Celebrating Christie's Mysteries--and a Giveaway

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

My April 1, 2025, release was a romantic mystery set in the Old West. While many of my novels and novellas have elements of mystery and suspense in them, I’d never specifically set out to write a mystery before, so I found myself researching the genre and those who have had successful careers in that genre. This led me to read up on the best-selling novelist of all time, Agatha Christie—and since this is her birth month, I’ll share a bit of my findings about her with you.

 

Childhood

Young Agatha Christie

 

The prolific author we know as Agatha Christie was born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller on September 15, 1890. She was the youngest child of three—a “much-loved afterthought” (according to agathachristie.com) of her American father, Frederick and her Irish mother, Clara. Her older brother Monty and older sister Madge were ten and eleven years her senior, respectively. The family lived in Torquay, Devon, England during her early years.

 

Her mother, Clara, loved Agatha’s natural creativity and wanted her youngest to wait to learn to read until she was eight, but with both her older siblings away at school, young Agatha grew bored—so she taught herself to read. She devoured books. Her creativity also flourished by listening to the made-up stories of her mother, and she and Madge followed in her footsteps with imaginings and stories of their own.

 

At age eleven, Agatha’s father passed away unexpectedly, leaving Clara and Agatha’s lives in uncertainty. For a time, Agatha attended a girl’s school in Torquay, but she eventually went to a boarding school in Paris, France, for a few years and at age eighteen, spent her three-month debutante season in Cairo, Egypt. With the goal of finding a husband, Agatha emerged from the season with numerous marriage proposals. She turned them all down but the one from her friend, Reginald Lucy. But theirs was not the typical romance. The two struck a bargain—that they would wait for two years to marry, and if, in the meantime, anyone richer or more interesting came along, they would break their engagement and marry the other.

 

Agatha’s Foray Into Married Life

 

Reggie Lucy would not end up being Agatha’s husband after all. In 1912, she met Archibald Christie at a party, and the dashing aviator swept her off her feet. They married on Christmas Eve in 1914. However, with World War 1 in full swing, both had jobs to do. Two days later, Archie returned to France, and Agatha returned to the hospital in Torquay where she worked as a nurse.

 

It was during this time, while working around the dispensary, that Agatha learned of various poisons. And seeing the many Belgians who came to England to escape the horrors of the war in their home country, she began to imagine a Belgian police officer as a character for a story. When her sister challenged her to write a mystery, suggesting that Agatha couldn’t pull off such a feat, Agatha rose to the occasion and wrote The Mysterious Affair at Styles, her very first Hurcule Poirot story.

Agatha and husband Archie

 

In 1918, the war ended, Archie returned, and the by-now “old married couple” got to begin their marriage in earnest. In the next year—1919—Archie took a job in London, they welcomed their daughter, Rosalind, and Agatha’s first Poirot novel was picked up by a publisher with a request for five more like it. By 1924, Agatha published The Secret Adversary, The Man in the Brown Suit, and The Murder on the Links.

 

Tragedies Make For New Beginnings

 

Unhappy with her first publisher, Agatha found a new publishing house who gladly took her on as an author. In 1926, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd came out with great sales and much acclaim, but the tidal wave of newfound success was short-lived. Agatha’s mother passed away, causing Agatha to leave for Torquay to clean out the family home. Grief-stricken at the loss, she found it difficult to write. And while they were separated, Archie and Agatha drifted apart. His eye soon wandered to another woman.

 

One December night, Agatha found herself in terrible spirits, so she left little Rosalind in the care of the house maids and went for a drive. Her car was later found abandoned, and Agatha was nowhere to be seen. It took some ten days and a nationwide search to discover that she was, in fact, in the care of the Swan Hydropathic Hotel under an assumed name. She had no recollection of who she was, how she’d gotten there, nor did she recognize Archie when he came to see her. This episode became one of great embarrassment to her. In later years, she never spoke of this time with anyone.

 

Upon her return to London, she and Archie remained separated. Needing an income for herself and her daughter, Agatha compiled some of her short Hurcule Poirot stories, previously published in magazines, into a collection titled The Big Four.

