Easy English
VANESSA CLARK führt ein Gespräch mit einer Sammlerin von Detektivgeschichten – und präsentiert passendes Hintergrundwissen auf Sprachniveau A2.
A CONVERSATION WITH ANGELA LEEMAN
Here, we present interesting lives from around the Englishspeaking world. This time, we talk to Angela Leeman, who collects detective stories.
What sort of detective stories do you like best?
I like all crime fiction, but I especially love books from the golden age of detective fiction, from the 1930s and 1940s. Agatha Christie is my favourite, of course. For me, she’s the absolute queen of crime.
Why do you love them so much?
I love the world of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. The country houses, the old-fashioned villages, the ladies in hats, the slow pace of life. It’s all very warm and cosy. Yes, people are murdered, but apart from that, it’s very cosy!
Do you ever reread a detective story, even though you already know the identity of the murderer?
At my age, I can easily forget who did it! It’s actually quite interesting to read them a second time. You can see how cleverly the author put the clues in.
When did you start collecting detective stories?
I started reading detective stories when I was about 12. I had a nice little collection, but my mother threw it out. I slowly replaced all my lost books from second-hand bookshops, but then I didn’t stop! I never buy new books, and I never buy them online – that’s cheating!
FASCINATING FACTS
...about detective stories:
In 1929, a writer called Ronald Knox made a list of rules for stories in the golden age of detective fiction. Here are some of them:
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The murderer must be in the story from the early chapters.
⋅ ⋅
The detective can’t be the murderer. ⋅ The detective can’t just guess.
The detective must share all the clues ⋅ with the reader.
The detective’s assistant must be less ⋅ intelligent than the reader.
No more than one secret door is ⋅ allowed.
No twins or doppelgangers are ⋅ allowed.
There should be no “Chinaman”.*
* The mysterious character from a foreign land was a cliché of cheap books at that time. In modern English, we say “Chinese man”, not “Chinaman”.