"A real-life detective story, investigating how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction, writing books casting new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors' darkest secrets."--Publisher's description.

Spans much of the modern history of the mystery genre and, along with it, many of the political and social changes from the classical detective story, the World War II spy story, and the Cold War thriller to postmodern detective and spy adventures and the politics of terrorism and confrontation of the twenty-first century.