Nearly 50 years after her death, legendary crime novelist Agatha Christie continues to influence the literary world and now, with a little help from AI technology, her signature style is being brought back to life in a modern format.

BBC Maestro, the online learning platform known for courses by world-class talent, has launched a new initiative using artificial intelligence to analyze and emulate the storytelling brilliance of Christie, the best-selling fiction writer of all time.

This fascinating project is featured in Tech Now, the BBC’s flagship technology program, where it explores what makes Christie’s mysteries so enduring from her sharply constructed plots and red herrings to her famous “whodunit” twists.

Using AI to dissect Christie’s narrative techniques, sentence structure, character development, and pacing, the course aims to guide aspiring writers in crafting stories in the spirit of Christie’s iconic novels, such as Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Rather than writing new novels in her name, the AI is used to break down her formula, helping students understand what made her work so successful and how to write compelling, suspenseful fiction themselves.

The project highlights a growing intersection between literature and machine learning, offering an innovative tool for learning the art of mystery writing from one of the genre’s all-time masters.

While some may raise questions about the use of AI in literary education, the BBC Maestro team emphasizes that the goal is not to replace creativity, but to enhance it by unlocking the timeless secrets of a truly legendary author.