 

In 1927, still struggling to churn out the next Poirot novel, she began toying with a new detective—Miss Jane Marple, who debuted in The Tuesday Night Club, a short story published in The Royal Magazine. Perhaps the unassuming personality of this amateur sleuth was just what Agatha needed as she continued her healing after her mother’s death, the failure of her marriage, and the mental stress she’d endured. But in 1928, she finalized her divorce, moved to the Canary Islands with Rosalind, and returned to work with her next Poirot story, The Mystery of the Blue Train.

 

Happiness Leads to New Purpose

 

Agatha loved to travel and took a trip on the Orient Express to Baghdad. From there, she visited the archeological dig at Ur, where she met the Woolleys, who led the excavation. Returning there the next year (1930), the Woolleys asked Max Mallowan to show her around the area. The two instantly became fast friends, despite the fourteen-year age difference (Agatha was the elder in the relationship). Soon after, Max proposed, and they were married on September 11, 1930. The happy couple fell into a new rhythm. Some of the year, they were on the archeological dig site, where Agatha became a valued member of the team. They summered in her family home in Torquay, spent Christmases with her sister, and the remainder of the year in London. During this time, she turned out two to three novels each year, including Murder on the Orient Express and many others.

Agatha and Max Mallowan on their honeymoon in Egypt.

 

Even the start of the Second World War couldn’t derail Agatha. She and Max continued in Torquay for a time, each doing their part for the war effort. Agatha returned to work in the hospital dispensary, like she had done during the earlier war, though Max was eventually sent to Cairo. Agatha hoped to find a position near her husband, but that never materialized. She continued working, moving to a different hospital as the war proceeded. Agatha’s daughter, Rosalind, married and had a son, allowing Agatha the joy of visiting her daughter and grandson often. During the course of the war, she also filled her time with writing more than ten novels.

 

A Prolific Career Winds Down

 

At the end of World War II, Agatha’s beloved Max returned home, and life resumed. The pair went back to their archaeological digs in Iraq and Syria. Agatha continued to write novels, though she slowed her pace to one novel per year. Max was elevated to new positions in the Archaeology departments of two different universities—the University of London and the British School of Archaeology in Iraq. Many of her stories were turned into stage plays (with some of the scripts being written by Agatha herself), movies, and made-for-television movies. She garnered the attention of queens and dignitaries, as well as everyday readers worldwide.

 

During World War II, she had penned the final novels for both Hurcule Poirot and Jane Marple, but tucked them away in her home’s safe, in case anything happened to her. In 1975, she pulled Curtain from the safe and let Poirot’s last book go to print. Upon this story’s release, the New York Times published an obituary of the fictional detective—the first time they’d ever done so for a made-up character.

 

Agatha Christie died on January 12, 1976, and her last novel was published later that year, along with her autobiography in 1977. All told, she wrote sixty-six detective novels and fifteen short story collections, with her sales reaching over 2 billion copies. (Only William Shakespeare and The Bible have sold more).

 

It’s Your Turn: Are you an Agatha Christie fan? If so, what is your favorite novel and/or character of hers? If you’ve not read her work, what element of her life do you find most interesting? Leave your answer below to be entered in a drawing for a copy of my latest novel, Love and Order: A Three-Part Old West Romantic Mystery.

 

At twelve, Jennifer Uhlarik swiped a western novel from her brother’s bookshelf and fell in love with the genre.  Since attaining a B.A. in writing from University of Tampa, she has published multiple westerns, finaled in and won various writing competitions, and appeared on the ECPA bestseller list numerous times. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband and fur-children. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

Love and Order: A Three-Part Old West Romantic Mystery

 

Wanted: 

Family, Love, and Justice

One Old West Mystery Solved Throughout Three Short Romantic Stories

Separated as children when they were adopted out to different families from an orphan train, the Braddock siblings have each grown up and taken on various jobs within law enforcement and criminal justice.

 

Youngest child, Callie, has pushed past her insecurities to pursue a career as a Pinkerton agent. Middle child, Andi, has spent years studying law under her adoptive father’s tutelage. And the eldest and only son, Rion, is a rough-and-tumble bounty hunter. 

