A Halloweekend Special

The dark spirits and ghouls of the Halloween season swept by us yesterday, the 31st of October. Halloween is believed to be the time when the line between the living and the dead becomes just slightly thinner, enough to keep us spooked through all of October. Clearly, it's a weekend of thrill and suspense, with a sprinkle of horror to it. It's the perfect vibe to talk about something gripping and spine-chilling- like Agatha Christie's murder mysteries!

I don't clearly remember the exact timeline when I began reading Agatha Christie's cherished and celebrated work. The first book I read that comes to mind is The Murder on the Orient Express, a case of cold murder on a moving train meticulously planned by the train's passengers, all with fishy and unexpected connections between them, uncovered by our very own detective, the 'little Belgian' Hercule Poirot. Agatha Christie books also often feature old Miss Jane Marple, a humble resident of the town of St. Mary Mead in England with a mind as sharp as a needle and armed with a keen sense of the working of human nature and an uncanny strength of being underestimated by the people around her, which she cleverly uses to her advantage. Then there's Hercule Poirot, a world-renowned detective from Belgium, who's seemingly crazed, unconventional and confusing demeanor masks his talent of not missing any details about the crime scene or the people involved- nothing gets past him, as though his watchful eagle eyes capture everything about a person and their life with one glance and the right questions.

Agatha Christie herself was born Agatha Mary Clarisse Miller in a county called Devon in England, and she originally worked as a nurse and hospital dispenser during World War I. If you have read some of her books, you would notice how it has very exact and precise knowledge about poisons and other chemical dangers potentially employed in her crafted murders for her story, which can be attributed to her medical expertise during times of war, which also became the setting for some of her stories as well. An interesting piece of her life is that of her '1926 Disappearance', when she disappeared for a good 11 days, eventually traced down at a spa hotel in Yorkshire and in a memory-loss state, with no plausible explanation ever established.

'The Mousetrap', which is infamous for being the longest running stage play in world history with an unbroken record of over 30,000 performances is the brainchild of none other than Agatha Christie. What's eccentric and suspenseful about the play is that towards the end, the audience are urged to never reveal the identity of the true killer to anyone outside the theater, and surprisingly, audiences have kept their word through generations! It is one of the best-kept secrets of the entertainment industry till date. No way you will get to know who the killer is unless you watch the play in person yourself in the St. Martin's Theater at London's West End in England! But anyway...

Agatha Christie (Photo Credit- Google)

One of my favorite murder mysteries (though I arguably cannot choose any one over the others- that's the beauty of the creations of Agatha Christie's mind :)) is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The story follows the narration of Dr. James Sheppard, in the quiet pastures of King's Abbot where he is invited by Roger Ackroyd, a wealthy widower, whose unexpected death the following night by a mysterious stabbing brings terror to the household. Hercule Poirot arrives to work alongside the doctor to uncover a vile, cunning network of family secrets and blackmail, only to discover that the killer was hiding in plain sight all along. The story has a remarkable plot twist that leaves you dazed for hours on end, even after you have finished reading the novel. That is one of Agatha Christie's greatest superpowers. No matter the number of novels of hers you have read, there is never a time when you can guess what the next twist in the story is going to be, or who the culprit is. It is always completely unexpected and seems to be trapped in an intricate web, though in the end you realize that we were never paying attention to the character that actually holds the key to the mystery.

Photo Credit- Google

Perhaps the crux of her stories are that the pieces of evidence the detectives look for is why people did what they did, and why people lie, cheat, deceive or mask, rather than looking for the widely publicized methods of collecting fingerprints and piecing together physical evidence in hand. The answers lie in our analysis of human nature and the way of the world, rather than the materialistic aspects of the crime scene.

Murder mysteries may seem like something that only delivers thrill and an exciting sense of not knowing what's going to happen- of course, that is the point of novels like these. But as per my understanding, I believe it teaches you a lot about the fascinating aspects and characteristics of human nature, and make us ponder about how we view the world, our judgements of people's character, and the unconscious biases we hold about people and life, what we classify as right or wrong. In a way, through the lens of a fictional character's life, they are a way to introspect and watch how our minds work in real time and uncover our true feelings and perspectives of human behavior and tendencies.

The Mousetrap, straight from St. Martin's Theater (Photo Credit- Google)

Make sure to check out some of her mysteries if you get the chance!