| Anyone with even a faint interest in murder mysteries can recognize the core tenets of the whodunnit: the sudden murder, the isolated setting, the eccentric detective, the interrogations, the revelation. It’s an imperishable formula, the creation of which is credited to Agatha Christie, the so-called Queen of Crime. Over the course of her career, Christie wrote sixty-six detective novels, which have been translated into approximately forty-five languages and have sold more than two billion copies. She is said to be the most widely read novelist in history. Her work has also been adapted into countless television shows, movies, plays, and even video games. The latest film adaptation, “A Haunting in Venice,” starring Kenneth Branagh as the mustachioed sleuth Hercule Poirot, will be released in theatres on Friday, coinciding with Christie’s birthday. In 2010, Joan Acocella wrote about the beloved novelist for The New Yorker, reflecting on her impact on the murder mystery and the enduring appeal and pleasures of the genre. Although Christie’s work hews closely to a familiar pattern, Acocella writes, closer reading reveals her sharp social satire, proto-feminism, and fiendish comic streak. Yet Christie’s legacy goes beyond the words themselves. “With Christie,” Acocella writes,“we are dealing not so much with a literary figure as with a broad cultural phenomenon, like Barbie or the Beatles.” | 
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