The appeal of her literary output which deals mainly of crime and detection cuts through the generation gap. A doddering old man or his mobile toting grandson would read with almost equal interest Chiristie's "And Then There Were None" a novel which has a series of murders in an uninhabited island.

An author whose works are truly unputdownable rewrote the art of crime detection. She excelled in variety as amply displayed in "A Cat Among Pigeons" set in the background of a girls hostel in England or "The Halloween Party" in which a father is caught just as he was about to kill his daughter with a comparison drawn with Iliad where Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphgenia before setting sail to bring back Helen from Troy.

It is a dog who is the carrier of hush money in a compilation of short stories titled "Labours of Hercules" And there are instances of typical British humour enlivening her works.

Hercule Poirot, the foppish Belgian sleuth learning that this dog understands the changing of traffic lights remarks " In that case he is more intelligent than most human beings" . It is a wry take of Christie on human intelligence which never fails to tickle the readers.

The humour apart, the plots Christie wove around people like you and me are continued to be admired decades after her passing. Poirot, an immortal fictional creation of Christie finds out a killer imprisoned in a snowbound train in Murder in The Orient Express. And it is neither by fisticuffs nor slinging a gun has anything to do with Poirot getting his man. In the Belgian detective's own words it is the work of the "little grey cells”.

The bold conclusion of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd shocked and divided the critics. But the readers were all praise as they marvelled at Christie's skills in rewriting the rules of detective fiction. It was a world of country houses, opulent drawing rooms and quaint English villages which formed the backdrop of many of Christie's works.. But the digital generation can easily delve into this lost world.

Christie's works challenge the head and the heart, in that order. Never are these stories symbols of stagnant relics. Sitting down with a Christie paperback is not an idle mode of relaxation. It is an opportunity to hone the intellect, weigh hints and doubt appearances which often turn out to be deceptive. Christie is a unique storyteller. Way back in 1920, she introduced Hercule Poirot in her debut novel The Mysterious Affairs at Styles.

Thus began Christie's voyage into intricate plots. The stories she churned out were unexpected, deliberate and always captivating. Miss Marple was introduced in a series of short stories that began publication in 1927. They came out under the title Thirteen Problems.

Unlike Poirot, Miss Marple solved crimes using analogies of an English village life. She appeared in 12 novels and 20 stories. Her other sleuths were Tommy and Tuppence. Christie treated them with a lighter touch and gave them "dash and verve" which the critics did not approve.

Parker Pyne is a lesser known Christie character. The retired civil servant assists unhappy people in an unconventional manner. Her stories involve the readers to be participants in the investigation. Arguably this is how her works keep succeeding generations hooked.

Unlike a film or television show which sweeps the viewers with light and speed, Christie's works demand attention. A casual glance or an apparently unimportant object can turn out to be key to solving a murder mystery.

Christie's works foster curiosity. And unlike a potboiler, her works have to be patiently savoured and the exhilarating joy of discovering truth lies at the end of the journey. The plot of each and every one of her works is unique and ingenious. They serve as a mirror to human nature and evil lurks not much below the surface.

There is a collective gasp of surprise though not quite audible as her devotees pay their homage going through one work or the other. For when the truth is finally revealed, it turns out to be unpleasant. Small wonder, her works have been translated into 100 languages. And they have sold billions of copies and continue to garner devotees across the globe. (IPA Service)