Agatha Christie

Author:
Agatha Christie

Date of birth: 01-Jan-1970
Place of birth:

About the author:
gatha Christie (born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller, September 15, 1890 – January 12, 1976) was a British author widely regarded as the "Queen of Crime." She is best known for her detective novels featuring iconic characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and for her mastery of the classic whodunit format. With over two billion copies sold, Christie is among the best-selling authors of all time, second only to the Bible and Shakespeare.

Early Life and Background
Christie was born in Torquay, Devon, England, into a well-to-do family. She was homeschooled and encouraged by her mother to write from a young age. As a child, she developed a love for reading, particularly mysteries and adventure stories. Despite an initial struggle to publish her work, she remained committed to becoming a writer.

During World War I, Christie worked as a volunteer nurse and pharmacy assistant, gaining a strong understanding of medicines and poisons—knowledge that would later become central to her crime plots.

Career and Breakthrough
Christie’s debut novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), introduced Hercule Poirot, the fastidious Belgian detective who would go on to feature in 33 novels and more than 50 short stories. The book was an immediate success and marked the beginning of a prolific literary career.

She followed this with a string of acclaimed mysteries, including:
•Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
•The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) – widely regarded as a masterpiece of misdirection
•Death on the Nile (1937)
•And Then There Were None (1939) – her best-selling standalone novel, selling over 100 million copies

In addition to Poirot, Christie created the beloved character Miss Jane Marple, an elderly amateur sleuth who uses intuition and knowledge of human nature to solve crimes, beginning with The Murder at the Vicarage (1930).

Christie also wrote under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, publishing six romantic novels, which she kept separate from her mystery career.

Disappearance and Personal Life
In 1926, Christie made headlines when she disappeared for 11 days, shortly after her first husband, Archibald Christie, asked for a divorce. Her abandoned car was found, and a nationwide search ensued. She was eventually discovered staying under an assumed name in a hotel. The incident remains one of the most discussed events in her life, though she never publicly explained it.

In 1930, she married Max Mallowan, a British archaeologist. Their travels to the Middle East deeply influenced many of her novels, such as Murder in Mesopotamia and Death Comes as the End.

Theatrical Success and Later Life
Agatha Christie also found major success as a playwright. Her most famous play, The Mousetrap, opened in 1952 and has become the longest-running play in history, with over 28,000 performances in London (as of 2024).

She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1971 for her services to literature. Christie continued writing well into her later years, producing her final Poirot novel, Curtain, and the last Miss Marple story, Sleeping Murder, both published near or after her death.

Death and Legacy
Agatha Christie died peacefully on January 12, 1976, at the age of 85. She is buried at St. Mary’s Church in Cholsey, Oxfordshire.

Her legacy is immense. Christie’s intricate plots, ingenious twists, and enduring characters have shaped the mystery genre for generations. Her works have been translated into over 100 languages, adapted into countless films, TV shows, and stage plays, and continue to captivate readers around the world. Hercule Poirot even received a fictional obituary in The New York Times—a rare honour for a fictional character.

Christie remains the gold standard of detective fiction, with her influence still felt across literature, television, and popular culture today.