AtoZ Challenge 2015: A is for Agatha Christie
Greetings to the first of our blog posts in honour of the A to Z Challenge 2015. Thanks to everyone who have spent months organising this fantastic yearly event where we bloggers go nuts and post 26 pieces in 30 days (we get Sundays off).
So, our theme here at Wittegen Press this year is ‘why’, specifically, why have we, as authors, written the titles we have. And, each day, the book we’re talking about will be FREE.
So without further ado, onto our first ‘why’.
The book I’m talking about today is Mouse Trap. This was one of the first books I wrote when Tash and I began publishing as Wittegen Press. It was written to request for a charity drive, but, in fact, the lovely requester left much of the development of the plot to me, so I took inspiration from the crime mysteries of the so-called Mystery Golden Age where the likes of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers had their white-tied detectives searching for murders in the English Aristocracy.
I grew up first watching and then reading the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L Sayers. I still love them! They have a strange, very stiff-upper-lip approach to crime where solving the case is the challenge, and all of them have gorgeous Downton Abbey style settings. They are surreal and escapist, and I wanted to emulate a little of that idea in Mouse Trap.
The story is a novella, and I knew I could never get the kind of complexities that Christie inserts into her books into such a short plot, so I stepped back from murder and went for theft instead. Then I threw in a country house weekend as my setting and the characters evolved from there. Harry Moorsely, my protagonist and sleuth, a free spirit, an artist and a lesbian. Mariam DeBoer, younger, naive, and attached to a jealous boyfriend. When Lady Jane Devrill’s jewels are stolen, well, if you know your Christie, then you can guess what happens next.
Mouse Trap is very much a light-hearted tribute to those old mysteries, it does not pretend to be a full-out sleuth-fest, and it contains a steamy romance, something that Agatha might not have approved of ;). Still, I hope you enjoy it!
So, do you have a favourite murder mystery?
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Mouse Trap by Sophie Duncan
There’s no need for a code, this book is permanently FREE, so just follow the title link above for all the download options.
Harry Moorsely is a noticing sort of gal.
And she has noticed Mariam DeBoer.
Visiting her God Mother, Lady Jane Devril, bright young thing, Harry, has set her sights on another guest at the weekend house party, the divinely elfin Mariam. Yet, when Lady Jane’s emeralds are stolen in the middle of the night, Harry’s eye for detail means only she sees the clues that point to an inside job. Should she believe her suspicions, or will her heart lead her to another conclusion?
Join Harry in solving the case in this entertaining, free, lesbian mystery.
WARNING: This books contains explicit adult content.
Our other AtoZ blogs: Tasha’s Thinkings | Sophie’s Thoughts and Fumbles| FB3X (AC)
AtoZChallenge List 2015 click to see other participants.
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i love agatha christie’s books.. favorite is ‘the crooked house’ ..
I haven’t read that one, but I just went and googled the synopsis and it sounds like I would enjoy it, so I just downloaded it on Kindle 🙂 Thanks for the rec.
LOVE Agatha Christie., especially the Poirot ones.
I’m a big Miss Marple fan myself, but I do like Murder on the Orient Express, and Death on the Nile for Poirot. 🙂 I’ve also watched all the David Suchet Poirot series.
I’ve never actually read an Agatha Christie book (although I’ve seen the play version of Mouse Trap) but I love murder mysteries. It’s been awhile since I’ve read one so I can’t think of a favorite!
I didn’t start reading Agatha Christie until way after I’d seen lots of TV adaptations. I really want to see the Mousetrap, it’s coming to our local theatre this year, so I’m trying to persuade my family to go with me :).
Excellent choice! I love Christie’s books.
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Tim Brannan, The Other Side Blog
2015 A to Z of Vampires
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/
She certainly has a flair for murder and mystery, but interesting characters too! 🙂
I do like the Poirot TV shows. They come on during crazy hours when I have insomnia so I’ve seen a lot of them.
There are certainly plenty to keep you going, they made every single Poirot story! 🙂
As a teenager, I read all the Agatha Christie I could find. I still remember being gobsmacked by Ten Little Indians.
That is a book of its time. Incredible story, pity about the rhyme. 🙂
I’m presently enjoying M C Beaton’s writings. Her character Agatha Raisin just cracks me up. When I first discovered Beaton’s work I thought right away of Agatha Christie.
Your book Mouse Trap sounds intriguing.
Jenny, Pearson Report
2015 A to Z Challenge Ambassador
@PearsonReport
They just did a TV movie called Agatha Rasin and the Quiche of Death – I had not idea she was a book detective too 🙂 I will have to look her up! M C Beaton also wrote Hamish Macbeth, a set of books I also need to read, we have a couple lying round the house somewhere – I loved the TV series.
Agatha Christie was great at putting you at the edge of your seat with every story.
Hope you have a great A to Z month. Nice to meet you!!!
here we go with A to Z Moondustwriter
That she was 🙂
One of my favourite things about the A to Z last year was reading new books, so am very pleased to be starting the challenge by downloading your free book!!
I love all the TV adaptations of Christie, nothing better on a Sunday afternoon to have a lazy day watching that type of TV, must say that I really don’t think I’ve read any in book form, which given how much I love reading is really odd!!
Mars xx
Curling Stones for Lego People
I so agree with you – I watch and rewatch all the TV adaptations, I have Miss Marple in two versions, Joan Hickson and the latest ones feature Geraldine McKewan and Julia McKensie.
It took me a long time to start reading her as well.
In high school, we performed a stage version of Mousetrap. Then I read the book and have loved Agatha Christie ever since.
She is somewhat compulsive 🙂
I don’t read a lot of murder-mysteries, although I watch shows and movies. Not sure why…
It’s a very different experience reading a mystery to watching it, so maybe you just haven’t found the right mystery 🙂
I love Agatha. She’s the pinnacle of the mystery genre. Mouse Trap is amazing.
Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com
She certainly made the mold a lot of mysteries are based on 🙂