Agatha Christie: a look Into Criminal Procedure and Gender

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Introduction
While many have tried their hands at detective fiction, there is one individual who stands above them all Agatha Christie. Dubbed The Queen of Mystery Agatha Christie published sixty-six novels between 1920 and 1975. Christie was able to continuously produce gripping novels that also speak to the criminal procedure of her times. Her detectives are constricted to the technology, resources, and criminal justice system of the s. More often than not, the ways in which her detectives solve mysteries are outdated, which leaves modern day readers to wonder whether or not the criminals in her novels would have been able to be prosecuted today. Is enough probable cause established in her novels to convict the offenders today The modern day United States criminal justice system and that of Europe’s -- more specifically the United Kingdoms -- in the twentieth century is vastly different. There is no doubt that Christie published some of the best detective fiction that will ever exist, but determining if the criminal procedure used was technically sound requires information that is not found in her novels. In looking at the correctness of the procedure used, first that of the settings of her novels, and then in the United States today, will show how much Agatha Christie understood what she endeavored to write about and if her novels are truly able to transcend both time and space. Another aspect of Agatha Christie’s novels that deserves further analysis are her two most popular detectives, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Poirot is Christie’s most well-known detective. Often described as a small man with a big ego and even bigger mustache, Poirot is everything most readers want from a traditional detective. As a retired Belgian police officer, he brings years of experience to the table. While his methods are not always conventional, he is able to use what he describes as little grey cells to arrive at answers that no one else would have been able to reach. On the other hand, Christie also created Miss Marple, who is a very

6 independent woman. She is an older, unmarried woman who lives in a little English village. She, unlike Poirot, has no formal detective training and just uses her natural busybody tendencies, observation skills, intuition, and feminine knowledge to solve crimes. Both are extremely successful at what they do, but the difference of gender in the detectives invites readers to examine if Christie created the two with equal skills and opportunities. In comparing Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, it is seen that Agatha Christie creates two capable people of opposite genders with unique skill sets that allow them to be successful detectives, in their own right. In examining three Hercule Poirot novels ( Murder on the Orient Express, The ABC
Murders, and Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case) and comparing them to three Miss Marple novels
(The Murder at the Vicarage, The Body in the Library, and A Caribbean Mystery) both criminal procedure and gender roles in Agatha Christie’s great detective novels can be recognized and interpreted.

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