Agatha christie 1890-1976 (cozy detective fiction)

The woman who has become one of the most popular and prolific of all English detective novelists, acknowledged throughout the world as the Queen of Crime Fiction, Agatha Christie, gained popularity largely, it would seem, by virtue of the skillfully engineered complexity of her plots. Among the books by Agatha Christie are Murder on the Links (1923), Elephants Can Remember (1972) and many others.

Once, after reading in a magazine that she was "the world's most mysterious woman," Agatha Christie complained to her agent: "What do they suggest I am! A Bank Robber or a Bank Robber's wife? I'm an ordinary successful hard-working author - like any other author." Her success was not exactly ordinary. Her seventy-six detective novels and books of stories have been translated into every major language.

Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, also known as Dame Agatha Christie, was born in Torquay, Devon, to an American father and an English mother in 1890 and began writing at the end of the First World War. In her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), she created the now-famous vivacious little Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, the most popular sleuth in fiction since Sherlock Holmes. Poirot and Miss Marples have also been portrayed in the many films, radio programmes and stage plays based on her books.

In 1926 her novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was published. It is considered to be one of her best works due to its most original non-traditional concept for detective novels - the story is narrated by Dr.Sheppard.

Agatha Christie was also the author of six romantic novels, written under the pseudonym of Mary Westmacott, and a book of poems and several plays. One of her plays, The Mousetrap, opened in London in 1952 and is still running.

Postern of Fate was the last book she wrote before her death in 1976, but in 1975 Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, which she had written in the 1940's, was published for the first time.

She became Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956 and Dame of the British Empire in 1971.

The major works of the second half of the XX c.: 1949 Crooked House, 1950 A Murder is Announced, 1954 Destination Unknown (also known as So Many Steps to Death), 1955 Hickory Dickory Dock (also known as Hickory Dickory Death), 1961 The Pale Horse, 1963 The Clocks, 1969 Hallowe'en Party.

James Hadley Chase 1906-1985 (hard-boiled detective fiction)

James Hadley Chase is a pseudonym for British author Rene Brabazon Raymond who also wrote under the names James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant and Raymond Marshall. Chase wrote most of his books using a dictionary of American slang, detailed maps, encyclopedias and reference books on the American underworld. Most of the books were based on events occurring in the United States, even though, he never really lived in the United States, save for two brief visits to Miami and New Orleans.

In several of Chase's stories the protagonist tries to find his place in the sun by committing a crime - an insurance fraud or a theft. But the scheme fails and leads to a murder and finally to a cul-de-sac, in which the hero realizes that he never had a chance to keep out of trouble. Women are often beautiful, clever, and treacherous; they kill unhesitatingly if they have to cover a crime. His plots typically centre around dysfunctional families and the final denouement jusifies the title.

Major works: 1959 - The World In My Pocket, 1960 - What's Better Than Money.

IAN FLEMING 1908-1964 (spy detective fiction)

Ian Lancaster Fleming was an English author and journalist, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as the children's story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Ian Fleming was born in Mayfair, London, to Valentine Fleming, a Member of Parliament, and his wife Eve Fleming (née Rose).

Fleming's Bond novels were never wildly successful, but when President John F. Kennedy included From Russia With Love on a list of his favorite books, sales quickly jumped. Fleming wrote 14 Bond books in all: Casino Royale (1953), Live and Let Die (1954), Moonraker (1955), Diamonds are Forever (1956), From Russia With Love (1957), Dr. No (1958), Goldfinger (1959), For Your Eyes Only (1960), Thunderball (1961), The Spy Who Loved Me (1962), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963), You Only Live Twice (1964), The Man With The Golden Gun (1965), and Octopussy/The Living Daylights (1966).