Agatha Christie’s work has been adapted extensively resulting in transformations that are both textual and cultural. While many adaptations are best known for being quaint murder mysteries, there are many adaptations of her work that draw on horror aesthetics. This book will look at how the growth of Agatha Christie adaptations have grown increasingly darker. Of key relevance to this study is the work of Sarah Phelps, whose Witness for the Prosecution, And Then There Were None, Ordeal by Innocence, The ABC Murders and The Pale Horse all are darker than their precedents. Born out of their contemporary screen contexts, they use entrenched literary and filmic codes of Gothic horror as central reference points for audiences. Drawing on adaptation scholarship, where adapters are interpreters as well as creators, this study will look at how Agatha Christie is closer to Gothic horror than what we realise.

Poisoning occurs in over half of Agatha Christie's many novels and stories. In fact, she used a larger number and broader selection of poisons and medicines, for a wider variety of purposes, with greater frequency, ingenuity, and scientific accuracy than any other detective fiction writer. Yet very little has been written on the use of drugs, poisons, and chemicals in Christie's fiction.

The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie entertainingly and authoritatively fills this gap. Michael Gerald explores the use of poisons and drugs in Christie's fiction not only to commit murder and suicide but also to incapacitate a victim, alter behavior, treat disease, or support addiction. He also analyzes her views, as expressed in her fiction and autobiography, on drug addiction, the health professions, the value of medicines, and scientific discoveries.

Especially valuable is Gerald's exhaustive listing of all drugs, poisons, and chemicals mentioned in Christie's novels and stories, with references to the work(s) in which each appears and the ways in which each is used. Other tables list all the novels and short stories and the chemicals that are used in each. Throughout, the properties of all drugs are clearly explained so that the reader needs no special scientific or medical knowledge.

The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie illuminates the fictional uses Christie made of her real-life experiences as a hospital drug dispenser and as a provider of nursing care. It will be of interest to fans and scholars alike.