Not sure how I feel about this.
Although I'm a big fan of Agatha Christie's books, I can't really see how it can be justified to copyright the Queen of Crime title, as it's just a term coined by someone at some point (fans?, PR?, the media?), it's not as far as I'm aware an official title passed down through generations, or awarded by a governing body (correct me someone if I'm wrong
).
Having said that, it doesn't seem very imaginative of Val McDermid and/or her publishers to copy a phrase that has been used to describe someone else for so long. Surely if her books are good enough they don't need to 'borrow' someone else's title, and will sell of their own accord.
Actually I'd never heard of Val McDermid and after Googling her, find I've only heard of 2 of her books, which I believe were made into TV programmes. From the advertising I saw on-screen, neither appealed to me, and personally, they could give her and her books as many fancy titles as they liked but I can't see me ever wanting to pick one up and read it. Similarly, I've never read Agatha Christie because she was described as a Queen.
I guess it's a good bit of publicity for Val McDermid though, so maybe the Christie estate have scored an own goal here? Or maybe it's good PR on their part as it brings Agatha's books into the public's mind again?