Agatha Christie's Own Mystery
On March 1, 1932 aviation hero Charles Lingbergh’s son was kidnapped from their home in New Jersey (1). Meanwhile, across the globe, murder-mystery novelist Agatha Christie drew inspiration from the abduction that had made headlines internationally (2). In room 411 of the Pera Palace hotel, Christie set to work on what was to become her best-selling mystery: Murder on the Orient Express. Christie did actually ride on the Simplon Orient Express train to make it to Istanbul, because in the early 1930s, that train ran between Calias, Paris, and Istanbul daily—this was the train that the novel was set on (3).
The hotel itself was made a public sensation after Christie’s death when a Los Angeles medium, in speaking to Christie’s ghost, discovered a clue that would have explained the author’s own disappearance from 1926 (4). Room 411 has itself become a lieux de memoire for it represents not only Christie’s own mysterious past, but also for the city of Istanbul. Christie’s novel is staged in Istanbul, and the room in the Pera Palace draws tourists and fans to the city so that they can immerse themselves in what is advertised as the birthplace of her most thrilling book. The memories associated with room 411 of the Pera Palace hotel are aglow with the mystery of Christie’s novel and her own life, giving an ethereal air to the hotel as a place.
1. History.com Staff. "Lindbergh Baby Kidnapped." History.com (2009): n. pag. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.
2. "Murder on the Orient Express." Agatha Christie. Agatha Christie Limited, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.
3. By the 1920s and 30s There Were a Whole Inter-connecting. "The Orient Express . . ." A History of the Orient Express. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2
4. Genc, Kaya. "The Mystery of Room 411, Where Agatha Christie Stayed." Daily Sabah. The Daily Sabah, 14 July 2014. Web. 05 Nov. 2016.
5. City, By. "Agatha Christie King Room." Pera Palace Hotel, Jumeirah, Istanbul. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.
6. Macaskill, Hilary. "Night at the 'Museum-Hotel': The Istanbul Gem Dripping With History and Elegance." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 03 Oct. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.