A couple of weeks ago I set a picture quiz on my blog, in which blog readers had the fiendish task of deciding which Agatha Christie titles were hiding behind the eponymous keyholes. If you have not had the chance yet to give the quiz a go then…
Here is a link to the original post.
If however you have lost countless nights sleep trying to figure out which Agatha Christie titles were used in the quiz, then keep reading…
Keyhole Number 1
Answer: Sparkling Cyanide
The image comes from the UK first edition cover.
Keyhole Number 2
Answer: The Big Four
The image comes from William Morrow & Co Reissue edition in 2011.
Keyhole Number 3
Answer: A Caribbean Mystery
The image comes from the Fontana paperback edition.
Keyhole Number 4
Answer: N or M?
This image comes from the Dell edition of the book and like some of you I too am puzzled as to why there is an onion on the cover!
Keyhole Number 5
Answer: And Then There Were None
This was probably the trickiest title to figure out as the cover used was not one that has been used on a published edition of the book. This cover is designed by Don Welch. What drew me to the image was that it focused on an object which kicks off the nightmarish experiences for the characters. It is not an object which has received much attention on other covers, but it is a crucial part of the book’s plot.
Keyhole Number 6
Answer: Death on the Nile
This cover is from the dustjacket of the UK first edition.
Keyhole Number 7
Answer: Third Girl
This Pan cover was chosen for its bizarre choice of images.
Keyhole Number 8
Answer: Sad Cypress
This is a Dell Mapback edition.
Keyhole Number 9
Answer: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
This is a Fontana edition.
Keyhole Number 10
Answer: The Murder on the Links
This is another Dell edition, although not a mapback one.
So how many did you get right? Which cover is your favourite? Are there any which would put you off buying them?
crossexaminingcrime 
Some of these are utterly bizarre! Although I was a big fan of the Fontana covers in my teens, when I first discovered Agatha Christie. A friend’s mum had quite a lot of these…
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Yes it does make you wonder what the design brief was with some of these covers.
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Don’t shoot me for crimes against bookcovers, but I have had to cover some of my paperbacks with wrapping paper, because I find the covers too gory!!! I’m afraid I only got a couple of these and guessed ‘probables’ for a couple more – although, to be fair, I don’t think anyone could get 7 unless they actually had a copy of that cover!!!
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Yes some covers can be really unappealing. Which imprint would you say is the worst for gory covers?
Seven is an insane cover, no idea what the artist was thinking!
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I think I would vote for Fontana as the worst – the best are just weird, the worst are really gruesome!
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Even though I love her novels and your awesome game, I’m not good at it, though some are pretty obvious. Thanks for doing that type of posts
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You’re welcome!
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All I could see in A Caribbean Mystery was a face that looked like Rodney Dangerfield. A few of them I got, but that was all.
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Haha, now I can’t unsee that!
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The Third Girl cover is gobsmackingly horrible. I may have nightmares.
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Yes I agree, it is pretty horrific.
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Hmm, the onion on the cover of N or M has started a brain niggle – I think there WAS something to do with onions in the plot, but I no longer have a copy of the book. If anyone has read it recently, could you put me out of my misery? I’m racking my brains to remember why the onion was included!
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haha yes put me out of my misery too!
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Only got nr 10, which was the easiest to guess. Nr 6 did look vaguely Egyptian, but I had a false memory that I had seen a similar cover for Murder in Mesompotamia, and I thought it could be some other ancient ruin.
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Yes there are a few Middle eastern set ones, so it would be understandable mixing the two up.
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My score on your previous keyhole quiz was 0 but I really enjoyed this quiz!
Some were easy, I own the 2 Fontana books for a start but those last few were really difficult. Enjoyed the research. A few of them could be one of several titles. So happy when I finally found #5!
That Third Girl cover would put me off. Fontana covers were definitely my favourites, probably Dell my least favourite.
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Yes The Third Girl one is the least appealing to me.
Glad you enjoyed the quiz. It was fun putting it together, looking at the different styles of artwork. I am kind of fond of a dell mapback though – maps are good!
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Yes I do like maps and especially house floorplans
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