While Christie wrote all the way into the 1970s, most of the really audacious ones date from the 1920s and 30s. So they were height-of-her-power ideas, not what-am-I-going-to-do-now ideas.
I know you'll say that that means the height of her powers was pretty low, but at a time when many top mysteries were about train schedules, her books really did stand out. And to say she wasn't as good as Sayers, well, there was only one Sayers. Other composers weren't as good as Beethoven, either.
It's really unimportant that the crime in Murder on the Orient Express would be ridiculous in real life. It's only important that it be interesting in the context of the novel itself.
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Date: 2008-05-07 09:26 pm (UTC)I know you'll say that that means the height of her powers was pretty low, but at a time when many top mysteries were about train schedules, her books really did stand out. And to say she wasn't as good as Sayers, well, there was only one Sayers. Other composers weren't as good as Beethoven, either.
It's really unimportant that the crime in Murder on the Orient Express would be ridiculous in real life. It's only important that it be interesting in the context of the novel itself.