The upper class environment in the British mystery differs dramatically from the American hard-boiled detective story with its very physical atmosphere and wide individual and class differences

English mystery meals may be served by land-ladies in genteel studios or by butlers in well-appointed dining rooms. Jeanine Larmoth, in Murder on the Menu, a book about the portrayal of social customs in English mysteries, summarizes the food situation this way:

In mysteries, food is . . . one of the few means of creating an impression of life. Emotions are avoided; even physical realities are kept at a minimum. People don't breathe, except their last; they have hysterics, but they rarely cry; only the most suspicious characters sweat; bathrooms are merely places where baths are drawn and pills are switched. In short, food serves an important function in giving a sense of reality. (Murder on the Menu, p. 157)

Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories convey a maximum of suspense in a minimum of text. Meals indicate that time is passing normally, in a world that is normal in spite of being inhabited by the intellectual giant Holmes. When Holmes calls for a quick supper before he moves in on the criminals, it's not what he has to eat, but the timing and the contrast with as-yet unsolved crimes that are important. Breakfast can illustrate Holmes's habits or the ordinary life of Dr. Watson. For example, in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" Watson begins his narration: "We were seated at breakfast one morning, my wife and I, when the maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes . . .." (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, p. 78)

The contrast between menacing evil and mundane detail is very strong in 'The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb." As the story begins, the newly mutilated engineer comes to Dr. Watson for medical help; although it is early in the morning, as soon as Watson has provided basic first aid, he brings him to Holmes, in order to try to find out who has attacked him with a cleaver and severed his thumb. As they arrive, you are reminded of the regularity of Holmes's existence by this description:

Sherlock Holmes was, as I expected, lounging about his sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of the Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe . . .. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. (Adventures, p. 207)

Once they have eaten, Holmes hears the bizarre story of the engineer's previous night, and goes off with him and Watson to try to catch the counterfeiters who have done the evil deed. If anything, Doyle is the most clever of all the mystery writers I know at using food clues to set the stage for his stories.

Agatha Christie uses food to create atmosphere and show character. She uses apples as a theme in Hallowe'en Party, which begins when a young girl is murdered by drowning in a bucket that had been used for bobbing for apples. Elsewhere in this story food indicates hospitality — in a shallow sort of way. The murderess (as we will later learn) offers detective Hercule Poirot "morning coffee with two sugared biscuits" (Party, p. 55); a more sympathetic hostess, the sister of an old inspector friend, offers him tea and sausage "cooked to perfection" (Party, p. 71)

When he is alone, Poirot's food choices show him to be simultaneously picky and sophisticated — for example, his valet serves him a "tisane" or some chocolate (The Mystery of the Blue Train, p. 150 & 171).

In some Agatha Christie stories such as A Holiday for Murder and The Mystery of the Blue Train, meals are mentioned to mark the passage of time, but she rarely provides details about what the various detectives, suspects, or policemen had to eat. In others, Christie the descriptions are lavish, portraying a whole array of characters in terms of their food choices. For example, in Dead Man's Folly:

Poirot came down to breakfast on the following morning at nine thirty. Breakfast was served in prewar fashion: a row of hot dishes on an electric heater. Sir George was eating a full-sized Englishman's breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and kidneys. Mrs. Oliver and Miss Brewis had a modified version of the same. Michael Weyman was eating a plateful of cold ham. Only Lady Stubbs was unheedful of the flesh-pots and was nibbling thin toast and sipping black coffee. (Folly, p. 43-4).

Oddly, we learn nothing of what Poirot himself chose to eat at this revealing meal.

Check out Mae Sander’s blog: MAEFOOD.BLOGSPOT.COM.