--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Agatha Christie never wrote books that…" description: "\"Agatha Christie never wrote books that just started with a dead body, and a 'Let's find out who the murderer is', which is kind of mysterious but not t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/sophie-hannah-7581_always_agatha-christie-never-wrote-books-that-j_928584.jpg" --- # Agatha Christie never wrote books that just started with a… ![“Agatha Christie never wrote books that just started with a dead body, and a 'Let's find out who the murderer is', which is kind of mysterious but not that mysterious. She always started with, 'How can this thing be happening; isn't it strange?'” quote by Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/sophie-hannah-7581_always_agatha-christie-never-wrote-books-that-j_928584.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/sophie-hannah-7581_always_agatha-christie-never-wrote-books-that-j_928584.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/sophie-hannah-7581_always_agatha-christie-never-wrote-books-that-j_928584.jpg) > “Agatha Christie never wrote books that just started with a dead body, and a 'Let's find out who the murderer is', which is kind of mysterious but not that mysterious. She always started with, 'How can this thing be happening; isn't it strange?'” [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Christie preferred puzzling motives over obvious corpse openings, focusing on strange, inexplicable events. **In simple terms:** She began with odd, unsettling questions instead of a dead body. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity and question the obvious. Themes mystery intrigue questioning unexpected Mood thoughtful intriguing Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - writing workshops - reading clubs - creative brainstorming - teaching literature Key Concepts detective fiction psychology narrative structure Questions to Reflect On - How does starting with strangeness affect reader expectations? - What does this reveal about narrative tension? A Different Perspective Some readers may still expect a corpse opening, limiting surprise. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agatha-christie-1068874/) [Always](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Christie Wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christie-wrote-1494052/) [Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead/) [Find](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/find/) [Happening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happening/) [How](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/how/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Kind Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind-mysterious-1494054/) [Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious/) [Mysterious Started](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious-started-1494053/) [Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/never/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [She](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/she/) [Started](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/started/) [Strange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strange/) [Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who/) [Wrote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrote/) ## Related quotes > [Concussions are still kind of a mysterious thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sidney-crosby/concussions-are-still-kind-of-a-mysterious-thing/) [Sidney Crosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sidney-crosby/) > [Agatha Christie's writing is incredibly skillful because her books are incredibly intellectually puzzling and challenging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/agatha-christie-s-writing-is-incredibly-skillful-because-her-books/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [When I set out to write crime fiction, I didn't think to myself, 'I'm going to model myself on Agatha Christie' or 'I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/when-i-set-out-to-write-crime-fiction-i-didn-t-think-to-myself-i-m/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [Try as I might, Agatha Christie is unique. The actual writing style can't be exactly the same, so instead of trying to replicate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/try-as-i-might-agatha-christie-is-unique-the-actual-writing-style-can/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [Nobody has ever written as many enjoyable, fun-to-read crime novels as Agatha Christie. It's all about the storytelling and the pleasure of the reader.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/nobody-has-ever-written-as-many-enjoyable-fun-to-read-crime-novels-as/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [Only Agatha Christie can write like Agatha Christie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/only-agatha-christie-can-write-like-agatha-christie/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [When I started to write a tune, I just wrote the nearest at hand, which was what was happening in my own life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-harris/when-i-started-to-write-a-tune-i-just-wrote-the-nearest-at-hand-which/) [Jesse Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-harris/) > [I wrote about real people and real circumstances and real neighborhoods. There was no crypt or castles or H.P. Lovecraft-type environments. They were just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-matheson/i-wrote-about-real-people-and-real-circumstances-and-real/) [Richard Matheson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-matheson/) > ['Life's That Way' was an extraordinarily difficult book to write, because it wasn't written as a book. It was written as a journal of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-beaver/life-s-that-way-was-an-extraordinarily-difficult-book-to-write/) [Jim Beaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-beaver/) > [All through childhood, I wrote verses and mysteries. There is, for me, one connection: structure. My poetry is metrical, rhyming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/all-through-childhood-i-wrote-verses-and-mysteries-there-is-for-me/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [I adore all Agatha Christie's books and turn to them whenever I'm ill or need cheering up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/i-adore-all-agatha-christie-s-books-and-turn-to-them-whenever-i-m-ill/) [Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/) > [I