*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was surely between the 1920s and the 1950s, and in this period several women dominated the genre. We refer to them collectively as the Queens of Crime, but of them all, Agatha Christie is surely the High Queen. The most read author in the English language, her works continue to populate our media, whether on TV, in films and theatre and, of course, books. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more books by her in circulation than anyone else. Miss Marple, the elderly spinster, is surely her most famous character creation after Poirot. Four Fontana volumes starring the detective from St Mary Mead this week.
PICTURED: ALL BY AGATHA CHRISTIE ALL SOLD
AT BERTRAM’S HOTEL Fontana 24th UK PB 1984 GD £3
4:50 FROM PADDINGTON Fontana 1972 12th UK PB GD £3
THE MIRROR CRACKED Fontana 1981 6th UK PB GD £3
MISS MARPLE’S FINAL CASES Fontana 1990 17th UK PB VG £4 Short stories