When Hack was contemplating writing a rip-off of Agatha Christie’s long-running play The Mousetrap, he learned that his cover artist Jonny M. had once played Christopher Wren in a successful production of the show. So, he based the thinly veiled imitation of the Wren character on Jonny and included thinly veiled imitations of the other personalities in Christie’s script. The only original character was a ditzy blonde nymphomaniac who stood out like a sore thumb from everything else in the book, but it was the only way Hack could keep himself interested.
Happy heavenly birthday to Agatha Christie!