was reading Agatha Christie as a little boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-jordan/i-was-reading-agatha-christie-as-a-little-boy/) [Leslie Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-jordan/) > [An avid reader, I never missed a book by Judy Blume or Agatha Christie. They both remain two of my favorite authors. If I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kambri-crews/an-avid-reader-i-never-missed-a-book-by-judy-blume-or-agatha-christie/) [Kambri Crews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kambri-crews/) > [“Det kan du stole på. Liker du detektivfortellinger? Det gjør jeg. Jeg leser alle sammen, og har navnetrekkene til Dorothy Sayers og Agatha Christie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/det-kan-du-stole-p-liker-du-detektivfortellinger-det-gj-r-jeg-jeg/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [Before I came to England, my favorite authors were P. G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie. I used to devour both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/before-i-came-to-england-my-favorite-authors-were-p-g-wodehouse-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More by Sophie Hannah > [I never write about CIA conspiracies or the FBI or mafia or anything like that because I just don't understand that world. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/i-never-write-about-cia-conspiracies-or-the-fbi-or-mafia-or-anything/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [I am trying to write novels for properly clever people, but I also want them to be proper novels that also stick in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/i-am-trying-to-write-novels-for-properly-clever-people-but-i-also/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [My father, whose hobby was collecting secondhand cricket books, came back from a book fair one day with a copy of 'The Body In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/my-father-whose-hobby-was-collecting-secondhand-cricket-books-came/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [“That's not me talking, it's your inner voice. I'd attempt the accent, only I don't speak low self-esteem. It's a language I've never needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/that-s-not-me-talking-it-s-your-inner-voice-i-d-attempt-the-accent/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [“What they'd got was a fat, balding academic who bandied about the phrase "family annihilation", especially when there were cameras pointed at him, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/what-they-d-got-was-a-fat-balding-academic-who-bandied-about-the/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [In West Yorkshire, I'd have to drive three quarters of an hour to go shopping.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/in-west-yorkshire-i-d-have-to-drive-three-quarters-of-an-hour-to-go/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [No highbrow literary type would ever say 'Moby Dick' is good but it's just about a whale, or a Jane Austen would be important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/no-highbrow-literary-type-would-ever-say-moby-dick-is-good-but-it-s/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [There are very few well-adjusted people in my books. But I do think that's normal. Because everyone does have their issues and hang-ups.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/there-are-very-few-well-adjusted-people-in-my-books-but-i-do-think/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [With me, even if my life depended on it, I wouldn't be able to cry. Not with somebody there. Because even if I'm talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/with-me-even-if-my-life-depended-on-it-i-wouldn-t-be-able-to-cry-not/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [If you ask people if they enjoy crime novels, they'll say, 'Oh, my guilty pleasure is...' then name a really brilliant crime writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/if-you-ask-people-if-they-enjoy-crime-novels-they-ll-say-oh-my-guilty/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [In a crime novel, if you are going to have a big revelation in chapter 30, you have to plant the information in chapters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/in-a-crime-novel-if-you-are-going-to-have-a-big-revelation-in-chapter/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [All through childhood, I wrote verses and mysteries. There is, for me, one connection: structure. My poetry is metrical, rhyming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/all-through-childhood-i-wrote-verses-and-mysteries-there-is-for-me/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [I always notice the dysfunctional dynamic of human relationships because most places where you encounter it, people are trying to pretend it isnt happening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/i-always-notice-the-dysfunctional-dynamic-of-human-relationships/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [I'm not cut out to lug babies around!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/i-m-not-cut-out-to-lug-babies-around/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) > [Some writers, I'm told, look for their characters' surnames in telephone directories. I don't - it seems too obvious. Or too deliberate: if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hannah/some-writers-i-m-told-look-for-their-characters-surnames-in-telephone/) [Sophie Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) [Explore all 86 Sophie Hannah quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hannah/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I have really good lateral movement. I've always had quick lateral movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-rivers/i-have-really-good-lateral-movement-i-ve-always-had-quick-lateral/) [Austin Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-rivers/) > [There is something magical about being able to feel somebody. And that is something that has always moved me with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/there-is-something-magical-about-being-able-to-feel-somebody-and-that/) [Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) [Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Agatha Christie never wrote books that just started with a dead body, and a 'Let's find out who the murderer is', which is kind of mysterious but not that mysterious. 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