Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets From Her Notebooks (41 page)

Chapter 13
Agatha Christie’s Booklists

‘I read enormous quantities of books . . . ’

A look at some of the booklists that Agatha Christie’s scribbled down in her Notebooks confirms that her interests were eclectic and wide-ranging. While crime novels make up a proportion of each list, the appearance of historical novels, biography, history, philosophy, short stories and very British novels confirm a catholic taste. Interestingly, the crime fiction titles venture into areas other than her own sphere. Simenon’s Maigret and the American noir,
Detour
, as well as the detective novels of some of her ‘rivals’ – Dorothy L. Sayers, John Dickson Carr, Michael Innes and Elizabeth Ferrars – make for an assorted collection. Apart from the short ‘Books read and liked’ list below, it is difficult to tell what these lists represent. They may be titles to be read, to recommend, or even to give as presents. I opt for the first possibility; the consistent dates seem to indicate that the lists were drawn from publishers’ catalogues of forthcoming titles. And the evidence of the Notebooks suggests that an orderly list of ‘Books Read and to be Recommended’ would be out of keeping with the overall approach.

The following pages are a selection of booklists reproduced from the Notebooks. In some cases tracking down the title proved impossible, due usually to an illegible or incorrect word, or words; these I have omitted. Where a title is ambiguous, for example
The Clock Strikes Twelve
from the final selection, I have taken the publication nearest to the year of the surrounding titles.

The following short list from Notebook 39 appears on a half-page in the middle of the plotting for
Evil under the Sun.
All of the titles date from 1938/9 and this timeline tallies with the receipt of that manuscript by her agent in February 1939:

Booklist

The Valiant Woman
Sheila Royde Smith

They Wanted to Live
Cecil Roberts

Death in Five Boxes
[Carter Dickson]

Revue
Beverly Nichols

The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe
[Erle Stanley Gardner]

Case with No Conclusion
[Leo Bruce]

Half of the titles are crime novels – a Perry Mason novel by Erle Stanley Gardner, a Sergeant Beef novel by Leo Bruce and a John Dickson Carr writing under his alter ego Carter Dickson. Dickson Carr’s
The Burning Court
is a clue in Chapter 8 i of
Evil under the Sun
. Three very British novels make up the rest of the list.

Also from the same period, but this time from the opening page of Notebook 62, the next list contains only one crime title, from fellow crime queen Ngaio Marsh. Perhaps significantly,
Overture to Death
was Marsh’s first title for Collins Crime Club. The page following this has the corrections for
Curtain
so, again, the timeline is correct. One minor mystery on this list is the appearance of a novel with a background of the American car industry,
F O B Detroit
.

Books read and liked

The Long Valley
[John Steinbeck, 1938]

F O B Detroit
[Wessel Smitter, 1938]

Overture to Death
[Ngaio Marsh, 1939]

Black Narcissus
[Rumer Godden, 1939]

The Patriot
[Pearl S. Buck, 1939]

The Woman in the Hall
[Marguerite Stern, 1939]

The Power and the Glory
[Graham Greene, 1940]

Notebook 56 has a listing of historical novels, many of them titles from the previous century and some of them well-known classics –
The Black Arrow, Ivanhoe
and
Kidnapped
; others – Henty and Weyman – are mentioned specifically in Christie’s
Autobiography
. Some of these titles are on the shelves of Greenway House to this day:

Historical Novels . . . Penguin Series

Unknown to History
(Elizabethan)
[Charlotte M. Yonge?]

Shadow of a Throne
(French Revolution and Directory)
[F.W.

Hayes?]

In the Reign of Terror
(
[G.A.]
Henty)

Cat of Bubastes
(Henty)

In the King’s Name
[George]
Manville Fenn

Under the Red Robe

The Red Cockade
Stanley Weyman

The Castle Inn

The Long Night

One Last Hope
(Seton Merrimen)

Kidnapped
(
[R.L.]
Stevenson)

The Black Arrow
(War of Roses)

Dickon
(Marjorie Bowen)

Ivanhoe
(
[Walter]
Scott)

Just inside the cover of Notebook 52 we find the following list of reading material, all dating from 1961/2. This date corresponds with the contents of the Notebook, which contains the notes for
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side
and
The Clocks
. I have rearranged the titles for ease of discussion but am unable to explain the ‘+’ or ‘++.’ ‘D’ seems to indicate that the title is a detective/crime novel – Waugh, Payne, Garve, Innes; and the ‘?’ probably indicates uncertainty on the part of Christie. HB indicates hardback, but why some titles are crossed through and some not remains a mystery (Received, Read, Enjoyed, perhaps?). Where an author’s name has not been included in the Notebook I have inserted it, using the 1961/2 guideline where there is ambiguity.

