As the title suggests this book is a glossary of over 1800 words/phrases which might be potentially unfamiliar to modern readers of Agatha Christie’s stories, providing the essential social, historical and cultural context for understanding these terms. The author contacted a variety of organisations/specialists to source her information including the Discovery Room Manager at The Postal Museum in London, the curator of The Doorbell Museum in California and the Records Manager at The International Club for Rolls-Royce and Bentley Enthusiasts.
Each entry in the glossary is cross referenced with the Christie novels and short stories they appear in and the particular focus for this glossary is Christie’s works from the 1920s. Gingold has created an online version of this resource, which you can find here. This author’s name might ring a bell if you listen to Kemper Donovan’s podcast All About Agatha, as she appeared on this show last year. The glossary is interspersed with mini essays which are each centred on a different thematic topic. My review will be mostly focusing on these essays, but I will be scattering some glossary entries that I interested me, into the mix too.
Airplane-wire paper cutter
I was already aware of paper cutters and letter openers, but I was curious as to the ‘airplane-wire’ variant. This is referenced in Murder on the Links (1923), and it seems they might have been common souvenirs from WW1. Gingold writes: ‘During World War I, the cables used to brace plane wings were rounded where attached to the plane and flattened elsewhere so there would be less drag. With a little modification, a section of this cable would make an excellent little paper knife.’
Mini Essay No. 1: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Mysterious Affair at Styles – World War I in Belgium and on the Home Front’
I think the author certainly sets herself a challenge, confining her mini essays to 1-2 pages, particularly given the scope of the themes she chooses. There is a limit to what you can achieve in 2 pages, so understandably this first essay is a very brief overview of how WW1 came about. I would not say there was much information on Belgium itself. However, this section does touch upon the war jobs the characters at Styles held e.g. Cynthia Murdoch working in a Red Cross hospital dispensary. I don’t feel it added much to my understanding of the topic, but it could be more helpful to those new to the subject.
Book teas
The phrase just sounds delightful and is mentioned in The Secret of Chimneys (1925), a Christie that I need to re-read. Gingold notes that a book tea was a ‘type of themed party [which] was apparently very popular around the turn of the century. Guests would wear or attach to themselves something representational, and people would try to guess the book title. Publications from the time assume “everyone has heard” of it, but by the 1920s, the fad had passed.’
Mini Essay No. 2: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Secret Adversary – An Invitation to Supper at the Savoy
I found this essay to be more interesting, learning about the history of the Savoy, which included financial skulduggery from some prominent staff members. I also noted the point that Gingold makes regarding the Savoy being ‘one of the first [hotels/restaurants] that permitted and even encouraged upper-class women to dine in public.’ This information grabbed my attention as it reminded me of Silver Sandals (1916) by Clinton H. Stagg, in which staff and guests alike are scandalised in a hotel restaurant as a young woman dines alone, which is against the organisation’s policy. The essay also includes a 1927 menu for a ‘dinner honouring aviator Charles Lindbergh’, which I thought was a nice research point as the kidnapping and killing of Lindbergh’s son in 1932 would go on to influence Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (1934).
Brown Study
Another term which piqued my interest and according to Gingold ‘this phrase was used quite a bit in Victorian literature and dates back even farther, to the early 1500s. “Study” is used here to mean “reverie” and brown was once the colour of gloom rather than blue. Over time, the “brown study” came to refer to abstracted behaviour whether gloomy or not.’ This phrase can be found in ‘The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan’ and in The Secret of Chimneys.
Mini Essay No. 3: ‘A Closer Look inspired by Murder on the Links – Historic Murders Mentioned in Christie Novels’
This essay covers the Hawley Harvey Crippen case (which is referenced in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926), The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) and The Man in the Brown Suit) and the George Joseph Smith case (which is referred to in Murder on the Links).
Golf Coat
This term comes up in Tommy and Tuppence’s golf course set case, ‘The Sunningdale Mystery’ and Gingold describes this clothing item thus: ‘The Norfolk jacket dates from the mid-1860s and is supposed to have been commissioned by the Duke of Norfolk as something comfortable to be worn during outdoor sports. By the 1920s fewer golfers were wearing the Norfolk jacket, but the newer styles incorporated its best features such as ease of movement and big pockets.’
Mini Essay No. 4: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Man in the Brown Suit – Colonialism, Imperialism, and Presentism in Christie’s Novels’
Again, this is a weighty topic to be dealt with in 1.25 pages and I would definitely have liked more references to The Man in the Brown Suit. Natural selection and social Darwinism is briefly discussed and the way these two factors shaped some people’s views on the colonising of Africa at the time.
Rice
This glossary is extensive in the words it collates, however I am not sure words like ‘rice’ need to be provided, given the general definition offered.
