Agatha Christie and Indian Independence

Last week's Masterpiece Mystery was an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel Why Didn't They Ask Evans? The story features Miss Marple, along with a set of characters that is frequent in Christie's whodunits: a culprit whose bitterness over an old wrong has twisted him or her into madness and murder, and a victim or target who was either directly or tangentially responsible for the wrongdoing.

There is a sense in these books and adaptations that, while we certainly disapprove of wrongdoing, one shouldn't let oneself become obsessed to the point of revenge, that such a thing is sad and often unfair to the perpetrators who, at this later date, may be shown to be remorseful or even ignorant of the original crime.

I wonder if Christie's attraction to this theme is partly a subconscious reaction to the end of the British imperial age and the fear of violent revenge by former colonies like India. A nervous "Can't we all let bygones be bygones?" fluttering beneath the surface.