Kate's Blog

The popularity of music halls was already fading by the time Agatha Christie started publishing novels, but they were still an entertainment option and Christie mentions them twice in the 1920s books. Tommy suggests relaxing at a music hall to Tuppence in “The Unbreakable Alibi” and Arthur Hastings’ love interest in Murder on the Links seems to have been a music hall performer.

My day job is with a web development company and while the coders here find AI useful, my writer colleagues are less enthused. Here’s how I’m experimenting before making a decision.

In October of 1914, just a few weeks after her twenty-fourth birthday, Agatha Miller signed up to be a volunteer with the British Red Cross. War in Europe had been declared at the tail end of July, with England joining the fight within days. Agatha’s fiancé, Archie, was deployed in August and already large numbers of injured soldiers were returning to England for care. No doubt, Agatha’s desire to serve was a patriotic as well as a personal response.

Growing plants is in my blood. Ancestors on both sides of my family grew crops, kitchen gardens, and flowers. When they moved from farms to cities, they grew plants in backyards and on windowsills. Even after our recent downsizing, I kept a seven-foot-tall Schefflera tree, a twenty-year-old Christmas cactus, and far too many other potted species.

Agatha Christie was such a remarkably prolific writer that “A Christie for Christmas” as a marketing slogan was used by her publishers for decades. Today, something “Christie” is still a popular holiday gift, so let’s take a look at what to put on your Wish List.