The first five titles are crime novels, the Garve and Blake titles from the Crime Club series, while Waugh is an American crime writer.

+ D
The Nose on my Face
[Laurence Payne]

+ D
The House of Soldiers
[Andrew Garve]

D
Silence Observed
[Michael Innes]

D
The Worm of Death
(Nic
[holas]
Blake)

D
The Night it Rained (?)
[Hilary Waugh]

The non-fiction titles are mainly biography (Stalin, Cranmer, Ivan the Great), but travel (Durrell) and true crime (
Airline Detective
) also feature:

HB Books

HB
Morning Glory
(Autobiog)
[Mary Motley]

HB
Stalin
[Isaac Deutscher]

Thomas Cranmer
[Jasper Ridley]

HB
Ivan the Great of Moscow
[J.L.I. Fennell]

Every Night and All
(Glasgow)
[William Miller]

George
(Emlyn Williams Autob)

(Legends etc
.
)
The Twelve Days of Christmas
[
a Christmas miscellany by Miles and John Hadfield]

+
Airline Detective
(Useful?)
[Donald Fish; published by Collins]

+
The Whispering Land
(G. Durrell)

The list of novels and short stories ranges from the well-known – Muriel Spark and Paul Gallico – to the forgotten – Morel and Brent – but also includes the challenging – Calvino and Narayan:

++
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(M. Spark)

Miss Bagshot Goes to Tibet
[Anne Telscombe]

Confessions of a Story Teller
(Paul Gallico)

+
Exit
[Peter Ludwig Brent]

Autumn Fair
[Dighton Morel]

?
History
Manila Galleon
[F. Van Wyck Mason]

+
The Borders of Barbarism
[Eric Williams]

+
The Non-existent
Knight
[Italo Calvino – two short novels; published by Collins]

The Man Eater of Malqudi
[R.K. Narayan]

The Far Road
[George Johnston; published by Collins]

+
Roll of Honour (
Eric Linklater)

? SS
Spine Chillers
[ed. by Elizabeth Lee]

The heading on the following titles (‘to buy?’) would seem to indicate that the earlier titles were to be supplied, perhaps by Collins. The sole non-fiction title was one written for those with little scientific knowledge to help them understand new scientific discoveries; and Christie was in her seventies.

Penguins to buy?

Fire Burn
(John Dickson Carr)

Medicine Today
[David Margerson]

The Wild Palms
W. Faulkner

Pigeon Pie
(Nancy Mitford)

The following is a two-page list from Notebook 35 and the titles (with one inexplicable exception) date from 1939–40. I reproduce them complete with crossings out and unexplained Xs but I have inserted explanatory notes and, where necessary, accurate titles, and have rearranged them for ease of discussion.

All of the following are 1939 crime titles by a mixture of US (Rawson, Chambers) and UK (Michael Innes, E.R. Punshon) writers, chosen from the well-known (Sayers) and the forgotten (Armstrong, Fethaland). Only Eberhart was a fellow Crime Club author.

Murder at Charters
[John Fethaland]

Brief Return
[Eberhart]

Murder in Stained Glass
[Margaret Armstrong]

Murder Abroad
(Punshon)

D
Stop Press
(Innes)

D
Some Day I’ll Kill You
(
[Dana]
Chambers)

D
Detour
(Tough American)
[Goldsmith]

In the Teeth of the Evidence
(D. Sayers)

+
The Footprints on the Ceiling
(Merlini)
[Clayton Rawson]

Also included is an eclectic selection of novels and short stories from the same year:

Flight from a Lady
([A.G.] MacDonnell)

+
Before Lunch
(Angela Thirkell)

+
My American
(Stella Gibbon
[s]
)

+
The Nazarene
[Sholem Asch]

+
Household Gods
(Winifred Duke)

The Dark Star
[March Cost]

John Arnison
[
Introducing the Arnisons
]
(Edward Thompson)

The Death Guard (Wellesian fantasy)
[Philip Chadwick]

Nanking Road
(Vicki Baum)

The Ghost of a Rose
[Norman Davey]

The Temple of Costly Experience
[Daniele Vare]

Twenty-four Short Stories
(Graham Greene – James Laver)

By the Waters of Babylon
(R. Neumann)

And scattered in between are some non-fiction titles, a miscellany of music, art, travel, biography and history:

Ancient Greece
(
[Stanley]
Casson)

Caroline of England
[Peter Quennell]

Escape with Me
(Osbert Sitwell)

Portrait of Padrewsky
[The Paderewski Memoirs]

Dismembered Masterpieces
[Thomas Bodkin 1945, about the restoration of damaged paintings]

Perhaps because the other books were to be supplied, a 1939 book by T.S. Eliot has a specific note:

Buy
The Idea of a Christian Society

The opposite page of the same Notebook lists 1940 titles, including one by Crime Club author Elizabeth Ferrars and a slightly incorrect Maigret title. The third title below seems to be a collection of 14 ghost stories rather than the Miss Silver detective novel of the same name, which was not published until 1945.

