{"title":"Books by John Curran","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780008679880","title":"The Murder Game","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to Magpie Murders, and related diversions including cryptic crosswords and Cain’s Jawbone, The Murder Game examines the games authors played with their readers and the importance of puzzles in Golden Age whodunits.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith books flourishing in the 1920s and ’30s like never before, no genre was more innovative or popular than detective fiction. It was an era that saw the emergence of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen and dozens of other authors who became household names for a generation of readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Golden Age of Detection has enjoyed a great resurgence of interest in recent years, with publishers mining back catalogues to bring the best of yesteryear to very receptive new audiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat is it about a literary movement that took off in the 1920s that still appeals to book lovers in the 2020s?In this authoritative new study, John Curran reveals that it is the ludic qualities of classic crime fiction that continue to intrigue. At its heart is the ‘whodunit’ game between writer and reader, but there is also the game between detective and murderer, between publisher and book-buyer, even between the writers themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoinciding with an increase in leisure time and literacy, the Golden Age also saw the development of the crossword, the growth of bridge and Mahjong, the enduring popularity of jigsaws and the emergence of Cluedo – all activities requiring the ‘little grey cells’. The Murder Game considers all of these, and many other sporting and competitive recreations, helping to explain the reading public’s ongoing love affair with the Golden Age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":55897702498677,"sku":"9780008679880","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682712789365,"sku":"9780008679927","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008679880_93c13db1-349b-4d44-818f-a01dd6a9ab16.jpg?v=1792511622"},{"product_id":"9780008192358","title":"The Hooded Gunman","description":"\u003cp\u003eWinner of the 2019 H.R.F. Keating Award for best biography or critical book related to crime fiction!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lavish full-colour celebration of the 2000 books by more than 250 authors published by the iconic Crime Club between 1930 and 1994.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith 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 – the ultimate book for fans of crime fiction and also of twentieth century book jacket design. The Hooded Gunman won the H.R.F. Keating Award for best 2019 biography or critical book related to crime fiction, and was also nominated for an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56220993814901,"sku":"9780008192358","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008192358_9eed5c2c-2f39-44d0-abfc-6304a8ceb0c3.jpg?v=1785658731"},{"product_id":"agatha-christies-complete-pb","title":"Agatha Christie’s Complete Secret Notebooks","description":"\u003cp\u003eAgatha 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis includes illustrations, deleted extracts, unused ideas, two unpublished Poirot stories and a lost Miss Marple.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen 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?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFollowing 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristie 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466656719221,"sku":"9780008129637","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008129637.jpg?v=1785654715"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-john-curran.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}