Agatha Christie: The Hollow (originally published in 1946)
Agatha Christie’s first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was published in 1920 and soon brought fame to the author and also to her fictional detective, Poirot. Hercule Poirot investigates in a total of 33 novels and 7 short story collections. Since The Mysterious Affair at Styles, there have been many movie, theater, cartoon and graphic novel adaptations. There was even a video game made about the Belgian detective, and his most famous movie actor is David Suchet. Adaptation of the stories is still happening in the form of movies and series. Thanks to Sophie Hannah, we can see the world’s most famous detective investigating again in book pages.
Poirot usually solves crimes with his exceptional mind and understanding of human nature. Here he will need both, as instead of a pleasant invitation to lunch, he is presented with a staged opening scene of a murder in a country villa. The story was interesting because Poirot was not in the focus. The murder also happens relatively late and the investigation takes place in the background. The focus is on the characters, who are very modern, not particularly likeable, and live their imperfect lives, but that is exactly why it is very interesting to read about them. I really like the author’s characters and the atmosphere she creates. Most of the time, it evokes the classic „good old days” feeling, but in this case it could even take place nowadays. We get such an intimate glimpse into the thoughts of the characters that they could even be in a Sally Rooney book. I think it has become my new favorite Agatha Christie book…
Agatha Christie is the Queen of Crime. Her works have been translated into 103 languages and, with 2 billion copies sold, she is the best-selling fiction writer of all time. Her plays have already been played 25,000 times and Mousetrap holds the record for the longest running drama in the world. During her life, she wrote 66 detective novels, 14 volumes of short stories, 17 plays, 3 volumes of poems and 2 autobiographical novels. She is also the author of romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Most of the murders she wrote about were done by poison and three-quarters of her murderers were women. In addition to her two most famous detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Parker Pyne, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, and the enigmatic Mr. Quin also solve mysteries.
