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The 4.50 From Paddington
''4.50 from Paddington'' is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in November 1957 by Collins Crime Club. This work was published in the United States at the same time as ''What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw!'', by Dodd, Mead. The novel was published in serial form before the book was released in each nation, and under different titles. The US edition retailed at $2.95. Reviewers at the time of publication generally liked the novel, but would have liked more direct involvement of Miss Marple, and less consideration of her failing strength, using others to act for her. A later review by Barnard found the story short on clues, but favourably noted Lucy Eyelesbarrow as an independent woman character. The 1961 film '' Murder, She Said'' was based on this novel as were several television programmes. Plot summary Mrs Elspeth McGillicuddy is on her way from a shopping expedition to visit her old friend Jane Marple for Christmas. Her train passes another train running ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery ''The Mousetrap'', which has been performed in the West End since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. ''Guinness World Records'' lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies. Christie was born into a wealthy upper middle class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aconitine
Aconitine is an alkaloid toxin produced by various plant species belonging to the genus '' Aconitum'' (family Ranunculaceae), known also commonly by the names wolfsbane and monkshood. Monkshood is notorious for its toxic properties. Aconitine is also present in Yunnan Baiyao, a proprietary traditional Chinese medicine. Uses Aconitine was previously used as an antipyretic and analgesic and still has some limited application in herbal medicine, although the narrow therapeutic index makes calculating appropriate dosage difficult. Structure and reactivity Biologically active isolates from '' Aconitum'' and ''Delphinium'' plants are classified as norditerpenoid alkaloids, which are further subdivided based on the presence or absence of the C18 carbon. Aconitine is a C19-norditerpenoid, based on its presence of this C18 carbon. It is barely soluble in water, but very soluble in organic solvents such as chloroform or diethyl ether. Aconitine is also soluble in mixtures of alcohol an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry. The German Albatross Books had pioneered the idea of a line of color-coded paperback editions in 1931 under Kurt Enoch, and Penguin Books in Britain had refined the idea in 1935 and had one million books in print by the following year. Pocket Books was founded by Richard L. Simon, M. Lincoln ("Max") Schuster and Leon Shimkin, partners of Simon & Schuster, along with Robert de Graff. In 1944, the founding owners sold the company to Marshall Field III, owner of the ''Chicago Sun'' newspaper. Following Field's death, in 1957, Leon Shimkin, a Simon & Schuster partner, and James M. Jacobson bought Pocket Books for $5 million. Simon & Schuster acquired Pocket in 1966. Penguin's success inspired entrepreneur Robert de Graff, who partn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Barnard
Robert Barnard (23 November 1936 – 19 September 2013) was an English crime writer, critic and lecturer. In addition to over 40 books published under his own name, he also published four books under the pseudonym Bernard Bastable. Life and work Robert Barnard was born on 23 November 1936 at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. He was educated at the Colchester Royal Grammar School and at Balliol College, Oxford. He spent five years (1961-1965) as an academic in the English Department at the University of New England, at Armidale, New South Wales, in Australia. His first crime novel, ''Death of an Old Goat'', was published in 1974. The novel was written while he was a lecturer at University of Tromsø in Norway. He went on to write more than 40 other books and numerous short stories. As "Bernard Bastable", he published two standalone novels and two alternate history books, featuring Wolfgang Mozart – who had here survived to old age – as a detective. Barnard was awarded the Cartier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pen Name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise the author's gender, to distance the author from their other works, to protect the author from retribution for their writings, to merge multiple persons into a single identifiable author, or for any of a number of reasons related to the marketing or aesthetic presentation of the work. The author's real identity may be known only to the publisher or may become common knowledge. Etymology The French-language phrase is occasionally still seen as a synonym for the English term "pen name", which is a "back-translation" and originated in England rather than France. H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler, in ''The King's English'' state that the term ''nom de plume'' evolv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Berkeley Cox
