Grand Hotel was at the time of the Christie Centenary in 1990, a very memorable week-end. At that point, I'd never published a single novel or short story. So it was a particular pleasure to return for the 125th anniversary of Agatha's birth as a fully-fledged crime novelist.

My first talk was in the Spanish Barn (photo immediately above) at Torre Abbey (photo at the top of this post), an atmospheric and historic setting, and I was gratified that the organisers had gathered an excellent crowd. I was introduced by David Brawn, my editor at Harper Collins, and my subject was The Golden Age of Murder. I didn't talk to a script, but after working on the book for so many years,I felt I would have more than enough to say without one! Some very interesting questions prompted a lively discussion, and I met several delightful people for the fist time.

In the afternoon, it was time to head off to the Imperial Hotel (said to be the model for the hotel in Peril at End House.) This time I was doing a double act with Rob Davies, from the publications department of the British Library. Rob is series editor for the BL's crime classics, and we talked about titles in this remarkably successful series (370,000 paperbacks sold so far!) as well as future plans. In a nutshell, we have titles lined up until the end of 2017. It seems like a long way ahead, but even then, the books will be appearing at a rate of more than one a month. Quite a schedule.

Rob and I both enjoyed the session, and we are hoping to repeat it at future festivals and other literary events in the future. One interesting aspect at Torquay was that the audience included some heirs of literary estates,and it was great to talk to them. Unexpectedly, Andrew Wilson, whose biography of Patricia Highsmith I reviewed here quite recently, came and said hello. We hadn't met before and I didn't know he lives in Devon. Andrew tells me he's written a new crime novel, which should be well worth looking out for. After two talks, I was more than ready for a convivial dinner with the British Library team, followed by a drink back in the Grand.

Then, the following morning, after goodbyes at Torre Abbey, it was off to Winchester, where I was talking about The Golden Age of Murder at Winchester Discovery Centre, a fabulous venue. Winchester is a lovely and, of course, very historic city, where the library is a proper community hub, and the schedule of events at the adjoining Discovery Centre is impressive. A model for libraries and associated services in the 21st century, I felt. This time, I was being interviewed by Gilbert Yates of the Discovery Centre, and the question and answer format made a refreshing change from a conventional talk. Next morning I satisfied my inner tourist with a sight-seeing trip around the city,and then it was off home after what had been, to say the least, an eventful week. One of many gratifying aspects of the trip was the enthusiasm shown by so many people for The Golden Age of Murder. I signed a lot of copies,and I remain bowled over by reaction to the book from so many people.

Top Agatha Christies

I've been interested in two discussions in recent days on that perenially entertaining (if subjective and inconclusive) topic of "favourite books". Those excellent bloggers Christine Poulson and Clothes in Books started a thoughtful discussion about five favourite Agatha Christies, while Mike Linane, a very knowledgable Golden Age fan, drew attention on Facebook to the thoughts of yet another leading blogger, Crimeficlover, on "top ten Golden Age novels." I couldn't resist the temptation to join in. So today I'll focus on Christie. Thoughts on ten favourites from the Golden Age will follow on Wednesday. As Christine and others have said, however, not only do different people make different choices, one's own views tend to shift on these selections. And I expect mine will before long!

With Christie, however, I'm going to vary things a bit. I really want to choose six titles, rather than five (and I was very tempted to go for ten.) In reverse order, then:

6. Five Little Pigs - this is a Christie that I first read when I was young, and it didn't work especially well for me at the tender age of about nine. I was persuaded by the late Robert Barnard to revise my opinions, and I now think that the image of the murderer watching the victim die is one of the most chilling in  Golden Age literature.

5. Cards on the Table - this is a very clever story, and it's one of those Christies (Three-Act Tragedy, Why Didn't They Ask Evans? and The Sittaford Mystery are others) which strike me as surprisingly under-rated. The idea of confining the suspects to just four is a good one, and the detective work is very nicely done. Even though I don't like bridge, I've always enjoyed this book.

4. Peril at End House - a brilliant spin on a device that is now rather familiar. The clueing is excellent, and the way that suspicion shifts from one person to another - for me, that's one of the tests of a Golden Age classic - is splendidly done. I like the seaside setting, and Poirot and Hastings are in great form.

3. Curtain - because this book was posthumously published at a time when "mere ingenuity" was unfashionable, its cleverness has, I think, generally been under-rated. The central idea is fantastic and it influenced my otherwise very different book, Take My Breath Away. An extraordinary book in many ways, not least because of what Poirot does near the end.

2. The ABC Murders - the best Golden Age serial killer whodunit, and a book whose plot twist has inspired many other wirters, past and present. A gripping mystery, with neat clues and a level of tension and suspense that Christie surpassed only once, in my number one choice.

1. And Then There Were None - I've written several times about my admiration for this book. It is in many ways the ultimate Golden Age whodunit, and yet neither Poirot nor Marple appear. It was one of the first adult novels I ever read, and it made a lasting impression on me.

Yet somehow I've omitted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder is Easy, Murder at the Vicarage, and Murder on the Orient Express. And... well, go on, then - what are your favourites?

Forgotten Book - The Sunset Law

I enjoyed my first John Buxton Hilton book, The Anathema Stone, and so decided to take advantage of the fact that Bello have reissued the Simon Kenworthy series in ebooks by trying another with a title I found inviting - The Sunset Law. In the earlier book, Kenworthy solves a mystery while on holiday in Derbyshire. This time, guess what? He's on holiday again - having retired from the Yard - although now he ventures futher afield, going with his wife to visit their daughter and her American husband, who happens to be a cop.

Holiday mysteries are a staple of the genre. They have been popular with writers, as well as readers, for a very long time. "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot", for instance, is a mystery in which Conan Doyle took Sherlock off on holiday. Agatha Christie was forever doing it with Poirot, in great books ranging from Peril at End House to Murder on the Orient Express, and even allowed Miss Marple a slightly unlikely trip to the Caribbean. On a less exalted level, I've never written Harry Devlin or Hannah Scarlett books set on holiday, but holidays do feature in some of my non-series short stories, and holidays I've taken have often inspired short stories - examples include "Sunset City" (the Isle of Man) and "The Bookbinder's Apprentice" (Venice) as well as the very recent "A Glimpse of Hell" (Grand Cayman.) I am currently working on another travel story-related project.

So I was favourably disposed towards The Sunset Law from the start. Th e holiday idea gives one a chance to see Kenworthy in an unfamiliar setting - Florida - and the set-up crackles with potential conflict. The son-in-law's behaviour seems rather odd, and events soon take a grim turn as it appears that he may have been breaking the rules. Whose side should Kenworthy be on?

Hilton writes well, and his stories have more depth than many crime novels. I suspect he'd have been an interesting person to get to know - sadly, he died nearly thirty years ago. Unfortunately, the story here failed to hold my interest. The impression I gained towards the end (where the pace picks up nicely, I should add) was that Hilton had enjoyed visiting Florida, but had struggled to work out a suitable mystery to set there. He might have done better to content himself with a short story The Sunset Law is a decent read, but I preferred The Anathema Stone.