Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days (42 page)

She cared passionately for the rights of the innocent. It is significant that she did not see evil as a social organism; rather, as a deviation springing from the heart of the individual. Such individuals were, in her view, like derelict ships that drift in the darkness and wreck the sound seaworthy craft. She came to identify closely with the Arab proverb which says that the fate of each man hangs around his neck, and that there is always an alternative route that could be taken, if only just.

Agatha was destined to be known as the disappearing novelist in more ways than one; much of the world she knew and wrote about has almost completely vanished; a world of chauffeured Daimlers and Bentleys, solvent aristocracy and stately homes. Many of her loyal readers hanker for this bygone age. Her detective stories are civilized and elaborately plotted versions of her ‘Gun Man’ dream; in them anyone can turn out to be the killer. The more chaotic her life became the more she made her fictitious world neat and orderly.

The reason she never admitted the full extent of her pain to her fans was because she did not want our pity. She wanted for herself what she had long wished on others: ‘The peace of God which passeth all understanding.’ Her detective stories endure because they nourish in her readers the hope that good will always triumph over evil, and the charm, good humour and humility with which she imparts her message makes her fans love her all the more.

Perhaps her greatest achievement is to represent to each successive generation a nostalgic link with a way of life that disappeared along with the British Empire.

One knows that a writer has been well loved if, when he or she dies, fans wish there was one more book left for them to read, and no one is more deserving of such an accolade than Agatha Christie.

Works of Agatha Christie

The novels listed here are British first editions. The comprehensive list of short stories published in the UK and US up until 1926 makes clear how well known Agatha Christie was at the time of her disappearance. Note that short stories designated ** were collected in
Poirot Investigates
, those marked + were collected in
The Big Four
, while those referenced # were collected in
Partners in Crime.

1920

The Mysterious Affair at Styles
(Bodley Head)

1922

The Secret Adversary
(Bodley Head)

1923

The Murder on the Links
(Bodley Head)

‘The Affair at the Victory Ball’, March
(The Sketch)

**‘The Curious Disappearance of the Opalsen Pearls’ a.k.a. ‘The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan’, March
(The Sketch)

‘The Adventure of the King of Clubs’, March
(The Sketch)

**‘The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim’, March
(The Sketch)

‘The Mystery of the Plymouth Express’, a.k.a. ‘The Plymouth Express’, April
(The Sketch)

**‘The Adventure of the Western Star’, April
(The Sketch)

**‘The Tragedy at Marsden Manor’, April
(The Sketch)

**‘The Kidnapped Prime Minister’, April
(The Sketch)

**‘The Million Dollar Bond Robbery’, May
(The Sketch)

**‘The Adventure of the Cheap Flat’, May
(The Sketch)

**‘The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge’, May
(The Sketch)

‘The Clue of the Chocolate Box’, a.k.a. ‘The Chocolate Box’, May
(The Sketch)

‘A Trap for the Unwary’, a.k.a. ‘The Actress’, May
(Novel Magazine)

**‘The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb’, September
(The Sketch)

‘The Clue of the Veiled Lady’, a.k.a. ‘The Veiled Lady’, October,
(The Sketch)

‘The Kidnapping of Johnnie Waverley’, a.k.a. ‘The Adventure of Johnnie Waverley’, October
(The Sketch)

‘The Market Basing Mystery’, October
(The Sketch)

**‘The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman’, October
(The Sketch)

**‘The Case of the Missing Will’, October
(The Sketch)

‘The Submarine Plans’, November
(The Sketch)

‘The Adventure of the Clapham Cook’, November
(The Sketch)

‘The Lost Mine’, November
(The Sketch)

‘The Cornish Mystery’, November
(The Sketch)

‘The Double Clue’, December
(The Sketch)

‘The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding’, December
(The Sketch)

‘The Le Mesurier Inheritance’, December
(The Sketch)

#‘The First Wish’, a.k.a. ‘The Clergyman’s Daughter’, a.k.a. ‘The Red House’, December
(Grand Magazine)

1924

The Man in the Brown Suit
(Bodley Head)

Poirot Investigates
(Bodley Head)

The Road of Dreams
(poetry) (Geoffrey Bles)

+‘The Unexpected Guest’, January
(The Sketch)

+‘The Adventure of the Dartmoor Bungalow’, January
(The Sketch)

+‘The Lady on the Stairs’, January
(The Sketch)

+‘The Radium Thieves’, January
(The Sketch)

+‘In the House of the Enemy’, January
(The Sketch)

+‘The Yellow Jasmine Mystery’, February
(The Sketch)

+‘The Chess Problem’, February
(The Sketch)

+‘The Baited Trap’, February
(The Sketch)

+‘The Adventure of the Peroxide Blonde’, February
(The Sketch)

‘The Girl in the Train’, February
(Grand Magazine)

+‘The Terrible Catastrophe’, March
(The Sketch)

+‘The Dying Chinaman’, March
(The Sketch)

+‘The Crag in the Dolomites’, March
(The Sketch)

‘The Passing of Mr Quin’, a.k.a. ‘The Coming of Mr Quin’, March
(Grand Magazine)

‘While the Light Lasts’, April
(Novel Magazine)

‘The Red Signal’, June
(Grand Magazine)

‘The Mystery of the Blue Jar’, July
(Grand Magazine)

‘The Mystery of the Second Cucumber’, a.k.a. ‘Mr Eastwood’s Adventure’, August
(Novel Magazine)

‘Jane in Search of a Job’, August
(Grand Magazine)

#‘Publicity’, a.k.a. ‘A Pot of Tea’, a.k.a. ‘A Fairy in the Flat’, September
(The Sketch)