 

When the hunt for a serial killer with a long history of murders reunites the brother and sisters in Cambria Springs, Colorado, they find themselves not only in a fight for justice, but also a fight to keep their newly reunited family intact. How will they navigate these challenges when further complicated by unexpected romances?

“Yes, Sir, General President!”--Part 2

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

Last month, I shared some brief details about the first five United States Presidents who had achieved the rank of General in our U.S. Armed Forces before winning their presidential elections.  This month, I wanted to share the other five with you. But before I begin, I wanted to announce the winner of last month’s drawing—and to apologize for the delay. Between some pressing family matters and bothersome technology glitches, I was unable to post the winner sooner.

 

Without further ado—last month’s winner of the “Go Away, I’m Reading!” sign is:

 

CONNIE R!

 

Connie, please leave me your email address in a comment below, and I’ll contact you privately.

 

Now, without further delay—here is part two of our list of ten American presidents who reached the rank of General before serving as President of the United States.

 

Ulysses S. Grant

Born Hiram Ulysses Grant, he became known as “Ulysses S.” because of a mistake made in his nomination to West Point, an appointment Grant’s father finagled on his behalf. At first, Grant wasn’t fond of the military life and considered quitting the prestigious military academy. But he stuck it out, graduated 21^st in his 39-member class in June 1843. His plan was to fulfill his required four years of service, then go on to a private life beyond the military. However, the Mexican-American war began during that span, and studying both Major General Zachary Taylor’s and Major General Winifred Scott’s styles during the conflict, he proved himself an innovative and capable leader. It was during this time he rose to the rank of brevet captain and decided that he could make a good life in the military. But once that war ended, he served in the military only a brief few years before resigning due to a developing issue with alcohol. It was after the first shots of the Civil War were fired that he again joined the ranks of the military, this time as a Colonel in charge of the 21^stIllinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Over and over, he proved his military acumen, although not always without controversy. But for his loyalty, shrewdness, and skill, he eventually rose to the rank of Commanding General of the U.S. Army in 1864, and it was he who negotiated the surrender of the Confederate Army to end the Civil War in April 1865. He served as Commanding General of the U.S. Army until 1869, at which point he was elected President and served two terms fraught with problems and scandals.

 

Rutherford B. Hayes

Hayes attended Harvard Law School and became a lawyer of meager-to-moderate success. But when Fort Sumter was fired upon, beginning the Civil War, Hayes resolved any issues he had in his own mind about the coming war and, instead, joined a volunteer company, where he was promoted to rank of major. He distinguished himself in battle during the length of the war, suffering more than one injury and also having a horse shot out from under him. By October 1864, he’d reached the rank of brevet major general, and at the war’s end the following April, he mustered out of the army. Ulysses S. Grant said of Hayes, “his conduct on the field was marked by conspicuous gallantry as well as the display of qualities of a higher order than that of mere personal daring.” Hayes went on to a career in politics, serving as a U.S. Representative for Ohio, governor of the same state, and eventually President after a very disputed election. One of his first acts as President in 1877 was to end the Reconstruction Era.

 

James A. Garfield

After his father’s death, poverty defined James Garfield’s early days. By age 16, he left home to work on a canal boat, but only a short time later, he was forced to return home due to illness. It was during this time that his mother elicited his promise that he would attend one year of school, which he fulfilled—then went on to pursue college, read for the law, and serve a year in Ohio’s senate. Once the Civil War broke out, he remained in the senate long enough to help muster troops and procure weapons, then received a commission in the 42^nd Ohio Infantry at the rank of colonel. He distinguished himself in January 1862 at the Battle of Middle Creek, and for his valor there, was promoted to brigadier general. Illness struck soon after, sending him home to recuperate, and when he returned, it was to the position of chief of staff to Major General William H. Rosencrans. By late 1863, he’d been elected to the United States Congress, a position he was reluctant to take until President Abraham Lincoln convinced him it was the right move. He remained there for some years and eventually ran for a won the presidency in 1881. Unfortunately, his term was cut short when Charles J. Guiteau shot him on July 2, 1881. Though he lingered until September 18 of the same year, he ultimately died of infection.

