無可爭議的偵探小說女王，偵探文學史上最偉大的作傢之一。

阿加莎•剋裏斯蒂原名為阿加莎•瑪麗•剋拉麗莎•米勒，一八九○年九月十五日生於英國德文郡托基的阿什菲爾德宅邸。她幾乎沒有接受過正規的教育，但酷愛閱讀，尤其癡迷於歇洛剋•福爾摩斯的故事。

第一次世界大戰期間，阿加莎•剋裏斯蒂成瞭一名誌願者。戰爭結束後，她創作瞭自己的第一部偵探小說《斯泰爾斯莊園奇案》。幾經周摺，作品於一九二○正式齣版，由此開啓瞭剋裏斯蒂輝煌的創作生涯。一九二六年，《羅傑疑案》由哈珀柯林斯齣版公司齣版。這部作品一舉奠定瞭阿加莎•剋裏斯蒂在偵探文學領域不可撼動的地位。之後，她又陸續齣版瞭《東方快車謀殺案》、《ABC 謀殺案》、《尼羅河上的慘案》、《無人生還》、《陽光下的罪惡》等膾炙人口的作品。時至今日，這些作品依然是世界偵探文學寶庫裏最寶貴的財富。根據她的小說改編而成的舞颱劇《捕鼠器》，已經成為世界上公演場次最多的劇目；而在影視改編方麵，《東方快車謀殺案》為英格麗•褒曼斬獲奧斯卡大奬，《尼羅河上的慘案》更是成為瞭幾代人心目中的經典。

阿加莎•剋裏斯蒂的創作生涯持續瞭五十餘年，總共創作瞭八十部偵探小說。她的作品暢銷全世界一百多個國傢和地區，纍計銷量已經突破二十億冊。她創造的小鬍子偵探波洛和老處女偵探馬普爾小姐為讀者津津樂道。阿加莎•剋裏斯蒂是柯南•道爾之後最偉大的偵探小說作傢，是偵探文學黃金時代的開創者和集大成者。一九七一年，英國女王授予剋裏斯蒂爵士稱號，以錶彰其不朽的貢獻。

一九七六年一月十二日，阿加莎•剋裏斯蒂逝世於英國牛津郡沃靈福德傢中，被安葬於牛津郡的聖瑪麗教堂墓園，享年八十五歲。

Victoria Jones was a shorthand typist, though she was actually out of a job more often than she was in one. Not only was she an indifferent typist, but she had an insatiable craving for excitement which often led her to choose drama at the expense of truth, a tendency which did not exactly fit her for ordinary office life. Owing to a slight difference of opinion with her latest employer, Victoria was again unemployed when fate stepped in. A chance encounter set her off in pursuit of glorious adventure and an attractive young man.

Baghdad by air, a post with a mysterious organization that existed for the betterment of world relations, three words uttered by a dying man, and Victoria was caught in the relentless toils of international intrigue, with evil, violence, and deadly peril as her close companions.

They Came to Baghdad, with its exciting background of mystery and espionage, is one of Agatha Christie's most absorbing novels.

In these days of increased awareness of the Middle East, it's fascinating to hear Agatha Christie's view of Iraq just after WWII. Albeit, one learns about Iraq by way of a mystery story featuring archaeologists, British agents, and a plucky English girl, but that just means one is learning while being entertained. One wishes that the narration were quite as good as the far-fetched but engaging plot. The difficulty is not the narration per se, which Emilia Fox reads beautifully. She also supplies an appealing, believable voice for Victoria, the Cockney heroine. It's most of the (many) male characters that give difficulty, for in seeking to give each a unique character-driven voice, Fox often makes them sound squeaky. As a result, many of the male characters have higher pitched voices than the female characters. This distracts from an otherwise admirable reading of a delightful entertainment. A.C.S.

length: (cm)21.8 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)14.8