The motive for the murder in Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is evidently inspired by a real life crime: the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh child. As a member of the Detection Club, Christie, like her fellow authors, shared a fascination with real life crime and, like other members, wove it into her fiction whether as in this case to provide a back story motive or as the main plotline.

The most famous example of this fixation by the club members was the collaborative book The Anatomy of Murder in which they propounded views and solutions to notorious real life crimes. Indeed, Dorothy L. Sayers contributions to that book – an essay on the murder of Julia Wallace (for which her husband was found guilty but subsequently released on appeal on the unprecedented basis that the jury could not reasonably have reached that verdict on the basis of the evidence presented) – is widely regarded as setting out the most plausible explanation for how the murder was committed.

Other famous crime stories have also been based on real life crimes. The earliest example might be Edgar Allan Poe’s The Telltale Heart, published in 1843, which is based on the murder of a retired Captain White by his nephews to inherit his wealth in 1830.

The gruesome 1957 murderer Ed Gein’s mother obsession is a clear inspiration for Robert Bloch’s 1959 Psycho and his methods were replicated by Hannibal Lector in Thomas Harris’s The Silence of The Lambs  in 1988.

More recently, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in 2008 draws on the murder of Catrine Da Costa, whose remains were dumped in bin bags in Sweden in 1984.

What, I think, sets these works of fiction apart from mere ghoulish recitals of true crime stories is that they transcend the horrific source material and create something new out of it. There is no disrespect to the victims and, in the final analysis, they must be read purely as fiction.

It worked for James Bond when they brought out Casino Royale starring new Bond Daniel Craig and went back to the start with Bond as a new agent as he was in the book but updated for the new century. 

It worked for Sherlock Holmes with the new TV series starring Benedict Cumberbatch which kept true to the spirit of the original while playing fast and loose with the letter to bring Holmes into the world of internet and smartphone technology. 

Can it work for Tommy and Tuppence? Can David Walliams, a more versatile actor then some give him credit for, take Agatha’s almost Bulldog Drummond-esque stiff upper-lipped hero of her more light hearted adventure series and give him more relevance in a gritty 21st century world? Tuppence was always a smarter, sassier character who should transfer more or less intact to a modern setting. 

We shall see. The first episode, Partners in Crime will be aired within the month. Some of The Bodies From The Library Team are pessimistic; others are more glass half full. 

http://gu.com/p/4acj3/sbl

I have been re-reading the collection of short stories which introduced Miss Marple to the reading public.

The English edition is entitled The Thirteen Problems while the US edition is called The Tuesday Night Club. This got me thinking about how often in Christie the US title differs from the English one with which I am familiar. A quick bit of research (Wikipedia so it must be true) revealed that though the collections of short stories frequently differed both is to title and the stories collected together, prior to 1931, the novels invariably carried the same name but, thereafter, the use of different titles in the UK and US markets became quite common as summarised below:

1931 The Sittaford Mystery (UK) = Murder at Hazelmoor (US)

1933 Lord Edgware Dies (UK) = Thirteen at Dinner (US)

1934 Murder on the Orient Express (UK) = Murder on the Calais Coach (US)

This change was made to avoid confusion with Graham Greene’s 1932 novel Stamboul Train which was published in the US under the title Orient Express.

1934 Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? (UK) = The Boomerang Clue (US)

1935 Three Act Tragedy (UK) = Murder in Three Acts (US)

This features a change in the killer’s motive in the US version too, so you have been warned.

1935 Death In The Clouds (UK) = Death In The Air (US)

This was also serialised in an abridged form under the title Mystery In The Air.

1936 The ABC Murders (UK) = The Alphabet Murders (US)

1937 Dumb Witness (UK) = Poirot Loses a Client (US)

This was again serialised in the UK in abridged form under the title Mystery at Littlegreen House.

1938 Hercule Poirot’s Christmas (UK) = Murder for Christmas (US) which was itself changed to A Holiday for Murder in the US paperback edition.

When serialised in the UK the name underwent a further transformation to become Murder at Christmas.

1939 Murder is Easy (UK) = Easy to Kill (US)

1939 Ten Little Niggers (UK) = And Then There Were None (US)

The US went to this alternative title straight away given that “nigger” was already at that time an abusive term there. As the term became more offensive in the UK the title underwent a temporary change to Ten Little Indians  before that two was determined to be unacceptable and racist.

1940 One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (UK) = An Overdose of Death (US)

The US paperback edition was issued under the title The Patriotic Murders.

1942 Five Little Pigs (UK) = Murder in Retrospect (US)

1944 Towards Zero (UK) = Come and Be Hanged (US)

1945 Sparkling Cyanide (UK) = Remembered Death (US)

This was an expansion of an earlier short story Yellow Iris.

1946 The Hollow (UK) = Murder After Hours (US paperback edition)

1948 Taken at the Flood (UK) = There is a Tide (US)

1952 Mrs McGinty’s Dead (UK) = Blood Will Tell (US Detective Book Club edition and serialisation)

1952 They Do It With Mirrors (UK) = Murder With Mirrors (US condensed version for Cosmopolitan magazine)

1953 After The Funeral (UK) = Funerals Are Fatal (US)

The UK paper back edition released as a film tie-in took the film title Murder At The Gallop and, unlike the film, did not change the detective from Poirot to Miss Marple.

