It's a mystery !!

[ON THE ROAD]

Which was the first Agatha Christie novel, not to have a female suspect ?
Thanks

[Mr Veritas]

Well,one of the earliest of her novels is a Poirot,
THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES
Written in 1920.
However although this has a male suspect(and murderer) Alfred Inglethorp,he does have a female accomplice,who is Evelyn Howard;so this may exclude it for you.
For a solitary male suspect we have to turn to THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD
written in 1926 where the suspect/murdere is Dr James Sheppard,who by the way is a close friend of Poirot!
This is the novel that got Christie into trouble,because the murdere is also the narrator,and at that time to have such a plot device was considered underhand as it deceived the reader.
If course after she had done it,many other writers used the same device.
None of the short stories,not the Miss MArple books (written some time later than the Poirot's) seem to have male suspects etc before 1920(or 1926,if you want a sole male).
Have a look at this excellent Christie site:~
http://www.gbtamc.co.uk/et/index.php?id=674

[ON THE ROAD]

Thanks very much Mr Veritas and it is an excellent site. The problem I have with this question is that as far as I can remember in nearly every novel there are males and females, and that potentially everyone was considered a suspect to create as many red herrings as possible, and thereby create a good mystery. So my problem is the wording of the question and what it is that they are after( i.e murderer rather than suspect.) P.S. I have recorded the question exactly as it is worded. Thanks again for your interest

[Mr Veritas]

I agree.
If they mean an actual suspect,as opposed to the real murderer,this may be almost impossible to answer.
If the wording is so vague,and they actually mean the suspect who is revealed as the murderer then they are not asking the question correctly.
I cannot think of any Agatha Christie novel that DOESN'T have a female suspect(non murderer) in it,so I would think they mean the suspect who is revealed as the murderer?

Now a question of my own~
What do
Mary Clarissa Miller
Mrs Christie
&
Lady Mallowan
have in common?




They are ALL Agatha Christie.
She was actually born Agatha Mary etc(I took off the Agatha as it would have given it to you)
She worked in her youth in a hospital pharmacy,which accounts for all the poisons in her works! LOL
She was married to Archibald(Archie) Christie (1914-1928)
When she divorced him she kep her married name as it was the one she was famous under,and thought that a new name would injure her following novels.
She married as her 2nd husband,until her death in 1976 to:~
Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan, CBE (6 May 1904 – 19 August 1978) was a prominent British archaeologist.

[Mr Veritas]

http://www.agathachri...ignature-Close-Up.jpg

[ON THE ROAD]

Thanks again Mr.Veritas you are obviously a fan of Mrs C. and when I have finished this quiz I will read up on the info you have provided, and do it justice,(no pun) as it seems very interesting. Cheers