The killer you guessed?
She tried it first
Can't play sound? The illustrated version is right below.
Read the transcript
The full narration of the video.
You read from the murder to the killer. She wrote from the killer back to the murder. She is Agatha Christie, the best-selling novelist in Guinness World Records, with over two billion books sold. When she wrote a killer, was a crime scene playing in her head?
A little. In one survey, more than six in ten writers said they could hear their characters speak. But the hardest part of Christie's work wasn't at the scene. After her death, seventy-three notebooks turned up at her home, full of plans for her books.
They're a mess. For one case, she makes this suspect the killer, then tries that one. The man who edited them says the killer was rarely settled at the start. So what was she choosing?
Think of a teacher writing a multiple-choice question. First the right answer, then a few wrong options that look just as good. The answer should surprise you, yet looking back, every clue was in the question.
The wrong options must look real, so you want to pick them at a glance. In crime fiction, a wrong option has a real name: a red herring, a clue placed in plain sight to lead you to the wrong person. The right answer relies on fair play: any clue the detective sees, the reader must see too.
In 1929, a mystery writer put it into a list of ten rules. So at page one hundred, you're sure the butler did it. She took that step for you, long ago, in her notebook.
A teacher wants you to get it right. She wants you to get it wrong, and still nod at the last page. So what about the crime scene? It was built last. With the answer fixed, she worked back: where the weapon sits, who passes by when, which line you should miss.
A favourite weapon in her books was poison. As a young woman she worked in a hospital dispensary and qualified as a pharmacist's assistant. She knew doses and symptoms by heart. So what played in her head was less a horror film, more the draft of an exam.
One more twist. She wrote a book about a poison called thallium, which makes hair fall out. In 1977, a nurse who had read it recognised thallium poisoning in a sick child, and the child was saved. If you've ever written a story, did you fix the ending first, or find it as you went?
You and she
go opposite ways
You read from the murder to the killer. She wrote from the killer back to the murder.
She is Agatha Christie. Guinness World Records lists her as the best-selling fiction writer, with over 2 billion copies sold.
Does she play the crime scene in her head? A little. In one survey of over 180 writers, more than 60% said they could hear their characters speak. But the hardest part of Christie's work was not the scene.
Those 73
messy notebooks
After her death, 73 notebooks of her book plans were found at her home.
She was writing
a quiz question
Rule two is called fair play. In 1929, writer Ronald Knox put it in his ten rules for detective fiction.
You suspect
the butler
At page 100, the butler looks guilty. She already took that step for you in her notebook.
One thing is unlike a school test: a teacher wants you to get it right; she wants you to get it wrong. On the last page you still have to admit it was fair, because every clue was on the page.
Poisons she
learned in a dispensary
The crime scene came last. Once the answer was set, she worked back: where the weapon goes, who passes by when, which line you should miss.
Her favourite weapon was poison. In World War I she worked in a hospital dispensary and qualified as a dispenser in 1917. She knew doses and symptoms well.
So what played in her head was less a horror film, more a draft of an exam.
The nurse
in 1977
She wrote The Pale Horse, where the poison is thallium, which makes hair fall out.
According to the official Agatha Christie website, in 1977 a nurse who had read the book recognised thallium poisoning in a sick child on her ward. The child survived.
do you pick the ending first,
or find it as you go?
Quick check
In Christie's notebooks, when was the murderer usually decided?
Like a teacher writing a quiz: she tried every option, then picked the most surprising one whose clues were all on the page.
