THE AGATHA CHRISTIE COMPANION: The Complete Guide to Agatha Christie's Life and Work

Without the style, judgment, or overall intelligence of Charles Osborne's comparable The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie (p. 233): yet another reference-style rundown--tossing familiar biographical bits and pieces together with plot-summaries, lists, facts, figures, and trivia. Almost the entire book consists of chronological entries for the nearly 100 Christie books; each one includes brief biographical background (nothing new), a plot-summary (no murderers revealed), a list of characters, quotes from AC herself and reviews of the period, and data on first editions (publisher, date, price). Two sections at the end offer very short discussions of all the Christie plays, stage adaptations, film/TV versions. And finally there are ""The Christie Lists""--e.g., ""Alphabetical List of Chief Inspector James Japp Book Titles."" Heavier on sheer detail than Osborne--every short story is summarized--but flatly written (at best), virtually untouched by personal flavor or opinion, and the less satisfying choice for most Christie fans.