Did you know that many of Agatha Christie’s best-selling detective stories have their basis in reality?

‘Who killed Charles Bravo and why?’ asks retired Superintendent Spence in Elephants Can Remember. He refers to an unsolved Victorian murder mystery, one of many allusions to real life crime and criminals in Agatha Christie’s fiction. The infamous Dr Crippen, Jack the Ripper, John George Haigh, and many other real killers, fraudsters and spies, figure prominently in her plots, both explicitly and implicitly.

Many of these cases belong to British criminal history, others originate from the USA and France. They cover a time frame from the eighteenth century to the 1960s, showing that Agatha Christie was not only an inspired writer of fiction but had a knowledge of true crime as well. There are even instances where she seems to have anticipated real life crimes, as in the case of the infamous poisoner Graham Young.

This book explains the reality of these criminals and their crimes - some of which are well known, others largely forgotten - and how they are utilised in Agatha Christie’s stories.

Armed with this book, fans of the author’s work will be able to gain new insights when reading her books either for the first time or on a repeat reading.