 

Benjamin Harrison

The second oldest of ten children, Benjamin Harrison was born in Ohio—the grandson of Former President William Henry Harrison. He graduated Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 1852, married, and moved to Indiana, where he practiced law until 1862. At that point, he heard a call from President Lincoln for more Union Army recruits, and he answered by agreeing to help recruit a regiment. He was commissioned as a colonel in said regiment after turning down the command, since he had no military background. He earned a reputation as a strong leader and was well respected by his men. Because of his success in Resaca and Peachtree Creek, President Lincoln nominated him for the rank of brevet brigadier general, and Congress confirmed that nomination shortly before the war’s end. After the war’s end, Harrison returned to practicing law, as well as won election to the position of reporter of the Indiana Supreme Court—a position he'd held before the war, as well. He served in the U.S. Senate from 1881 to 1887, and won the presidency in 1888. He served for four years

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Known affectionately as “Ike”, Dwight D. Eisenhower is the only U.S. President who was also a general since the Civil War era. Eisenhower was a West Point graduate in 1915, and despite requesting to serve in Europe during World War I, ended up commanding a unit that trained tank crews. After that war, he achieved the rank of brigadier general, and went on to serve in the second World War. During his time in World War II, he oversaw the invasions of North Africa, Sicily, France, and Germany. After the war’s end, he served as military governor of American-occupied Germany, served as Army Chief of Staff for three years, and was the very first Supreme Commander of NATO. He won the 1952 and 1956 elections, both in landslides.

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband and two furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

AVAILABLE NOW

 

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

 

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

 

 

The Christmas Night that Went Silent

 By Sherri Stewart

It happened on parts of the Western front on Christmas Eve in 1914 that the soldiers from Great Britain, Belgium, and France climbed out of their trenches and spent the day celebrating with their German enemies. Just a few months into a war that would eventually claim over 15 million lives, the enemies put down their rifles for a few hours and remembered the Prince of Peace.

sandiegofreepress.org

No one knows where it all began or who was responsible. Pope Benedict XV had called for a Christmas ceasefire. German Emperor William II may have contributed to the holiday atmosphere when he sent Christmas trees to the front in an effort to bolster morale. Nevertheless, more than half of the troops along the Western Front are believed to have participated in the temporary truce. Some suggest the truce began with the singing of a Christmas carol. It was a beautiful night—a dust of snow covering the area. Graham Williams of the Fifth London Rifle Brigade said, “First the Germans would sing one of their carols, and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words ‘Adeste Fideles.’ And I thought, well, this is really a most extraordinary thing—two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.” 

stmuscholars.org

The next morning, German soldiers came out of their trenches, calling out “Merry Christmas” in English. Some even held up signs reading “You no shoot, we no shoot.” At first the Allied troops were dubious. Was this just a ruse to get them out? But finally, the troops’ need to celebrate Christmas overtook their reticence, and they spent the day exchanging gifts of cigarettes, food, buttons, and hats with German troops. The detente also allowed both sides to bury their dead with honor. Others celebrated by playing soccer or even getting their hair cut.

 

todayinhistory.blog

Yet not everybody was in favor of the Christmas truce of 1914. To some, cavorting with the enemy was in direct opposition to the troops’ superiors and to the countries they served. When Adolph Hitler, Corporal of the 16^th Bavarians, heard about the Christmas truce, he replied, “Have you no German sense of honor?” The problem was one of proximity—that No Man’s Land spread just one-hundred feet in some places, which meant Allied soldiers could hear their enemies conversing and joking and could even smell their cooking. It must have been difficult to maintain aggression when one’s enemy had a voice and a face.