Give a Corpse a Bad Name
[Ferrars]

Maigret Goes
[
Travels
]
South
[Simenon]

The Clock Strikes Twelve
[Wakefield]

Mr Skeffington
[Elizabeth Von Arnim]

Maid no More
[Helen Simpson]

Idle Apprentice
[Joanna Cannan]

Good Night, Sweet Ladies
[S. Frazer]

The Edge of Running Water
[William Sloane]

Chapter Appendix 1
Agatha Christie Chronology

Dates of publication refer to the UK editions

1921

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

1922

The Secret Adversary

1923

The Murder on the Links

1924

The Man in the Brown Suit

Poirot Investigates
:

The Adventure of ‘The Western Star’

The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor

The Adventure of the Cheap Flat

The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge

The Million Dollar Bond Robbery

The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb

The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan

The Kidnapped Prime Minister

The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim

The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman

The Case of the Missing Will

The Road of Dreams
(poetry)

1925

The Secret of Chimneys

1926

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

1927

The Big Four

1928

The Mystery of the Blue Train

1929

The Seven Dials Mystery

Partners in Crime
:

A Fairy in the Flat/A Pot of Tea

The Affair of the Pink Pearl

The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger

Finessing the King/The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper

The Case of the Missing Lady

Blindman’s Buff

The Man in the Mist

The Crackler

The Sunningdale Mystery

The House of Lurking Death

The Unbreakable Alibi

The Clergyman’s Daughter/The Red House

The Ambassador’s Boots

The Man Who Was No. 16

1930

The Mysterious Mr Quin
:

The Coming of Mr Quin

The Shadow on the Glass

At the ‘Bells and Motley’

The Sign in the Sky

The Soul of the Croupier

The Man from the Sea

The Voice in the Dark

The Face of Helen

The Dead Harlequin

The Bird with the Broken Wing

The World’s End

Harlequin’s Lane

The Murder at the Vicarage

Black Coffee
(stage play)

Behind the Screen
(radio serial, co-authored)

Giant’s Bread
(as Mary Westmacott)

1931

The Sittaford Mystery

Chimneys
(stage play)

The Floating Admiral
(co-authored)

The Scoop
(radio serial,co-authored)

1932

Peril at End House

The Thirteen Problems
:

The Tuesday Night Club

The Idol House of Astarte

Ingots of Gold

The Blood-Stained Pavement

Motive v. Opportunity

The Thumb Mark of St Peter

The Blue Geranium

The Companion

The Four Suspects

A Christmas Tragedy

The Herb of Death

The Affair at the Bungalow

Death by Drowning

1933

Lord Edgware Dies

The Hound of Death
:

The Hound of Death

The Red Signal

The Fourth Man

The Gypsy

The Lamp

Wireless

The Witness for the Prosecution

The Mystery of the Blue Jar

The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael

The Call of Wings

The Last Seance

SOS

1934

Murder on the Orient Express

The Listerdale Mystery
:

The Listerdale Mystery

Philomel Cottage

The Girl in the Train

Sing a Song of Sixpence

The Manhood of Edward Robinson

Accident

Jane in Search of a Job

A Fruitful Sunday

Mr Eastwood’s Adventure

The Golden Ball

The Rajah’s Emerald

Swan Song

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?

Parker Pyne Investigates
:

The Case of the Middle-aged Wife

The Case of the Discontented Soldier

The Case of the Distressed Lady

The Case of the Discontented Husband

The Case of the City Clerk

The Case of the Rich Woman

Have You Got Everything You Want?

The Gate of Baghdad

The House at Shiraz

The Pearl of Price

Death on the Nile

The Oracle at Delphi

Unfinished Portrait
(as Mary Westmacott)

1935

Three Act Tragedy

Death in the Clouds

1936

The A.B.C. Murders

Murder in Mesopotamia

Cards on the Table

1937

Dumb Witness

Death on the Nile

Murder in the Mews
:

Murder in the Mews

The Incredible Theft

Dead Man’s Mirror

Triangle at Rhodes

Wasp’s Nest
(TV play)

Yellow Iris
(radio play)

1938

Appointment with Death

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

1939

Murder is Easy

Ten Little Niggers
/
And Then There Were None

1940

Sad Cypress

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

1941

Evil under the Sun

N or M?