Mini Essay No. 5: ‘A Closer Look inspired by Poirot Investigates -The London Mansion Flat as a Crime Scene’
I was looking forward to this topic, as the title sounded particularly intriguing. However, I have to admit I found it a little disappointing. It provides a general overview of the history of flats in the UK. It doesn’t really have anything to do with crime scenes and I did not feel this section meaningfully connected to Poirot’s own flat.
Salt on bird’s tail
This is a superstition which is mentioned in The Big Four (1927) and Gingold says it ‘dat[es] back to the 1500s’ and it refers to the belief ‘that if you sprinkle salt on a bird’s tail, it won’t be able to fly away.’
Mini Essay No. 6: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Secret of Chimney – Socialism in the 1920s Detective Novel’
I felt this essay was better able to show how the chosen theme is present in Christie’s writing. For example, Gingold mentions that Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent’s father describes his daughter as a ‘red-hot socialist’. Yet Gingold herself opines in this section that Bundle ‘resembles a champagne socialist since she enjoys her privileges and intends to marry a man in the conservative government.’
Mini Essay No. 7: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – The Shifting State of Post-Victorian Domestic Service’
This section mostly talks about pre-WW1 domestic service and the information is quite general, the kind you could indirectly pick up from a period drama. I did not feel much connection was made to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Without these connections a reader less familiar with the work of Christie (which is a core part of the glossary’s target audience) may be left wondering why a given Christie novel inspired the theme chosen.
Mini Essay No. 8: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Big Four – London’s Limehouse District’
I found this essay to be more engaging, and it begins by looking at how this district got its name. Crime fiction fans may also be interested to learn that:
‘[…] quicklime frequently shows up in crime novels as an easy and anonymous way for the murderer to dispose of a body. Quicklime reacts with carbon dioxide and can generate enough heat to burn skin. Also, quicklime has for centuries been sprinkled on corpses. Both facts bolstered the common belief that it accelerated decomposition, but Eline M. J. Schotsmans and colleagues have dispelled this theory. The Schotsmans group did a study in 2012 with pig carcasses and found that tissue covered with quicklime was actually preserved rather than dissolved. The historic use of quicklime for burials was likely for preventing the smell and contamination of putrefying bodies, particularly during plagues or for mass graves.’
So, if you were planning on disposing of any corpses (the holidays can be trying after all, and murder may have occurred) then by the looks of it you shouldn’t be relying on quicklime to help you out.
Mini Essay No. 9: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Mystery of the Blue Train – English Society on the Riveria after the War’
This section was not of much interest to me. It read like a travel brochure in the type of information it provided.
Mini Essay No. 10: ‘A Closer Look inspired by The Seven Dials Mystery – The Last Chorus for the Stately Homes of England’
I think this essay discusses its “inspirational” text the most, although on the other hand it was very wordy, taking a long time to cover some basic points e.g. landowners struggling to maintain their country estates due to insufficient funds and expensive death duties.
Mini Essay No. 11: ‘A Closer Look inspired by Partners in Crime – How the 1920s Launched the Golden Age of “Cozy” Crime
I am not fond of the perpetuation of the idea that golden age detective fiction and cosy crime are synonymous terms, as I don’t believe they are. Furthermore, the trope of “the butler did it” is more of a retrospectively presumed stereotype. Very few fictional butlers (discounting upper-class characters pretending to be one) actually did do the murders and I found statements such as this: ‘One of the hallmarks of a Golden Age mystery is the grand country setting of “the butler did it” cliché’ to be somewhat reductive of interwar detective fiction. After all the 1920s mysteries by Christie (which are the focus of this glossary) are not littered with murderous butlers. However, butlers are a further springboard for general comments, which would have fitted in different themed essays, previously included. For example, following on from the last statement, the author writes:
‘In reality, however, the years between the wars were difficulty for both butlers and country houses. Wars are expensive and England struggled financially after World War I. One way to generate the revenue needed to pay off war debts was to increase inheritance taxes on large estates. At the same time, it was becoming more and more difficult to find people willing to do the domestic work required in a great house. Many families in the landed gentry class were no longer able to maintain the Victorian or Edwardian lifestyle in their big country house. Social change is always difficulty and, when coupled with s devastating war, it’s hardly surprising that people mourned the romanticised memory of what had been lost. Golden Age mysteries reflected this nostalgia by skimming over the more distressing aspects of crime to highlight the “cozy” elements such as quizzing a suspect over afternoon tea on the lawn.’
Reflecting on the book as a whole I think the author’s literary analysis is less surefooted than her understanding of social and cultural history. Her last essay in particular leans more into reductive and generalised ideas that other scholars have been unpicking and revising for the last couple of decades. However, if you are reading a Christie mystery from the 1920s and you come across an unfamiliar term, then I think this glossary would be useful.
Rating: 4/5