In the days following Christmas, fighting returned to the Western Front, although the truce lasted until after New Year’s Day in some areas. While the truce could not have succeeded without the endorsement of junior officers on both sides, British and German generals quickly took steps to prevent any further episodes of socializing with the enemy. Still, there weren’t any punishments linked to the events of the Christmas truce. Senior commanders likely recognized the disastrous effect that such a move would have on morale in the trenches. Attempts to revive the truce on Christmas Day 1915 were quashed, and there were no subsequent widespread cease-fires on the Western Front until the armistice of November 1918. 

www.historicalfirearms.info

Over a century later, the Christmas truce has been remembered as a testament to the power of a Savior born into a world to bring peace where there is darkness. Children can read about the truce in Michael Foreman’s War Game, and the films, Joyeux Noel, and Oh, What a Lovely War! celebrate the event. In 2014, Prince William unveiled a memorial: The frame of a soccer ball with two hands clasped inside it. A few days later, the truce was commemorated with a soccer game between German and British Army teams. https://www.britannica.com/event/The-Christmas-Truce

www.goal.com

Selah Award finalist Sherri Stewart loves a clean novel, sprinkled with romance and a strong message that challenges her faith. She spends her working hours with books—either editing others’ manuscripts or writing her own. Her passions are traveling to the settings of her books and sampling the food. She traveled to Paris for this book, and she works daily on her French and German although she doesn’t need to since everyone speaks English. A widow, Sherri lives in Orlando with her lazy dog, Lily. She shares recipes, tidbits of the book’s locations, and other authors' books in her newsletter.
Subscribe at http://eepurl.com/gZ-mv9

What Hides behind the Walls

If the Nazis stole your house, wouldn’t you be justified in stealing it back now that the war is over?

When Tamar Feldman admits to her husband, Daniel, and mentor, Neelie Visser, that she broke into her former home, they scold her for taking such a risk. Tamar is tired of being careful. She’s tired of living in the present, as if the past doesn’t matter. But the painting of the violin girl in her former bedroom draws her back again and again. She finally steals the painting to return it to its former owner. Now maybe this small act of justice will help her start to heal. What Tamar doesn’t realize is the past isn’t finished with her yet; in fact, it’s as close as the walls in her house and even follows her to Paris.
https://amzn.to/3fxHAHo

The Fake News Scare of World War I

By Pamela S Meyers

The term “fake news” is in our current vocabulary a lot these days, but did you know that as far back as World War I, an important announcement about the war was later said to be false?

On the afternoon of November 7, 1918, news broke that World War I was over and an armistice had been signed in France. War-weary people the world over rejoiced at the news and began celebrating.

Headline Prematurely Announcing the End of the War
Source: Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1918-11-07/ed-1/seq-1/#words=Ended%2Bend%2BEnd%2BWar%2Bwar

When the announcement reached Great Britain, workers streamed into the streets, leaving their work and began what would be an all-night celebration. Likewise, when the news wire arrived a short time later in New York City and traveled west from there, people started dancing in the streets and rejoicing. It had been a very long and debilitating war that cost many lives and terrible injuries. At last, it was over.

Source of Photo: https://www.history.com/news/false-armistice-report-world-war-i-early-celebration

The next morning, the celebrants woke up with terrible hangovers, to the news that it was all a mistake, and the war was still on. People were angry and blamed everyone from the U.S. government to the governments of the Allies. As they trudged back to their jobs and daily routines, conspiracy theories abounded.

Of course, on November 11, 1918, the news declared that the actual armistice was signed in a railroad car in France, and people celebrated all over again. In time, for the most part, the fake news that had misled them was forgotten.

How did such a thing happen? If you want a full detail-by-detail account as to the why, you can read it here. But, in a nutshell, the wheels were already turning for a summit between Germany and the Allies to end the war. In order for the German officials to safely make their way into France for the meeting, a local cease-fire was ordered so the contingent could securely pass through the front line. As the wires went out about this, the word cease-fire tripped off a misunderstanding, and, like the old telephone game many of us played at birthday parties, when the information reached the papers, the announcement read that the war was over.

When I read about this while researching World War I for my next novel, I couldn’t help but think about how much fake news is mentioned today. Nothing is new under the sun. Right?

Of course, this event made its way into my book, Tranquility Point, which will release next year.

Have you ever learned something unique about the past? If so, please share!

Sources: History.com and Centenary News.com

Pamela has written most of her life, beginning with her first diary at age eight. Her novels include Surprised by Love in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and Second Chance Love. Safe Refuge and Shelter Bay, Books 1 & 2 in her Newport of the West series, are set in her hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. She lives in northeastern Illinois with her two rescue cats.