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.
If you are a newer Christie reader, you may be lucky enough to still have some of her original books unread. Agatha did write a few novels with a holiday theme or at least a winter setting. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, published in 1938, is an obvious choice, although the story doesn’t dwell much on the holiday other than bringing Poirot and others into the same household. 4.50 from Paddington (1957) also takes place around Christmas and gathers the suspects – I mean, the family – to celebrate and commit murder.
Short stories that take place at Christmas time include “The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding” (1960) and “A Christmas Tragedy “(1930). Although no holiday is mentioned, snowy scenes set the stage for Murder on the Orient Express (1934), The Sittaford Mystery (1931), and “Three Blind Mice” (1947), the short story on which long-running play, The Mousetrap, is based.
More recently, “Miss Marple’s Christmas” was published in Marple: Twelve New Mysteries. If you haven’t run across this book yet, it’s a collection of short stories published in 2022 and written by twelve different people who are all bestselling authors of their own mystery books. Marple is another venture by Agatha Christie Ltd. similar to the new Poirot books written by Sophie Hannah.
Giving books for Christmas has long been popular. Jolabokaflod is a national December tradition in Iceland. If you take the word apart, you can figure out “Yule,” “Book,” and “Flood” which describe the flood of books released for holiday gift-giving. This also ties into the “hygge” philosophy practiced by the Danish, Norwegians, and other Scandinavian cultures. Hygge, from which our word “hug” is derived, means to get cozy, especially during the long winter months. Snuggling up with a mug of something warm, a fuzzy blanket, and a good book is a favorite way to embrace “hygge.”
It may sound odd that reading a murder mystery could be “hygge,” but there is a long history behind the custom. While we are all familiar with the three ghosts of A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens was only one of many Victorian authors who wrote Christmas ghost stories, including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Before the Victorians, telling ghost stories at Christmas was an oral tradition, widespread over a variety of classes and cultures. The working day is short in winter when you don’t have electricity, and folks spent the long, dark nights hunkered down around the family hearth, often the only light and heat available. Sharing stories by firelight was a perfect form of entertainment.
Also, December is when the winter solstice arrives, bringing the darkest, coldest days of the year and the threat that maybe, this time, summer will never return. Naturally, demons and ghosts would thrive during such a season and they show up in many exciting stories. Think of the Andy Williams’ song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and its “scary ghost stories.”
U.S. history features fewer Christmas ghost stories than the other side of the Atlantic, most likely because our early settlers didn’t go in for nonsense such as ghosts, demons, or even Christmas celebrations. December 25 was just a day like any other for Puritans.
In these years since Christie’s final book was published, “A Christie for Christmas” has meant maybe a new edition, a new made-for-TV movie, or a new book about Agatha herself. There are also puzzles, scarves, tea tins, and more – all of which make great gift ideas for the Agatha Christie fan.
Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night by Sophie Hannah was just released in October, so that’s a good “Christie for Christmas” for 2023. Or if you know someone who really likes the Marple stories, all the books featuring the clever spinster were reissued with pretty, new covers to coordinate with the new Marple: Twelve New Mysteries.
Last year’s big seller was Lucy Worsely’s Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman. It’s still quite popular, so if your Agatha lover hasn’t read it yet, that might be a good choice for this Christmas, too.
Of course, I have to put in a word for Agatha Annotated! It’s been getting very positive reviews, both as a reference to Christie’s books and as a repository of odd facts about England in the 1920s. We have been marketing Agatha Annotated as a holiday gift and hope the book will be tucked under a good number of Christmas trees this year!
While there are many places to find Agatha Christie-related items, a good starting point is the official home of Agatha Christie. The variety of items one can buy is really amazing, but I have to say that I am partial to giving actual books. Yes, I like the movies and the podcasts and the puzzles, but snuggling with a real book on a winter’s evening is just so delightful!
Christmas or not, Christie or not, I hope you find time this season to cozy up with a fun story of your choosing. Happy Hygge!