Books like Agatha Christie — picked by fans

This one has recently gotten attention thanks to the movie adaptation, A Haunting in Venice hitting the theaters starring Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot.

As a horror fan, I was instantly intrigued by the title, and Christie doesn’t disappoint. Does she ever? A body is found in a tub for bobbing apples and evil spirits are suspected. This one is a fun change from a polite society poisoning. I’m always a fan of a little supernatural intrigue.

Actually, I tell a lie. I had read crime before my honeymoon, but only Agatha Christie, whose whodunnits always feature murders that are tastefully described and over in a couple of lines.

With Christie, it’s all about the puzzle, and boy, is she good at that. Her characters are often a bit two-dimensional, but you forgive that for the sake of her plots, which always race along and convince, however unlikely in real life.

This is one of her most famous ones, and rightly so. No spoilers here, but if you read this as I did as a teenager (recommended by my father) you are in for a grand surprise. Hopefully.

Christie’s Jane Marple inspired me to write mysteries. As Miss Marple made her starring debut in Murder at the Vicarage, it holds a dear place in my heart.

In quaint St. Mary’s Mead, a man named Colonel Protheroe meets with foul play, and it’s Miss Marple’s keen insights that prove invaluable. Jane Marple may be “of a certain age,” but she’s as sharp as a tack. I admire how Christie plunks the reader right into the story, introducing would-be suspects at a rapid pace, particularly Miss Marple, who takes tea with the Vicar’s younger wife and spills plenty of tea in the process.

This one’s a classic for lovers of traditional mysteries like me!

The Seven Dials Mystery doesn’t get mentioned very often, yet it’s a standout novel.

It lacks her beloved Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot but boasts one of Christie’s most underrated heroines; Eileen “Bundle” Brent. I wish I’d come across more ambitious, brave, young female characters like Bundle as a teenaged bookworm. Bundle does whatever she can to solve a murder, even hiding in the cupboards of a meeting room to catch a veiled group that can only be called a cult.

I loved this book because of its setting: during World War II, in the house of Agatha Christie.

We follow the heroine as she escapes the bombs of London to take care of children in an unfamiliar countryside and a large manor house. She is keeping secrets about her past, as is every other character!

The novel uses multiple points of view, so we, as readers, slowly learn about the lies everyone is telling. The war provides the perfect backdrop and raises the stakes as the murderer might not just be a killer but a fifth-column member, helping the Germans win the war. 

Agatha Christie's perfectly plotted stories, including the twenty short ones in this collection, remain crisply relevant even now, a century after their origination, which is the reason for her selling over two billion books.

I always believe I’ve caught her carefully dropped clues, only to realize I missed one…or three…that pointed toward the culprit. While Hercule Poirot remains my favorite Christie detective, I enjoyed meeting a slew of new characters in these fascinating tales of the “super-psychological” as noted in The Fourth Man. Plus, this collection is perfect for a quick evening read, though a few made falling asleep challenging!

I love when Agatha Christie writes about family vacations (which she did a fair amount) because she pushes everything to extremes—with the highest stakes possible.

Appointment with Death is my favorite of her family vacation mysteries because the plot twist is so satisfying and the mother so evil.

What Christie does, in an over-the-top sort of way, is show how claustrophobic family vacations can be. Grown children are forced to behave like a younger version of themselves, and they are stuck in a remote location. In this case, Petra, in Egypt. All those dormant grievances have a chance to flourish.

I don’t think there’s ever been an Agatha Christie opera, but there should be.

James Lovegrove’s pastiches are among the best I’ve ever read!

I happen to be a horror and mystery fan, and Lovegrove’s stories are not only fun, they’re frightening. In this book, Holmes and Watson must solve a mystery involving an evil Christmas spirit called the Black Thurrick. They also must contend with a family who wants them to return to London above all else.

I received this book as a Christmas gift from my husband a few years ago, and it was my introduction to Lovegrove, who also writes The Cthulhu Casebooks, a series of Sherlock Holmes books concerning H.P. Lovecraft’s creations.

Fun Fact: James Lovegrove and Nicholas Meyer (author of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution) share the same birthday, December 24th.

I love a story that fills a space on the shelf that no one else has thought to create. Props to Lina Chern for giving this reader Katie True.

From the moment I met Katie, working at a decidedly unglamorous suburban mall shop while wondering why her life is...well, her life (and looking to Tarot cards among other places for answers), I knew this wasn’t another off-the-shelf mystery protagonist.

This book not only serves up a clever plot with offbeat supporting players in a unique yet oh-so-familiar setting; it reveals an everyday struggling young woman as a cool and quirky individual who is just trying to make her life into something meaningful.

I should mention, along the way, she solves a murder, proving her street smarts aren’t to be underestimated.

No matter how much you may love a certain genre, you can inevitably fall into a reading slump. Too much of a good thing, right?

I will begrudgingly admit, the “missing” or “murdered girl” trope can sometimes get a bit dull without a new touch. Which is why when I came across Megan Miranda’s adult debut told entirely in reverse (from Day 15 to Day 1) was I ever floored with delight!

How absolute genius is it to take a twisty, shocking story about the disappearance of two girls, decades apart but give it to reader backwards? I found myself deeply engrossed not only in the propulsive story but intrigued by the unique way I had to process the timeline.