Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles was published over 100 years ago in 1920. She’s still lauded as one of the bestselling authors ever, only outsold by the Bible and works by William Shakespeare.
We’re seeing more and more adaptations of her work from Kenneth Branagh's Hercule Poirot movies to the recently released three-part adaptation of Towards Zero on BBC iPlayer and BritBox (US).
We can’t seem to get enough of Agatha Christie!
But what makes her work so compelling 100+ years after she wrote her books? Shouldn’t we be tired of her storylines? After all, is it really a surprise who the murderer is in the Murder on the Orient Express?
That’s why we talked to three current mystery thriller authors about why Agatha Christie still holds our attention.
Unicorn of Mystery Fiction

Kelly Oliver
Simply put, we continue to read Agatha Christie because she’s a great writer.
Kelly Oliver, author of the Detection Club cozy series, which stars Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, wrote in an email interview with Murder & Mayhem: “Agatha Christie is the ‘unicorn’ of mystery fiction. Her plots are exceptional, and her writing rarely strays from pushing those plots forward.
She is a master at red herrings and misdirection. As a result, her stories continue to delight and surprise readers with their unexpected twists and turns.”
It’s nice to see an author who is excellent at their craft continue to be read decades later. Daphne Silver, author of the Agatha award-winning series Rare Books Cozy Mystery Series, explained in an email interview: “They're great stories. Plain and simple. She wasn't just developing a new standard but was crafting characters and plots that remain incredibly enjoyable.”
Silver compares the stories to the relevancy of I Love Lucy episodes from the 1950s: “Sure, they created a foundation and structure that sitcoms still follow today, but overall, they're just a lot of fun.”
Relevant Then, Relevant Now

Daphne Silver
A book can be well-written and plotted well, but that does not mean it has staying power. There are some amazing bestsellers and literary classics of their day that just have not withstood the test of time.
So part of Agatha Christie’s success is that her works do feel relevant in our present day. Admittedly, some moments and characters reveal harmful prejudices about people of different races and ethnicities from her era, which can take you out of the moment.
Also, there have been big changes in technology since Agatha Christie wrote, but overall, her works feel relevant to readers today.
Silver summed it up, “What her characters cared about: love and connection, money and standing, revenge and forgiveness, those don't change. They are eternal concerns, and we connect with them through the generations.”
Easy Reads

Lori Rader Day
Another reason that Agatha Christie’s works remain so popular is that they are accessible to readers.
Lori Rader-Day, author of Agatha-award winning Murder at Greenway, which takes place at Agatha Christie’s favorite home Greenway, pointed out in an email interview: “There's a theory that Agatha Christie stories are so popular because her writing is simple at levels of syntax and sentence structure— even as her plots are often complex. Plots get explained by the end.”
It’s the best of both worlds. You can read it easily but the plot has just the right amount of twists and turns…and you’ll understand it by the time you finish the book.
Rader-Day continued, “That style is ideal for younger readers, more casual readers (people who don't read more than a handful of books a year), and for those reading for pleasure and escape. There's a reason why Agatha Christie books make great beach books.”
Also, her style of writing adds to her success.
Oliver explained, “It’s the striking way she streamlines description, characterization, and plot that keeps her writing "evergreen” and contemporary. She crystallizes each element down to only what is essential and thereby leaves the rest to the reader’s imagination.”
She continued, “By giving us just enough description to spark our imaginations, Christie allows us to flesh out the characters and their world in our minds (or on the screen).
This economy of style is what makes her stories so adaptable and allows every generation to relate to her stories through their own cultural lens.” Honestly, it feels like Shakespeare's works are so adaptable, stories can be set in all different parts of the world and in different eras.
The Mystery Influencer
For authors writing now, Agatha Christie remains a source of inspiration. Rader-Day explained that while Christie was not a cozy mystery writer, “she really was a natural master of her craft.”
Her works have been cited by many mystery authors as a role model in their works.
For instance, Silver noted, “I've learned a lot from reading Agatha Christie, especially that complicated characters are compelling characters. I try keeping that in mind when my characters take me on their mysterious adventures—why are they acting the way they do, do they have ulterior motives, and what would complicate things further?”
Plus, Silver noted that Christie was wonderful at the believable red herrings.
Kelly Oliver clearly has been inspired by Christie’s work as Agatha Christie is a key character in her newest series.
When asked how it has been to include Christie as a character in her work, Oliver said, “It’s both exciting and challenging, especially since she is so well loved. I continue to read Christie, especially her autobiographies—along with biographies written about her—to get a sense of her personality.”
One thing that Oliver really learned is that Christie was super adventurous.
“She accompanied her first husband on a world tour to promote the 1924 British Empire Exhibition,” she explained, “Later, she accompanied her second husband on archeological digs in Syria and Iraq, often traveling long distances to remote locations and living in tents and bug-infested houses. Again, she was sometimes the only woman on the dig.”
Thanks to her great writing and stories, her continuing relevance, ease of reading, as well as serving as a muse for future generations, we still devour all things Agatha Christie today.
Featured photo: Wikipedia