Posted 6:47 PM by Floyd

I have just finished reading the third Harry Potter book, The Prisoner of Azkaban. The glowing reviews in the paperback's front and back pages praise author Rowling as another great children's fantasy writer. For instance, a Publisher's Weekly review quoted in The Sorcerer's Stone: "dances in the footsteps of P.L. Travers and Roald Dahl." But I think that Rowling is the scion not of these authors but of mystery writer Agatha Christie.

Three devices that make Christie mystery novels entertaining are also present in the Harry Potter series. First, the obvious is never the real explanation. Second, seemingly unimportant events turn out to have great significance. Third, there is the same fascination with hidden relationships -- in a typical Christie novel there is always some son or daughter or husband or wife lurking around under an assumed name.