I’ve loved mystery stories for as long as I can remember. Collecting Nancy Drew books was what started me on my old book addiction, as well as my interest in vintage things in general. Most of the half-finished stories I wrote as a kid had mystery plots. Anything involving detectives or spies was right up my alley.
When I got older and entered the realm of “grown up” books, I still gravitated toward mystery. One of the first ones I read was Thirteen at Dinner by Agatha Christie. Now, my Agatha Christie collection has spilled onto more than one bookshelf, and I am a bona-fide British mystery fan.
During the inter-war period, sometimes called the Golden Age of British mystery, there were four female authors known as the “Queens of Crime:” Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio (Ny-oh) Marsh.
I listed them in order from my most to least favorite, though I wouldn’t consider any of them “least,” and it’s hard to definitively rank them on anything except a book-by-book basis. They all write with intelligence, humor, and style. As a female author, I’m inspired by their skill in writing about both women and men and creating stories that appeal to either. I hope I can achieve this in my own work.
This is the first post in a five-post series on the Queens. The next four posts will each focus on a book by one of the authors. I will analyze what makes them unique and what I think their strengths and weaknesses are.
I am looking forward to sharing these lovely ladies with you. They truly are what made the Golden Age golden.
Here are links to the rest of the series:
Agatha Christie: The Hollow
Dorothy Sayers: The Nine Tailors
Margery Allingham: The Crime at Black Dudley
Ngaio Marsh: A Man Lay Dead