Disappearing Agatha: A Talent for Murder | 2017

(image by The Year of Agatha)

"'I am quite convinced that , had you not had the outlet of your books, books that are full of murder, poisonings, betrayals of the worst kind, you yourself may even have been tempted to commit a heinous crime.'

'That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Quite preposterous. Just because I make a small living out of writing about crime and its detection doesn't in the slightest mean I could possibly do it myself.'

'We will see about that, won't we?' Kurs smiled."

A Talent for Murder, p. 82-83

The Sum of It:
This week we are so excited to share our thoughts and feels about A Talent for Murder, a book that seems a bit full circle for us after having immersed ourselves in Agatha Christie's works last year as this novel features the Queen of Crime herself as the protagonist. We meet Agatha in the winter of 1926 in a really horrible time of her life. Not only is she mourning the loss of her beloved mother and suffering a bad case of writer's block, but her hubby, Archie, is turning out to be a real winner (#sarcasm #archiesux) and has told Agatha he plans to leave her for his new girlfriend, Nancy Neele. Agatha is, understandably, not in the best place emotionally. During a rather tumultuous errands run, she meets Dr. Kurs, a preeeetty gross guy with bad breath and a creepy amount of knowledge of Agatha's personal life (aka 100% not the guy you want to be your doctor). Dr. Kurs is like hey, so I totally know all about this affair your husband is having cause Homewrecker Nancy is my patient and she's told me everything and I need you to do something for me or I'm gonna make sure everyone knows about your private business. Agatha is like uh, I don't know you and you're weird so no. And then Dr. Kurs is like oh alsoooo I know you have a young daughter and I know some really psycho dangerous guys and I wouldn't want anything to happen to her or anyone else you love.

Emotionally vulnerable, Agatha feels backed in to a corner and very reluctantly decides she needs to comply with Dr. Kurs' demands. However, these demands get pretty intense when Dr. Kurs informs her that he needs Agatha to use her experience as a brilliant mystery author to commit a murder of her own (#thisescalatedquickly)! Now, as Agatha leaves her family and friends behind and literally disappears into the night to take on this #murderquest, she has to decide whether to go through with Dr. Kurs' wishes...or use her wits to figure out a way to out-manipulate him.

The YOA Treatment:
When we attended the "Agatha Christie: A Reappraisal" conference last month, we were delighted to meet A Talent for Murder's author, Andrew Wilson. Ironically we had JUST purchased his book before leaving for England, but had not had a chance to read it yet! After having a chance to get to know him and his immense love for Agatha, we hurried home to devour his latest novel. Andrew has done a wonderful job of providing a massively intriguing explanation for Agatha's real-life 1926 disappearance, while also creating a complex yet personable character in Mrs. Christie as she navigates her own suspenseful mystery. A Talent for Murder is a thoroughly wonderful read that Christie fans of all levels will enjoy! We can't wait to dive into his next Agatha Christie adventure, A Different Kind of Evil (out in March 2018!)

We are so honored to have had the chance to ask Andrew a few questions about his experience writing this book about the Queen of Crime - please enjoy his insights a bit further down, BUT FIRST! Andrew's bona-fide Agatha mega fan/expert status has also been bumped up a notch further as he is currently wrapping up speaking at the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival at THE hotel in Harrogate where Agatha stayed during her disappearance! This festival looks AMAZING and we are truly jealous we aren't in attendance - here's hoping we can next year. Andrew has also kindly shared some of his photos from the festival below, and they're followed by our super fun interview with him about A Talent for Murder!

(Harrogate!)

(We spy some EXCELLENT reading options here - congrats, Andrew!)

YOA asks: You mention in your Acknowledgements that you had the idea to write A Talent for Murder during a train ride, but we'd love to know the full story. As a long-time Christie fan, was this something you had been thinking about doing for a while and the pieces came together for you on your train ride? Or was there something about that particular trip that sparked the inspiration?

AW answers: I love train journeys, as Agatha did. This particular train journey was the Great Western Service from London down to Devon, where I now live. It’s a route that Agatha would have travelled many times, both when she lived in Torquay and then later, after buying Greenway, on the banks of the river Dart. There’s something about the rhythm, the movement, and then the continual changing view, that is good for the imagination. At at subconscious level, I’m sure I must have been thinking of Strangers on a Train, because of  course, there is something of Highsmith’s first novel in A Talent for Murder.

YOA asks: I have usually been skeptical about novelizations of Agatha's life because I didn't want to be drawn into a scenario that couldn't possibly be true. Your attention to research and strict adherence to the facts we have from Agatha's disappearance in 1926 made me a believer that this kind of novelization can be done and done well! Your presentation at the "Agatha Christie: A Reappraisal" conference referenced how factual inaccuracies in the portrayal of Christie can be very disappointing. As you set about writing A Talent for Murder, what were some pitfalls you wanted to avoid and how did this fit into your writing process? 

AW answers: I wanted to make the background of the book - the tone of the period, the “facts” of the case, the characterisation of the protagonists - to feel as authentic as possible. My first task was to construct a framework of what we know happened in real life. I drew on newspaper accounts, police statements and witness interviews to build up a picture of what Agatha was doing over the period of the disappearance. Then, using this blueprint, I injected a crime story to explain what could have happened. At the end of the book I list “the facts” to show readers what was true and what was a product of my imagination. 

