Джон Карран — новинки

A lavish full-colour celebration of the 2000 books by more than 250 authors published by the iconic Crime Club between 1930 and 1994.


The Hooded Gunman was the sinister figure who, having appeared in various guises on the covers of Collins’ various series of Mystery and Detective books in the 1920s, finally gained recognition with the launch of Collins’ Crime Club, becoming the definitive imprint stamp on more than 2,000 books published by that august imprint between 1930 and 1994. From Agatha Christie to Reginald Hill, the Hooded Gunman was a guarantee of a first-class crime novel for almost 65 years, and those books are now as sought after and collectable and almost any other book series, with many commanding high prices and almost impossible to find.


In the year that Collins – the publisher founded by William Collins in Glasgow in 1819 – is enjoying its 200th birthday, this book celebrates probably its most famous publishing imprint. Written and researched by Agatha Christie writer, expert and archivist Dr John Curran, this sumptuous coffee table book looks back at the history of the Crime Club and its authors, showing the jackets of every book published by the imprint over seven decades, and the descriptive ‘blurbs’ of every book, running to more than 350,000 words.


With facts, figures and lists, and drawing on rare archival photos, correspondence and marketing materials, it is the first time that anyone has attempted to chronicle the publishing of the Crime Club.

Agatha Christie’s Complete Secret Notebooks brings together for the first time Secret Notebooks and Murder in the Making, two volumes that explore the fascinating contents of her 73 notebooks. This includes illustrations, deleted extracts, unused ideas, two unpublished Poirot stories and a lost Miss Marple.

When Agatha Christie died in 1976, aged 85, she had become the world's most popular author. With sales of more than two billion copies worldwide in more than 100 countries, she had achieved the impossible – more than one book every year since the 1920s, every one a bestseller.

So prolific was Agatha Christie's output – 66 crime novels, 20 plays, 6 romance books under a pseudonym and over 150 short stories – it was often claimed that she had a photographic memory. Was this true? Or did she resort over those 55 years to more mundane methods of working out her ingenious crimes?

Following the death of Agatha's daughter, Rosalind, at the end of 2004, a remarkable secret was revealed. Unearthed among her affairs at the family home of Greenway were Agatha Christie's private notebooks, 73 handwritten volumes of notes, lists and drafts outlining all her plans for her many books, plays and stories. Buried in this treasure trove, all in her unmistakable handwriting, are revelations and details that will fascinate anyone who has ever read or watched an Agatha Christie story.

Christie archivist and expert John Curran leads the reader through the six decades of Agatha Christie's writing career, unearthing some remarkable clues to her success and a number of never-before-published excerpts and stories from her archives. This book features Agatha's original ending of her very first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, painstakingly transcribed from her notebooks. It also includes a number of short stories from the archives reproduced in full, including the unpublished The Man Who Knew, How I Created Hercule Poirot, and an early draft for a Miss Marple story, The Case of the Caretaker's Wife.

Книга-сенсация, наделавшая много шума в кругах поклонников детектива! Автор устроил расследование в духе самой Агаты Кристи - изучив "творческую кухню" великой писательницы по записям, сделанным в блокнотах и на полях рукописей.

Мы узнаем, что в "Десяти негритятах" (и других романах) на роль убийцы пробовались совсем не те персонажи и как трансформировался сюжет; что расследование "Смерти на Ниле" изначально должна была вести мисс Марпл и почему добрая старушка была заменена на Пуаро; что Дама Агата нарушила шутливый запрет Детективного клуба на использование в текстах редких ядов и почему она это сделала; что писательница обожала детские английские считалки про негритят, поросят, мышат, хикори-дикори, дроздов и почему не всем им нашлось достойное применение в книгах...

В конце книги - бонус, взбудораживший мировые СМИ, - два никогда не публиковавшихся рассказа об Эркюле Пуаро. В первом рассказе, где Агата смело ступила на территорию жанра альтернативной истории, вы с удивлением узнаете Гитлера. Другой же написан в ее привычном стиле.

