Fangirling Forever Over The Queen Of Crime

Murder On The Orient Express. Agatha Christie. This first ever crime fiction that I stumbled upon also paved the way to what would soon become a lovable addiction, thanks to Christie who turned my world of books around with this genre! 

My life, for all through my late middle-school and high-school, revolved around the charming, strong gossip-detective Jane Marple, and the Belgian genius with his egg-shaped head and brilliant grey cells, not to forget the accented mon ami. The curious Harley Quinn, and the coolest espionage and detective sleuths Tommy and Tuppence were enough to send me spinning into a world of genteel detectives uncovering the poisonings, stabbings, and the other ravenously executed murders- all without the unnecessary jumps, kicks, punches of your standard, average thriller hero. What a beauty! I was instantly sold on this genre. 

The exact same thing happened with my brother too. I cannot describe to you what an absolute pleasure it is to have an ally for an author in the house. When my brother came on board, I realized for the first time that we had enjoyable, slightly bifurcated niche fandom inside the vast spectrum of Christie's crimes. We loved all her books, but to some- we were partial and lent absolute loyalty. While my brother is an all-time Poirot guy, I lean impishly towards my Jane Marple crimes. While my brother loved the elite, eerie ones with the silent killings of a poison, I loved the ones where there is brutal murder with contradicting possibilities. A suicide like murder, or a murder like suicide? One wound suggests a man, and the other suggests a woman- who did it?

For the longest time, my dad was genuinely concerned on my replies that I want to become like Tuppence when asked about what I was interested to pursue. Hahaha, can't blame him. And, for the longest time, I was so into Christie's world of crime and these mind-boggling detectives, that I forgot there was Christie who actually wrote them. The realization kind of hit me that all the brilliance of Poirot, Marple, Quinn, Tommy, Tuppence- put together was the brilliance of one. And, since that day I am an ardent fangirl of her, and shall be forever. 

Recently, I saw CrimeRead's article "The Binge-Read: 10 Iconic Crime Fiction Series of The 1960s" that obviously caught my attention, and also demanded an almost click-bait presence with immediate reading. It dawned upon me, that I had rarely read much crime outside Christie, except a few stray ones like The Mystery Of The Yellow Room. I was triggered when I saw the first book of the article: From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell! I had heard so much about this book, and still never got to read it. 

Now, having purchased a copy immediately, this classic piece awaits me, and I am already caught on an irresistible start of 30 pages into it. If you have never tried one, I bet you start with the same thing I did- Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie. 

Also, don't you think women crime authors give an extra wow-factor?