The crime novel has just decided to jump back in time to reach its golden age thanks to a series of books that pay tribute to the lady of the genre, Agatha Christie.
Last week "Closed Casket" was published, the second Hercule Poirot book by author Sophie Hannah, a book that follows the life of a great detective in solving his crimes. This book has been published to coincide with what would have been the author's birthday as well as to commemorate 100 years since the author's first novel was published.
Graham Norton's first novel, Holding, will be published in English in October, describing a story of love, secrets and loss centered around a crime that occurred in a small town in Ireland. On the other hand, they have announced that they have reached an agreement with Tilly Bagshawe to write a new series of crimes. In the meantime, reprints of classic crimes from the 30s and 40s have continued to sell pretty good and HarperCollins publishing house just picked Stella Duffy to complete an unfinished novel by author Ngaio Marsh, a story set in WWII.
However, it is curious to see how the golden age of literary crime continues to draw so much attention today. Hannah comments that it is part of our desire to be entertained that encourages us to read these books.
“I think the resurgence in popularity of the Golden Age crime novel it is due to the fact that we, on some level, like to have the satisfaction of having a story that is openly told. Inherent in these stories is the message: "This is a great story and you will have fun reading it."
“She (Agatha Christie) really put the story above everything else… you're so caught up in the mystery that nYou can only guess what is coming next and we are always surprised by the ending. "
Bagshawe, whose new series about amateur detective Iris Gray was inspired by Agatha Christie, agreed with Hannah's statements.
“I came up with the idea for this series because a lot of editors asked me about writing an engaging psychological thriller, and basically this came out of boredom. Shortly after I read Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Tales, I was really amazed at how well the character was drawn. It is a wonderful character study of a woman who is continually underrated because of her age and gender. "
She has wanted to differentiate her heroine from all the problematic girls that predominate in the crime novel.
“I really wanted to write a series about a woman in her 40s, who had no addictions or an unhappy marriage or a messy life. She is just a 40 year old woman who is good at noticing things. That's his tic. "
HarperCollins editor David Brawn commented that the resurgence of interest in the golden age is largely driven by practical concerns.
“One of the main reasons behind the sudden popularity of the crimes of this period is that modern editing and new technology allow shorter print runs, which means that we can publish posts that previously would have been unprofitable We have been very successful with the printing of "Detective Story Club", which brings some of the best and least known writers of the Christie era"
Bloomsbury Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Pringle says she bought the Skyes series because she felt like Dorothy Parker or Nancy Mitford were trying to reach Agatha Christie.
Skyes herself comments that she is a huge Agatha Christie fan and wanted to take what she had and could do, which is high society comedy and romance, and then add mystery to the mix.
James Prichard, Christie's grandson and president of “Agatha Christie Ltd,” agreed.
“There is a terrible tendency to view the crime of the golden age as a cozy crime, but I think it is quite evident that my great-grandmother found murder a serious and horrible business. The reason these books have endured and so many people continue to read them today and even try to emulate them is because the plots are lifted. People enjoy the elements of puzzles and like the fact that they can feel a bit uncomfortable., but never feel so uncomfortable that you can't continue. "