"Секретный архив" стал книгой-сенсацией и наделал много шума в кругах поклонников детектива. Автор устроил расследование в духе самой Агаты Кристи - изучив "творческую кухню" великой писательницы по записям, сделанным в блокнотах и на полях рукописей.

Таким образом, мы узнаем, что, например, в "Десяти негритятах" на роль убийцы пробовались совершенно иные персонажи, а сам сюжет неоднократно трансформировался; что расследование "Смерти на Ниле" изначально должна была вести мисс Марпл, но в итоге была заменена на Пуаро; почему леди Агата нарушила шутливый запрет Детективного клуба на использование в текстах редких ядов; что писательница обожала детские английские считалки про негритят, поросят, мышат, хикори-дикори, дроздов - и почему не всем им нашлось достойное применение в книгах.

А в конце книги читателя ждет бонус - два никогда не публиковавшихся рассказа об Эркюле Пуаро...

In this invaluable work, the award-winning Agatha Christie expert and archivist John Curran examines the unpublished notebooks and personal papers of the world's bestselling author, exploring the techniques she used to surprise and entertain generations of readers. He shows how more than twenty of Agatha's stories evolved, as well as revealing over a dozen unused book ideas, including the notes for her final unfinished work.
"Agatha Christie's Murder in the Making" features several wonderful gems, including Agatha's essay on how she created Hercule Poirot, a previously unseen version of a Miss Marple short story, and the unpublished ending to her first novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles".

In this follow-up volume to the award-winning 'Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks', Christie archivist and expert John Curran leads the reader through the six decades of Agatha's writing career, unearthing some remarkable clues to her success and a number of never-before-published excerpts and stories from her archives.

Starting his investigation in the 1920s, John Curran examines the conventions of detective fiction as it existed then and reveals how Agatha Christie's publisher talked her into changing the ending of her very first book, 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles', a move that almost certainly changed the fortunes of not only her career but also the future of the detective novel. For the very first time, this book prints Agatha's original ending, painstakingly transcribed from the hand-written draft in one of her earliest notebooks.

Every decade saw Agatha Christie's success grow to new heights. The emergence of the world-famous Collins Crime Club in 1930 brought with it the very first Miss Marple novel; the austerity of the 1940s had Agatha Christie preparing to kill off Hercule Poirot; and the 1950s saw her experiment increasingly with stories influenced by more modern thrillers. Focusing on more than 20 Christie novels as detailed evidence, John Curran demonstrates the evolution of Agatha's writing through the decades, including her perseverance through the Swinging Sixties and Seventies into old age, concluding with a look at Agatha's last notebook and her ideas for an unwritten final book.

As well as revealing more than a dozen unpublished book ideas, 'Agatha Christie's Murder in the Making' contains two new short stories from her archives - 'The Man Who Knew' and an early Miss Marple draft, 'The Case of the Caretaker's Wife'.

NB: The first edition, first printing, has the ISBN on the reverse of the title page as in this record of the book but the back of the dust wrapper carries a different ISBN - 9780007908561! In addition there seems to be a variant title in that in some editions the last word of the sub-title is 'Notebooks' as opposed to 'Archive'.

Книга-сенсация, наделавшая много шума в кругах поклонников детектива! Автор устроил расследование в духе самой Агаты Кристи - изучив "творческую кухню" великой писательницы по записям, сделанным в блокнотах и на полях рукописей.
Мы узнаем, что в "Десяти негритятах" (и других романах) на роль убийцы пробовались совсем не те персонажи и как трансформировался сюжет; что расследование "Смерти на Ниле" изначально должна была вести мисс Марпл и почему добрая старушка была заменена на Пуаро; что Дама Агата нарушила шутливый запрет Детективного клуба на использование в текстах редких ядов и почему она это сделала; что писательница обожала детские английские считалки про негритят, поросят, мышат, хикори-дикори, дроздов и почему не всем им нашлось достойное применение в книгах...
В конце книги - бонус, взбудораживший мировые СМИ, - два никогда не публиковавшихся рассказа об Эркюле Пуаро. В первом рассказе, где Агата смело ступила на территорию жанра альтернативной истории, вы с удивлением узнаете Гитлера. Другой же написан в ее привычном стиле.