YOA asks: You have done a marvelous job with your portrayal of Agatha Christie as a character. It was such fun to see the woman behind so many of my favorite books come to life! In your book you have listed many sources for the details of her disappearance and her life, including Christie's Autobiography, but I'm curious where you would say you found the greatest inspiration for Christie's character during this particular period of her life (her 1926 disappearance) since she talks so little of it in her Autobiography?

AW answers: I suppose the voice of Christie is something that came to me over time. After immersing myself in her work since the age of 11 or so I didn’t find it hard to strike the right note. But of course this was a huge gamble. Luckily, so far many readers have told me that the book sounds as though it could have been written by Agatha.  But here in this book, one must remember, Agatha is still a character - she is a product of my imagination. I didn’t want to write a pastiche or a parody. I hoped to give the reader a flavour of my vision of Agatha’s perspective, the way she saw the world.

YOA asks: In the book, Mr. Kurs proposes to Agatha that he is convinced that, "had you not had the outlet of your books, books that are full of murder, poisonings, betrayals of the worst kind, you yourself may even have been tempted to commit a heinous crime" and Mr. Davison suggests she may have a darker side beneath the surface as well. Agatha's character balks at this idea immediately in the pages, however, I'm curious about what clues you may have found through her work or your research that others or perhaps even she may have thought this as well?

AW answers: I think this is very much one of the demands of the story. In order for the plot to work we have to believe that Agatha is in a very vulnerable place. In 1926, we know her mother died, she discovered her husband’s infidelity and learned the news that he wanted a divorce, and she also seemed to be suffering from a period of writer’s block. Both Dr Kurs and Davison want something from Agatha - Kurs tries to manipulate her as a character and Davison would like her to work for a shady government organisation.Agatha fans know that she was not the cozy writer of the popular imagination. In many respects, many of the TV adaptations  have leached the work of its darker elements, reducing it to Cluedo-like whimsy. But one only has to read novels such as Crooked House and And Then There Were None to see that Christie was far from cozy.

YOA asks: As a massive Christie fan myself, it was an absolute delight to come across little references to her works throughout your book - you mention the phrase 'by the pricking of my thumbs", there is a reference to Mrs. Astor (an inspiration for a character in Appointment with Death), and near the end of the novel it seems as if Agatha has encountered characters resembling Poirot and Miss Marple. And yet A Talent for Murder is very approachable for readers who may not be as familiar with Agatha Christie. What did you want to share most about Agatha with your readers as you wrote this book?

AW answers: We know Agatha was highly intelligent and creative, she was expert at plotting and also had a deep knowledge of poisons. But the central question is a moral one: she could write about murder, but would she - under the right circumstances - ever commit one? I wanted to make the book just as readable and exciting for non-fans as for those with a greater knowledge of Agatha. So yes, there are a few clues dotted around, allusions and references that a Christie fan can pick up on. But no prior knowledge of Christie is needed!

YOA asks: You write that you have been a Christie fan since childhood - something that I can certainly relate to, as well as many of our blog readers and social media followers. Do you think being such a longtime fan and having a deep knowledge of her as an author created any barriers as you set about writing this book?

AW answer: Obviously, I didn’t want the narrative to be bogged down by too many facts about Agatha’s life or a flood of allusive references.  The key was to give the reader a taste, a hint of these things. The main challenge was to come up with a storyline which was gripping and full of suspense.

YOA asks: Agatha Christie's 1926 disappearance is utterly fascinating and her silence on the matter really does lend to letting the imagination run wild! What aspect of those missing days do you find the most intriguing?

AW answers: The central idea - a crime writer who went missing from her own crime scene - is a tantalising one. Also, the fact that - after an interview with the Daily Mail in 1928 - she decided not to to discuss it. There have been so many speculations over the years, so many scenarios. I like the ambiguity of it all, the fact that we don’t really know what happened during those ten or eleven days. It is this mysterious quality which still endures and which makes it such an irresistible subject for fictional exploration.

YOA asks: While Emily and I love the crime fiction of the Golden Age, we are also very fond of more contemporary mystery novels. As you've gone about writing a mystery in 2017 about events from the Golden Age, how do you see that the crime or mystery fiction genre has changed since Agatha and her contemporaries were writing between the Wars?

AW answers: One can only generalise here, of course. There is an accepted position that the Golden Age was all about restoring order within the pages of a book - so a killer is exposed/murdered/forced to commit suicide/imprisoned at the end. This is, in many respects, true, but there are exceptions, as any Agatha fan knows. Just look at Murder on the Orient Express. I think the main trend postwar is the general exploration of moral ambiguity. Under what circumstances would force/tempt each of us commit a terrible crime like murder? How do “normal” people end up as killers? How does danger lurk within the domestic sphere? Of course, Patricia Highsmith is one of my great influences (I wrote the first biography, Beautiful Shadow) and I think she is expert at exploring themes such as guilt, moral ambiguity, and the banality of evil.

YOA asks: And, of course, we must ask about your personal Christie favorites! What would you say are your top three Christie novels?

AW answers: Always so difficult and, of course, these do change. But … The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, is always there in my top 3 - I love the cleverness of it, the technical challenge it presented Agatha and I always recommend it to people who have never read Christie’s novels. Then I would choose Sleeping Murder, because of its themes of repressed memory and its psychological intensity. And Five Little Pigs, for too many reasons to mention here!

Thanks for joining the YOA family, Andrew!

- A. & E.
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