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Tom Adams' Agatha Christie Cover Story
(1981 - Paper Tiger)

Notice that this same book was sold in America as AGATHA CHRISTIE - THE ART OF HER CRIMES - THE PAINTINGS OF TOM ADAMS and is probably easier to purchase under that title. Tom Adams painted many book covers, but his 20 year 'run' of illuminating Agatha Christie mysteries (often more than once) cemented his association with her, standing out from his other output. So this book focuses *only* on that - and, due to the mysterious vanishings of some originals, still isn't able to exhibit all the paintings involved. The authoress gets her share of attention in this volume, leading to there being more text than you might imagine, at least 30 pages, not counting that which slips in on some of the art pages. Not to say that the text is only about Dame Agatha, but rather explicating how Adams's designed paintings relate to each of her stories they accompany (about half in the artist's own words). Out of this 144-page book, there are 108 art-pages, only five presenting more than one piece at a time. Also, 24 pages of those art-pages are utilized to present 12 large images that are displayed over the book's central gutter - surprisingly, all of them remain satisfactory in that display. The works are broken down into chapters titled: Miss Marple & Mayhem, Poirot & Poison, Sins Of The Fathers, Something Nasty In The Nursery, The Darker Side Of Village Life, Out & About With Murder, and A Mixed Bag.