Anthony Berkeley Cox (5 July 1893 – 9 March 1971) was an English crime writer. He wrote under several pen-names, including Francis Iles, Anthony Berkeley and A. Monmouth Platts. Early life and education Anthony Berkeley Cox was born 5 July 1893 at Watford, son of medical practitioner Dr Alfred Edward Cox (1861–1936), of Monmouth House and The Platts, two adjoining properties on Watford High Street, and Sybil Maud (died 1924), née Iles, who ran a school at Monmouth House. His paternal grandfather was a Derby wine merchant. Cox had two younger siblings: Stephen Henry Johnson Cox (1899–1960), who became a schoolmaster, and Cynthia Cicely Cox (born 1897). With his brother, Cox was educated at Rose Hill School, Banstead, Surrey, and from the age of 14 was educated at Sherborne School and University College, Oxford. Career As an ex-cadet of the Officer Training Corps, Cox was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in the British Army on 19 September 1914. He was p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'', which do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966. In general, the political position of ''The Times'' is considered to be centre-right. ''The Times'' is the first newspaper to have borne that name, lending it to numerous other papers around the world, such as ''The Times of India'', ''The New York Times'', and more recently, digital-first publications such as TheTimesBlog.com (Since 2017). In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as , or as , although the newspaper is of nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times Literary Supplement
''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication in 1914. Many distinguished writers have contributed, including T. S. Eliot, Henry James and Virginia Woolf. Reviews were normally anonymous until 1974, when signed reviews were gradually introduced during the editorship of John Gross. This aroused great controversy. "Anonymity had once been appropriate when it was a general rule at other publications, but it had ceased to be so", Gross said. "In addition I personally felt that reviewers ought to take responsibility for their opinions." Martin Amis was a member of the editorial staff early in his career. Philip Larkin's poem "Aubade", his final poetic work, was first published in the Christmas-week issue of the ''TLS'' in 1977. While it has long been regarded as one of the world's pre-emi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip John Stead
Philip John Stead OBE, FRSL (5 February 1915 – 22 June 2005), was an English criminologist, author, literary critic, translator and poet. After retirement in the United Kingdom, he emigrated to New York and then Massachusetts. Stead was born in Swinton, then in the West Yorkshire in 1915 and was educated at Oxford University. Moving to London, he became a member of The Critics' Circle. During World War II, he served in the British Army in North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium and Germany. In 1946, he was demobilised with the rank of captain. In 1947, he married Judith Irene Freeder and lived in Kensington. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1950 and was appointed to the National Police College at Bramshill House in 1953. In 1966 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. In 1971 he took sabbatical leave to teach at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York. When he retired from Bramshill in 1974, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Paddington Station
Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great Western Railway and its successors since 1838. Much of the main line station dates from 1854 and was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Paddington is the London terminus of the Great Western Main Line; passenger services are primarily operated by Great Western Railway, which provides the majority of commuter and regional passenger services to west London and the Thames Valley region as well as long-distance intercity services to South West England and South Wales. The station is also the eastern terminus for Heathrow Express and the western terminus for Elizabeth line services from Shenfield. Elizabeth line services also run through Paddington westwards to Reading, Heathrow Terminal 5, and Heathrow Terminal 4, and eastwards to Abbey Wood. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Thirteen Problems
''The Thirteen Problems'' is a short story collection by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by Collins Crime Club in June 1932Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. ''Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions''. Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (p. 14) and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1933 under the title ''The Tuesday Club Murders''. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00. The thirteen stories feature the amateur detective Miss Marple, her nephew Raymond West, and her friend Sir Henry Clithering. They are the earliest stories Christie wrote about Miss Marple. The main setting for the frame story is the fictional village of St Mary Mead. Plot introduction As in her short story collection '' Partners in Crime'', Christie employs an overarching narrative, making the book more like an episodic novel. There are three sets of narratives, though they themselves interrela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