1954 Destination Unknown (UK) = So Many Steps To Death (US)

This was then changed again when serialised in the US to Destination X.

1955 Hickory Dickery Dock (UK) = Hickory Dickery Death (US)

1957 4:50 From Paddington (UK) = What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw (US)

The US title was changed to Murder She Said for the film tie-in version and, when serialised, to Eyewitness to Death.

Thereafter the practice ceased and UK and US titles once again co-incided.

During The Bodies From The Library Conference our speakers mentioned many books, some famous, some lesser-known titles. At the time and in subsequent feedback, lots of you asked if we could make available a list of the titles that were discussed and/or recommended by the speakers.

Here are lists provided by the speakers. We will also include these on the Suggested Reading page of our website as a permanent record.

Having looked through the list, I think there is enough to keep me going till long after our conference next year.

Tony’s list:
The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
Rim of the Pit by Hake Talbot
Sudden Death by Freeman Wills Crofts
The Hollow Man by John Dickson Carr
The Plague Court Murders by Carter Dickson
The Tattoo Murder Case by Akimitsu Takagi

Martin’s list:
Middle Class Murder – Bruce Hamilton
Excellent Intentions – Richard Hull
Verdict of Twelve – Raymond Postgate
Mist on the Saltings – Henry Wade
Lonely Magdalen – Henry Wade
The Sweepstake Murders – J J Connington
Trial and Error – Anthony Berkeley
Family Matters – Anthony Rolls
Behind the Screen and The Scoop – Detection Club
The Floating Admiral – Detection Club
Ask a Policeman – Detection Club
Six Against the Yard – Detection Club
The Anatomy of Murder – Detection Club – non-fiction

David’s list:

EDMUND CRISPIN – new editions out now, £7.99 each:
The Moving Toyshop, 1946
Holy Disorders, 1946
Love Lies Bleeding, 1948

FRANCIS DURBRIDGE – published 2nd July, £7.99 each:
Send for Paul Temple, 1938
Paul Temple and the Front Page Men, 1939
News of Paul Temple, 1940
(Then two a month until December.)

COLLINS’ DETECTIVE CLUB HARDBACKS, £9.99 each:
This is the new hardback list and the titles we have announced are as follows.
13 August:
The Mayfair Mystery (Frank Richardson, intro by David Brawn), 1907
The Perfect Crime (Israel Zangwill + Edgar Allan Poe, intro by John Curran), 1892, 1841
Called Back (Hugh Conway, intro by Martin Edwards), 1883
24 September:
The Mystery of the Skeleton Key (Bernard Capes, intro by Hugh Lamb), 1919
22 October:
The Grell Mystery (Frank Froëst, intro by Tony Medawar), 1913
19 November:
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (R.L. Stevenson + sequel by Francis Little, intro by Richard Dalby), 1886, 1890
3 December:
The Rasp (Philip MacDonald, intro by Tony Medawar), 1924
7 January:
The House Opposite (J. Jefferson Farjeon, intro by H.R.F. Keating), 1931
(More to come…)

My recommendation (for curiosity value rather than literary merit) was The Passing of Mr Quinn, based on a short story by Agatha Christie and novelised by G. Roy McRae, 1929.

Rob’s List:

Quick Curtain – Alan Melville – published 1/7
Death of Anton – Alan Melville – published 1/8
Thirteen Guests – J. Jefferson Farjeon – published 1/9
Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries – ed. Martin Edwards – published 1/10
The Z Murders – J. Jefferson Farjeon – published 1/11

We have had some lovely feedback and comments from people who attended the conference.

Thank you to everyone who has already completed the online feedback survey or posted comments through social media. You have come up with some great suggestions for topics to cover next year and ideas to help us make 2016 even better than 2015.

If you’ve received the survey and haven’t had time to fill it in yet then we would love to hear from you. There is still time to fill in the survey and tell us how we did, how we can improve and what you would like us to include in next year’s conference.

Jake Kerridge and Martin Edwards discuss What and When Was The Golden Age?

B A Pike discusses Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham

Simon Brett and Martin Edwards discuss The Detection Club and its Collaborative Novels

Meanwhile in the foyer…The Barbican Library stand with examples from their Crime Classics collection and the British Library Pop Up Shop.

Richard Reynolds discusses The Oxbridge Murders

Rob Davies (the British Library), Dr John Curran, and David Brawn (Harper Collins) discuss Publishing the Golden Age

Tony Medawar explains Howdunnit? Locked Rooms and Impossible Crimes

Dolores Gordon-Smith discusses Tracking Down The Murderer: Freeman Wills Crofts

Dr John Curran discusses Agatha Christie’s Influences

L C Tyler discusses Taking The Golden Age into the 21st Century

Ripe For A Reprint panel explaining their selections.

Bodies From The Library team: Liz Cooper and Susan Cooper

We were delighted to see you all. 

If we didn’t get opportunity to speak to all of you we just wanted you to know that we were thrilled so many people came and we hope you had a great day. 

We will be sending you feedback forms so you can tell us what you liked, what we could do better, and, most importantly, what you would like to see at future Bodies From The Library conferences. 

See you all again!