Detective 1: "I don't do divorce investigations."
2nd House “Home, God bless the home!”
3 Poison “How many people did you give poison to?”
4 Military Service Exemption: "I missed the chance to fight for my country."
5 Sexuality "Love, love, scary words"
6 Hotel “What on earth do those old ladies have that allows them to stay at this hotel?”
7 Education “If you’re from Eton, you can’t do it!”
8. Identity Theft: "I'm just pretending to be a writer."
9. Rationing System "Just use a can of butter sent from America."
10 Vehicles “Oh, what joy that car gave me!”
11 Britishness “It must be because of that damn Britishness.”
12 Money “Money, money, money! I think about money morning, noon, and night!”
13th Class “Helen is not a suitable name for a maid”
14 Superstitions “There are still witches in every rural village.”
15. Microscopic History: “A Drop of Water in a Puddle”
16 Empire “Isn’t it time to go on a trip abroad?”

Traced through the eyes of a historical detective
16 Clues to Reading the Age of Poirot and Marple

What would a historian's perspective reveal when reading the works of Agatha Christie, the "Queen of Mystery" and "Queen of Poisoning," who ushered in the golden age of detective fiction? Historian Seol Hye-sim takes us back to the era when Poirot and Marple roamed the streets, using 16 clues hidden throughout Christie's works.
Discover the culprit and understand the work with social and cultural clues that only a historian can reveal! This adds to the excitement and thrill of reading Agatha Christie's work with a deeper, broader, and more penetrating perspective.


For me, Agatha Christie is a writer who will stay with me for the rest of my life.
The appeal of Christie's works is so rich that the top 10 changes every time they are selected.
Historian Seol Hye-sim delves into the author's personal history and the times he lived in to reveal what makes his works so compelling and special.
Thanks to historians who even treat their fandom as historical studies, we fall deeper into the charm of Agatha Christie.
Reading Agatha Christie will make you want to read Christie's novels, and reading Christie's novels will make you want to open this book.
What a funny little thing.
―Dahye Lee, writer

1.
What would a historian see when he reads Agatha Christie?
―How to Read a Historian's Mystery Novel
Agatha Christie, reborn from "B-grade literature" to historical fiction.

“Detective novels are very useful in social history.
“It can be said to be a rich source of information.”

What would a historian see when reading the works of Agatha Christie, the "Queen of Mystery" and "Queen of Poisoning," who ushered in the golden age of detective fiction? Historian Seol Hye-sim, who has often engaged readers with topics rarely explored in historical scholarship, such as hot springs, physiognomy, travel, and consumption, now evokes the nostalgia of readers who devoured "The Little Red Book" (the complete Agatha Christie collection published by Haemun Publishing) as children, bringing back the Agatha of that era for us.


This book is an attempt to examine the history and culture of 20th-century Britain, when Poirot and Marple roamed the streets, through 16 clues hidden throughout Agatha Christie's works, including houses, poison, sexuality, exemption from military service, money, class, Britishness, and empire.
It is significant in that it is the first attempt by a domestic historian to use a literary work, and moreover, a mystery novel, which is considered to be 'B-grade literature,' as material for historical research.

Agatha Christie's works have enjoyed immense popularity over the past 100 years, making them the world's third-best-selling books after the Bible and Shakespeare, but they have been treated coldly by academics as "B-grade novels."
Contemporary writers, including Raymond Chandler, also sharply criticized Agatha's novels, saying they were unrealistic.
However, in this book, Seol Hye-sim examines Agatha's life and works in a historical context, demonstrating how vividly and accurately Agatha's works reflect the values ​​and social conditions of the time, and proving how useful and rich a resource detective novels can be for social history.
By providing 16 clues that only a historian can provide to read Agatha Christie's works more deeply and broadly, it will add excitement and thrill to reading Agatha Christie not only for mystery novel enthusiasts but also for readers of humanities and history.

2.
Social and cultural clues that only historians can grasp
―The 'buddy culture' of [True Detective], the 'dollar princess' of [Downton Abbey], and the women of [Land Girls] found in Agatha's novels!
―Peel off the mask of 'glory of empire' and see the true face of 20-year-old Britain.

“The time when people were crazy about her (Agatha’s) novels in the latter half of the 20th century was the hegemony of the British Empire.
It was like a training that was naturally internalized.
And even in the 21st century, Agatha's content continues to be reproduced and exerts influence.”

Only a historian who examines human life, the times, and the historical context can grasp the 16 social and cultural clues that allow us to understand Agatha's life and the times in which she lived.
By thoroughly examining the background and scenes, characters' personalities, actions, and dialogues in the novel, it reveals the hidden landscape of 20th-century British society, as well as the true face of the British people of the time.
Through the various forms of love depicted by Agatha, we can see the beginnings of 'buddy culture', the influence of 'Dollar Princess' through the appearance of a declining aristocratic family, the culture of British private schools and the perception of them through the characters who graduated from 'Eton', and the changes in British industrial history captured through the backgrounds of the nouveau riche, allowing us to look into British history and culture that cannot be seen through novels alone.

In particular, it clearly reveals the 'strangely uncomfortable' true face of Britain.
Set during World War I and II, the film reveals the subversion of gender roles and the resulting conflicts, as well as the wartime rationing system and various deviant acts, thereby stripping away the myth of the Blitz, a symbol of British nationalism.
It also critically examines the arrogance of the British, a long-standing reputation for their xenophobia and prejudice against foreigners, the perpetual distancing of the British upper class from the lower classes, and the blatant imperialist perspectives and attitudes evident in works set in West Asia and its colonies.
Although Agatha's novel was written in the 20th century, its content captures the glory of the British Empire in the late 19th century and the sentiments of the Victorian era.
This book provides readers with a historical context that allows them to understand Agatha's work more deeply and broadly, and suggests that they encounter Agatha from a new perspective, free from the nostalgia for the "glory of empire" that permeates her work.

3.
Agatha Christie was a surfer and a staunch British chauvinist?!
―The aspects of Agatha in the novel that can only be seen when you know the author's life.
―What is the true face of the ‘Queen of Mystery Novels’?

“House-hunting has always been my favorite pastime.”

This book explores how the author's personal experiences are reflected in his work, finding the intersection between reality and fiction.
As is well known, Agatha worked as a nurse and pharmacist during both world wars, and based on her experience and knowledge, she created a more realistic 'poisoning case' than anyone else.
The famous Murder on the Orient Express was also a reflection of Agatha's experiences traveling on the Orient Express, and Death in Mesopotamia was born from her experiences on archaeological excavations with her husband Max.
But beyond this well-known image, Agatha's novels contain fascinating glimpses into her life.

He loved houses so much that he featured numerous mansions in his novels. He could be called a 'real estate speculator', as he repeatedly bought houses, decorated them, and sold them again.
The many car model names that appear in various works show Agatha's fanatical love of cars.
Although Agatha did not receive formal education, she shows off her wealth of self-taught knowledge throughout her work.
Agatha's passion can be seen in the unexpected mention of classic titles, and in Poirot's long-time analysis and research of mystery novels, which led to the publication of a book.
Agatha also holds the surprising title of 'Britain's first female surfer'.
Agatha's joy and delight can be felt purely in the description of the moment when the protagonist in the novel stands up from the surfboard.


Agatha's unexpected appearance does not end here.
Agatha's work also shows elements of discrimination and prejudice, such as appearing to be a feminist but being misogynistic, criticizing the evils of capitalism but loving money, and claiming to be a cosmopolitan but being a staunch British chauvinist.
Only when we read the work with the author's life in mind can we truly appreciate the charm of Agatha's work more deeply.