There truly is nothing, and was no-one, like Dame Agatha Christie, and it is almost impossible to imagine what today's mystery fiction would have been like if she hadn't blazed a trail for other writers to follow.
She was the topic of a first-rate panel discussion at Bouchercon today. Moderated by Ted Hertel (on the right), the panel consisted of authors G. M. Malliet (on the left) and Val McDermid, Ayo Onatade of Shots Magazine, and author Carolyn Hart. Christie fans, all, acknowledging their own debt as writers to Christie.
Carolyn Hart probably summed it up best. In an article she wrote about Christie some years ago, in portions read at the discussion today, Hart said:
Christie's heart is in her books, speaking to us through her characters, just as clearly and forthrightly as she would speak could she walk into her drawing room and greet a friend. Every writer reveals in print the stamp of his soul. The qualities an author admires, the emotions that rule an author's heart are there for the finding.
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Agatha Christie is there, in the insouciance of Tuppence, in the determination of Poirot, in so many laughing quips and telling comments. Read her books once again and catch glimpses of that most elusive, most reclusive author. Read for her heart - it's there to find.
Indeed.
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