Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen

I was tempted to buy Lucy Worsley's recent book on Agatha Christie but, having been disappointed by this TV programme, I won't be buying it.

I've enjoyed other programmes that Lucy Worsley has made, but they were all about people I knew very little about. I think the problem here is that I feel I know a moderate amount about Agatha Christie and the conclusions Lucy draws seem very subjective. I feel she has an idea of who Agatha Christie was and looks for evidence to confirm her view. Of course, I have my own idea of who Agatha Christie was, and perhaps I just don't like Lucy's alternative take? But I do think I'm not being completely unfair in criticising Lucy's subjectivity -- I expect better of a professional historian.

And the way that she unilaterally decides that she must "spoil" The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, struck me as an appalling liberty. She does warn those watching that she is going to "spoil" it but, even so, I think she is robbing new readers of the enjoyment of a naive reading of that novel.

There's little here that feels either new or authoritative. Even the "fugue" hypothesis has been explored elsewhere. Much better to spend the 3 hours reading or re-reading something written by Agatha Christie herself. Perhaps Nemesis, if you are a Miss Marple fan?