All students need to read Christie's novel Murder on the Orient Express before the beginning of term,

preferably in the Harper Collins edition (the kindle version is available for 0.35 Euro!). If you cannot wait:

https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/agatha-christie/33609-murder_on_the_orient_express.html

One of the short stories featuring Miss Marple is "Greenshaw's Folly" (story no. 5 on p. 10 in this collection):

https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/agatha-christie/page,13,33629-double_sin_and_other_stories.html

You might also wish to make yourselves familiar already with the story "Problem at Pollensa Bay", featuring Mr Parker Pyne:

https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/agatha-christie/33596-problem_at_pollensa_bay_and_other_stories.html

If you would like to learn more about Christie herself, why not turn to her autobiography:

https://onlinereadfreenovel.com/agatha-christie/33671-an_autobiography.html

This course will be offered in personal presence. The first session takes place on 21st April.

Students are expected to participate regularly and actively, to prepare a presentation, and to write a term paper.

Ever since she published her first crime novel in Britain in 1921, Agatha Christie has been a household name. We will focus on Christie's famous and forgotten detective figures. We will investigate the crime genre and its development and also look at her detectives' obvious and hidden cultural impact on crime writing and film and television making.

For your course preparation you might find these websites helpful:

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/themes/crime-and-crime-fiction

https://guides.library.appstate.edu/c.php?g=65444&p=422034

https://www.britannica.com/art/detective-story-narrative-genre

https://www.writerswrite.co.za/nine-examples-of-sub-genres-in-crime-fiction/

While many readers and viewers are familiar with the names of Christie's elderly detectives M. Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, young and dashing detective figures, such as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, Lady Eileen Brent or Lady Frances Derwent are hardly known by anyone today.

We will discuss Christie's life and work in general and read selected short stories and a novel together.