Hercule Poirot, still the world’s most loved detective, turns 100

The success of the 'funny foreigner' schtick with unsuspecting English plays into Agatha Christie’s larger exploration of Englishness in her books.

Christopher Pittard, The Conversation

· Jan 27, 2021 · 05:30 pm

How some crime writers are making the lives of forensic scientists a nightmare

Detective stories are showing that forensic evidence isn’t always conclusive, but no one likes hearing that.

Aliki Varvogli, The Conversation

· Sep 16, 2017 · 05:30 pm

In a British author’s crowdfunded book, Bond and Holmes are no match for a Punjabi private eye

Journalist and writer Tarquin Hall is back as Vish Puri. And he has a bone to pick with Sherlock Holmes.

Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri

· Aug 08, 2017 · 02:30 pm

How Rowan Atkinson has been brilliantly miscast (or the strange case of Inspector Maigret)

Mr Bean now plays the philosophical, world-weary detective created by Georges Simenon.

Anvar Alikhan

· Jun 30, 2017 · 01:30 pm

Before Stieg Larsson and Keigo Higashino, it was Raymond Chandler who transformed detective fiction

‘Neither of the two people in the room paid any attention to the way I came in, although only one of them was dead.’

Nicholas Rixon

· Apr 29, 2017 · 08:30 am

Go goyenda! A guide to the Bengali detectives who made it to the screen and the ones who need to

The Bengali detective is box office manna in Kolkata, and producers are snapping up rights for some of the most memorable characters.

Jash Sen

· Dec 18, 2016 · 01:30 pm

Five reasons you must discover the 19th century Russian James Bond: Erast Fandorin

Policeman, sleuth, heartbreaker, the hero is a literary legend of noir in his own right.

Jash Sen

· Oct 18, 2015 · 10:30 am

Why ‘And Then There Were None’ has been voted the best Agatha Christie novel ever

On her 125th birth anniversary, the book beat both ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’.

Jash Sen

· Sep 16, 2015 · 08:30 am

Why Agatha Christie still reigns: seven reasons other than the ones you knew

Detective and crime fiction have changed beyond recognition, but the creator of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple gains new readers every day.

Jash Sen

· Aug 22, 2015 · 01:30 pm

Nine Byomkesh Bakshi stories to read as you watch Dibakar Banerjee’s film

One film can only tell so many stories. Here are the must-reads featuring the Bengali detective.

Jash Sen

· Mar 28, 2015 · 09:00 am

Five reasons why Satyajit Ray’s detective Feluda is eternal

Pradosh C Mitter, aka Feluda, the detective created by Satyajit Ray, is a favourite not just in the original Bengali versions but also in translation.

Jash Sen

· Mar 14, 2015 · 07:30 am

Byomkesh Bakshi from books to movies: five things to remember

What film directors should keep in mind when adapting the classic adventures.

Jash Sen

· Jan 24, 2015 · 07:15 am