#‘The Affair of the Pink Pearl’, October
(The Sketch)

#‘Finessing the King’, a.k.a. ‘The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper’, October
(The Sketch)

#‘The Case of the Missing Lady’, October
(The Sketch)

#‘The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger’, October
(The Sketch)

#‘The Sunninghall Mystery’, a.k.a. ‘The Sunningdale Mystery’, October,
(The Sketch)

‘The Shadow on the Glass’, October,
(Grand Magazine)

#‘The House of Lurking Death’, November
(The Sketch)

#‘The Matter of the Ambassador’s Boots’, a.k.a. ‘The Ambassador’s Boots’, November
(The Sketch)

#‘The Affair of the Forged Notes’, a.k.a. ‘The Crackler’, November
(The Sketch)

#‘Blind Man’s Buff’, November,
(The Sketch)

‘Philomel Cottage’, November
(Grand Magazine)

#‘The Man in the Mist’, December
(The Sketch)

#‘The Man Who Was Number Sixteen’, December
(The Sketch)

‘The Day of his Dreams’, a.k.a. ‘The Manhood of Edward Robinson’, December
(Grand Magazine)

1925

The Secret of Chimneys
(Bodley Head)

‘Traitor Hands’, a.k.a. ‘The Witness for the Prosecution’, January
(Flynn’s Weekly)

‘A Sign in the Sky’, July
(Grand Magazine)

‘Within a Wall’, October
(Royal Magazine)

‘A Man of Magic’, a.k.a. ‘At the Bells and Motley’, November
(Grand Magazine)

‘The Fourth Man’, December
(Pearson’s Magazine)

‘The Benevolent Butler’, a.k.a. ‘The Listerdale Mystery’, December
(Grand Magazine)

1926

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
(Collins)

‘The House of Dreams’, a.k.a. ‘The House Of Beauty’, January
(Sovereign Magazine)

‘S.O.S.!’,Feburary
(Grand Magazine)

‘Magnolia Blossom’, March
(Royal Magazine)

‘The Rajah’s Emerald’, July
(Red Magazine)

‘The Lonely God’, July
(Royal Magazine)

‘Swan Song’, September
(Grand Magazine)

‘At the Crossroads’, a.k.a. ‘The Love Detectives’, October
(Flynn’s Weekly)

‘The Under Dog’, October
(London Magazine)

‘The Soul of the Croupier’, November
(Flynn’s Weekly)

‘World’s End’, November
(Flynn’s Weekly)

‘The Last Séance’, November
(Ghost Stories Magazine)

‘The Voice in the Dark’, December
(Flynn’s Weekly)

‘Wireless’
(Sunday Chronicle Annual 1926)

After the disappearance Agatha Christie re-established her usual prolific output in a relatively short time.

1927

The Big Four
(Collins)

1928

The Mystery of the Blue Train
(Collins)

Alibi (play adapted by Michael Morton from
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
) (Samuel French)

1929

The Seven Dials Mystery
(Collins)

Partners in Crime
(Collins)

The Sunningdale Mystery
(Collins)

The Passing of Mr Quinn
(book of the film adapted by G. Roy McRae from the short story) (London Book Company)

1930

The Mysterious Mr Quin
(Collins)

The Murder at the Vicarage
(Collins)

Giant’s Bread
(Mary Westmacott) (Collins)

Chimneys
(unpublished play based on
The Secret of Chimneys
)

1931

The Sittaford Mystery
(Collins)

1932

Peril at End House
(Collins)

The Thirteen Problems
(Collins)

The Wasp’s Nest
(unpublished play)

1933

Lord Edgware Dies
(Collins)

The Hound of Death
(Odhams)

1934

Black Coffee
(play) (Alfred Ashley)

Murder on the Orient Express
(Collins)

The Listerdale Mystery
(Collins)

Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?
(Collins)

Parker Pyne Investigates
(Collins)

Unfinished Portrait
(Mary Westmacott) (Collins)

1935

Three Act Tragedy
(Collins)

Death in the Clouds
(Collins)

1936

The ABC Murders
(Collins)

Murder in Mesopotamia
(Collins)

Cards on the Table
(Collins)

Love from a Stranger
(play adapted by Frank Vosper from the short story ‘Philomel Cottage’) (Collins)

1937

Dumb Witness
(Collins)

Death on the Nile
(Collins)

Murder in the Mews
(Collins)

1938

Appointment with Death
(Collins)

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
(Collins)

1939

Murder is Easy
(Collins)

Ten Little Niggers
(later retitled
And Then There Was None
) (Collins)

1940

Sad Cypress
(Collins)

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
(Collins)

Peril at End House
(play adapted by Arnold Ridley) (Samuel French)

1941

Evil Under the Sun
(Collins)

N or M?
(Collins)

1942

The Body in the Library
(Collins)

1943

Five Little Pigs
(Collins)

The Moving Finger
(Collins)

Ten Little Niggers
(play later retitled
And Then There Was None
) (Samuel French)

1944

Towards Zero
(Collins)

Absent in the Spring
(Mary Westmacott) (Collins)

1945

Death Comes as the End
(Collins)

Sparkling Cyanide
(Collins)

Appointment with Death
(play) (Samuel French)

Hidden Horizon
(play a.k.a.
Murder on the Nile
based on
Death on the Nile
) (Collins)

1946

The Hollow
(Collins)

Come, Tell Me How You Live
(Agatha Christie Mallowan) (Collins)

1947

The Labours of Hercules
(Collins)

1948

Taken at the Flood
(Collins)

The Rose and the Yew Tree
(Mary Westmacott) (Heinemann)

1949

Crooked House
(Collins)

Murder at the Vicarage
(play adapted by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy) (Samuel French)