Edmund Cork of the firm “Hughes Massie & Co Ltd” was Agatha Christie's literary agent in the U.K. Hughes Massie had originally been recommended to Christie by Eden Phillpotts in 1909. In the 1920s, Christie became dissatisfied with the unfair terms she had received from her publishers. After returning from her round-the-world trip with Archie Christie, she decided she needed a literary agent and approached Hughes Massie. There she met Edmund Cork and was impressed by his direct yet gentlemanly manner.[1] He became her agent and remained so for the rest of her life and also was a lifelong friend. In later years he appears to have taken on much more than the role of her literary agent. He maintained what Christie called "the Cork service", effectively her estate manager. He managed her tenants, made travel arrangements and foreign currency transactions, booked hotels and tickets, attended to her tax matters and even placed bets for her at horse races.[2]
Edmund was also the literary agent of Ngaio Marsh, another of the classic queens of crime novelists.
References[]
- ↑ Laura Thompson, Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life (London: Headline, 2007), 131.
- ↑ Laura Thompson, Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life (London: Headline, 2007), 357.