Agatha Christie died in 1976 at 85, the world's most popular author. After the death of her only child, 73 handwritten notebooks came to light, from single jots to lists, to full outlines of memorable plots and characters, plus grocery and schedule memos from a bountiful creative mind - a complex web of connections to unravel and link. Actual notebook page reproductions. 2 unpublished Hercule Poirot short stories: "The Capture of Cerebrus", and "The Incident of the Dog's Ball".

When Agatha Christie died in 1976, aged 85, she had become the world's most popular author. Publishing at least one book every year since the 1920s, each one a bestseller, it was even claimed that Agatha must have a photographic memory. Was this true? Or did she resort to more mundane methods of planning her ingenious crimes?
Unearthed among Agatha Christie's affairs at the family home of Greenway were her private notebooks, 73 volumes in Agatha's almost unreadable handwriting. When archivist John Curran began deciphering the notebooks, the extent of this treasure trove became apparent...
This book lifts the lid on Agatha Christie's biggest secret -how her pencilled notes, lists and drafts led to her many successful books, plays and stories. Different plots, alternative endings, deleted scenes - John Curran's investigation reveals a wealth of unpublished material, including two complete Hercule Poirot short stories never before published, "The Incident of the Dog's Ball" and the unseen thirteenth "Labour of Hercules!"

From the Collins Crime Club archive, the third standalone novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’.Seymour Merriman’s holiday in France comes to an abrupt halt when his motorcycle starts leaking petrol. Following a lorry to find fuel, he discovers that it belongs to an English company making timber pit-props for coal mines back home. His suspicions of illegal activity are aroused when he sees the exact same lorry with a different number plate – and confirmed later with the shocking discovery of a body. What began as amateur detective work ends up as a job for Inspector Willis of Scotland Yard, a job requiring tenacity, ingenuity and guile . . .Freeman Wills Crofts’ transition from civil engineer on the Irish railways to world-renowned master of the detective mystery began with The Cask when he was fully 40 years old; but it was his third novel, the baffling The Pit-Prop Syndicate, that was singled out by his editors in 1930 as the first for inclusion in Collins’ prestigious new series of reprints ‘for crime connoisseurs’.This Detective Club classic is introduced by John Curran, author of The Hooded Gunman, and includes the bonus of an exclusive short story by Crofts, ‘Danger in Shroude Valley’.

A fascinating exploration of the contents of Agatha Christie’s 73 recently discovered notebooks, including illustrations, deleted extracts, and two unpublished Poirot stories.When Agatha Christie died in 1976, aged 85, she had become the world's most popular author. With sales of more than two billion copies worldwide in more than 100 countries, she had achieved the impossible – more than one book every year since the 1920s, every one a bestseller.So prolific was Agatha Christie's output – 66 crime novels, 20 plays, 6 romance books under a pseudonym and over 150 short stories – it was often claimed that she had a photographic memory. Was this true? Or did she resort over those 55 years to more mundane methods of working out her ingenious crimes?Following the death of Agatha's daughter, Rosalind, at the end of 2004, a remarkable secret was revealed. Unearthed among her affairs at the family home of Greenway were Agatha Christie's private notebooks, 73 handwritten volumes of notes, lists and drafts outlining all her plans for her many books, plays and stories. Buried in this treasure trove, all in her unmistakable handwriting, are revelations about her famous books that will fascinate anyone who has ever read or watched an Agatha Christie story.What is the 'deleted scene' in her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles? How did the infamous twist in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, really come about? Which very famous Poirot novel started life as an adventure for Miss Marple? Which books were designed to have completely different endings, and what were they?Full of details she was too modest to reveal in her own Autobiography, this remarkable new book includes a wealth of extracts and pages reproduced directly from the notebooks and her letters, plus for the first time two newly discovered complete Hercule Poirot short stories never before published.