1942

The Body in the Library

1943

Five Little Pigs

The Moving Finger

And Then There Were None
(stage play)

1944

Towards Zero

Absent in the Spring
(as Mary Westmacott)

1945

Death Comes as the End

Sparkling Cyanide

Appointment with Death
(stage play)

1946

The Hollow

Murder on the Nile
/
Hidden Horizon
(stage play)

Come, Tell Me How You Live
(memoir)

1947

The Labours of Hercules
:

Foreword

The Nemean Lion

The Lernean Hydra

The Arcadian Deer

The Erymanthian Boar

The Augean Stables

The Stymphalean Birds

The Cretan Bull

The Horses of Diomedes

The Girdle of Hyppolita

The Flock of Geryon

The Apples of Hesperides

The Capture of Cerberus

Three Blind Mice
(radio play)

1948

Taken at the Flood

Butter in a Lordly Dish
(radio play)

The Rose and the Yew Tree
(as Mary Westmacott)

1949

Crooked House

1950

A Murder is Announced

1951

They Came to Baghdad

The Hollow
(stage play)

1952

Mrs McGinty’s Dead

They Do It with Mirrors

The Mousetrap
(stage play)

A Daughter’s a Daughter
(as Mary Westmacott)

1953

After the Funeral

A Pocket Full of Rye

Witness for the Prosecution
(stage play)

1954

Destination Unknown

Spider’s Web
(stage play)

Personal Call
(radio play)

1955

Hickory Dickory Dock

1956

Dead Man’s Folly

A Daughter’s a Daughter
(stage play)

Towards Zero
(stage play)

The Burden
(as Mary Westmacott)

1957

4.50 from Paddington

1958

Ordeal by Innocence

Verdict
(stage play)

The Unexpected Guest
(stage play)

1959

Cat among the Pigeons

1960

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
:

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding

The Mystery of the Spanish Chest

The Under Dog

Four and Twenty Blackbirds

The Dream

Greenshaw’s Folly

Go Back for Murder
(stage play)

1961

The Pale Horse

1962

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side

Rule of Three
(3 one-act plays):

Afternoon at the Seaside

The Rats

The Patient

1963

The Clocks

1964

A Caribbean Mystery

1965

At Bertram’s Hotel

Star over Bethlehem
(poetry and stories):

Star over Bethlehem

The Naughty Donkey

The Water Bus

In the Cool of the Evening

Promotion in the Highest

The Island

1966

Third Girl

1967

Endless Night

1968

By the Pricking of my Thumbs

1969

Hallowe’en Party

1970

Passenger to Frankfurt

1971

Nemesis

1972

Elephants Can Remember

Fiddlers Five/Fiddlers Three
(stage play)

1973

Postern of Fate

Poems
(poetry)

Akhnaton
(stage play)

1974

Poirot’s Early Cases
:

The Affair at the Victory Ball

The Adventure of the Clapham Cook

The Cornish Mystery

The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly

The Double Clue

The King of Clubs

The Lemesurier Inheritance

The Lost Mine

The Plymouth Express

The Chocolate Box

The Submarine Plans

The Third Floor Flat

Double Sin

The Market Basing Mystery

Wasp’s Nest

The Veiled Lady

Problem at Sea

How Does Your Garden Grow?

1975

Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case

1976

Sleeping Murder

1977

An Autobiography
(memoir)

1979

Miss Marple’s Final Cases
:

Sanctuary

Strange Jest

Tape-Measure Murder

The Case of the Caretaker

The Case of the Perfect Maid

Miss Marple Tells a Story

The Dressmaker’s Doll

In a Glass Darkly

1982

(in
The Agatha Christie Hour
):

Magnolia Blossom

1991

Problem at Pollensa Bay
:

Problem at Pollensa Bay

The Second Gong

Yellow Iris

The Harlequin Tea Set

The Regatta Mystery

The Love Detectives

Next to a Dog

(Magnolia Blossom)

1997

While the Light Lasts
:

The House of Dreams

The Actress

The Edge

Christmas Adventure

The Lonely God

Manx Gold

Within a Wall

The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest

While the Light Lasts

2008

(in
Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories
):

Poirot and the Regatta Mystery

2009

(in
Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks
):

The Capture of Cerberus

The Incident of the Dog’s Ball

2011

(in
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making
):

The Man Who Knew

The Case of the Caretaker’s Wife