Agatha Christie is considered the most famous of all crime writers. Her books, translated in many languages, continue to sell millions of copies worldwide. Many of them have been made into successful films and TV adaptations, including Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile and And Then There Were None.
She is the queen of the 'whodunit' type of crime story in which the reader can puzzle out from the train of clues which of the characters is guilty of a murder. Her stories are known for their clever twists of plot.
Life of Agatha Christie in a Nutshell
Dame Agatha Christie was born Agatha May Clarissa Miller on September 15, 1890 in the southern coastal town of Torquay. She was privately educated at home then went on to study music in Paris. During World War I she worked as a nurse for the Red Cross.
In 1914, she married Colonel Archibald Christie and had a daughter. The couple divorced in 1928. She then remarried to archaeologist Max Mallowan and accompanied him on many trips to Syria and Iraq. These travels gave her the setting for many of her novels.
Agatha Christie the Crime Writer
Initially, Agatha Christie was a poet and author of children's books, until in her late 20s, she was challenged by her sister to write one. Aged 30, she produced her first crime book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduced the now famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Subsequent crime novels followed.
Christie came from an upper-middle-class background, the world she mainly wrote about in her books. Her writing style is simple and her ear for dialogue is brilliant. Her stories usually involve a murder that takes place among ordinary people. Among the two most memorable fictional characters are the impeccably clean and tidy Belgian sleuth, Hercule Poirot, and the quiet but inquisitive elderly, Miss Jane Marple. Detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford also feature in some of her books.
Christie also wrote plays. One of these, The Mousetrap, has been performed continuously at St Martin's Theatre, West Street, London since the 1950s. The play has become the longest running show in the history of British Theatre.
Agatha Christie's Legacy
Christie wrote some 80 mystery novels, plays and short stories, and her novels have sold over two billion copies translated in 45 languages. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Christie's novels remain current as they were when first published.
Her plots contain ground-breaking twists that make an exciting read. Murder on the Orient Express was made into a star-studded blockbuster film. In 1954, Agatha Christie won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. For her contribution to British letters, Agatha Christie was named by HM Queen Elizabeth II, a Dame of the British Empire in 1971. She died on January 12, 1976, aged 85.
Agatha Christie Quote:
"The big houses have been sold, and the cottages have been changed and converted. And people just come – and all you know about them is what they say of themselves." ~ Agatha Christie, A Murder is Announced
Major Works by Agatha Christie
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926
- Murder at the Vicarage, 1930
- Murder on the Orient Express, 1934
- Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936
- Death on the Nile, 1937
- Appointment with Death, 1938
- And Then There Were None, 1941
- They Do It with Mirrors, 1952
- The Mousetrap, 1952
- The Mirror Crack'd, 1962
- A Caribbean Mystery, 1964
- Endless Night, 1967
- Curtain: Poirot's Last Case, 1975
Sources:
- McGovern, Una, Ed. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers / Harrap Publishers, 2002.
- Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
- Payne, Tom. The A-Z of Great Writers. London: Carlton, 1997.
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