Clued up

To mark the centenary of Agatha Christie’s The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which was published in America in 1920, Writing Magazine poets took up the challenge to write about her life and works, and what her books have meant to the reading and viewing public. The response was magnificent. Entries ranged over all her detectives, clues and red herrings, weapons and poisons, marriages, famous disappearance, travels and interests. The enthusiasm, knowledge and research displayed within the poems demonstrate the respect writers have for the Queen of Crime.

This was one of those competitions in which the general standard of the poems submitted was so high that it was painful to have to pass over much quality writing. Poets