I thought I’d post initially about my good friend and ex colleague John Curran, whose second book was launched last Thursday evening in Dublin. The book is Agatha Christie’s Murder the Making, his follow up the Secret Notebooks first published in 2009 by Harper Collins.
John’s story is a remarkable one. For years he devoted his time and energy free of charge to pursuing what was in fact a lifelong interest in the life and works of the world’s foremost writers of detective fiction. Through a series of fortuitous meetings and mainly because of his innate honesty and unrivalled abilities in his field he was introduced to Christie’s grandson. As a result he was given access to Dame Agatha’s home Greenway in Torquay and it was here he discovered the 73 notebooks which lay untouched for years. These notebooks were used by the writer over years of producing her stories, novels and plays.
It was a very enjoyable evening, attended also by Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard, who spoke with real admiration and gratitude for John and the work he has done. I hope the new book is as successful as the first!
