Agatha Christie Popular Books

Agatha Christie Biography & Facts

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.Christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, and was largely home-schooled. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. Following the breakdown of her marriage and the death of her mother in 1926 she made international headlines by going missing for eleven days. During both World Wars, she served in hospital dispensaries, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the poisons that featured in many of her novels, short stories, and plays. Following her marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930, she spent several months each year on digs in the Middle East and used her first-hand knowledge of this profession in her fiction. According to UNESCO's Index Translationum, she remains the most-translated individual author. Her novel And Then There Were None is one of the top-selling books of all time, with approximately 100 million copies sold. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the world record for the longest initial run. It opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End on 25 November 1952, and by 2018 there had been more than 27,500 performances. The play was temporarily closed in 2020 because of COVID-19 lockdowns in London before it reopened in 2021. In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. Later that year, Witness for the Prosecution received an Edgar Award for best play. In 2013, she was voted the best crime writer and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the best crime novel ever by 600 professional novelists of the Crime Writers' Association. In 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. Many of Christie's books and short stories have been adapted for television, radio, video games, and graphic novels. More than 30 feature films are based on her work. Life and career 1890–1907: childhood and adolescence Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890, into a wealthy upper middle class family in Torquay, Devon. She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance", and his wife Clarissa Margaret "Clara" Miller, née Boehmer.: 1–4 Christie's mother Clara was born in Dublin in 1854 to British Army officer Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann Boehmer (née West). Boehmer died in Jersey in 1863, leaving his widow to raise Clara and her brothers on a meagre income.: 10  Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. To assist Mary financially, Margaret and Nathaniel agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. The couple had no children together, but Nathaniel had a 17-year-old son, Fred Miller, from his previous marriage. Fred was born in New York City and travelled extensively after leaving his Swiss boarding school.: 12  He and Clara were married in London in 1878.: 2–5  Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879.: 6  The second, Louis Montant ("Monty"), was born in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1880, while the family was on an extended visit to the United States.: 7 When Fred's father died in 1869, he left Clara £2,000 (approximately equivalent to £200,000 in 2021); in 1881 they used this to buy the leasehold of a villa in Torquay named Ashfield. It was here that their third and last child, Agatha, was born in 1890.: 6–7  She described her childhood as "very happy".: 3  The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater.: 26–31  A year was spent abroad with her family, in the French Pyrenees, Paris, Dinard, and Guernsey.: 15, 24–25  Because her siblings were so much older, and there were few children in their neighbourhood, Christie spent much of her time playing alone with her pets and imaginary companions.: 9–10, 86–88  She eventually made friends with other girls in Torquay, noting that "one of the highlights of my existence" was her appearance with them in a youth production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard, in which she played the hero, Colonel Fairfax.: 23–27  According to Christie, Clara believed she should not learn to read until she was eight; thanks to her curiosity, she was reading by the age of four.: 13  Her sister had been sent to a boarding school, but their mother insisted that Christie receive her education at home. As a result, her parents and sister supervised her studies in reading, writing and basic arithmetic, a subject she particularly enjoyed. They also taught her music, and she learned to play the piano and the mandolin.: 8, 20–21 Christie was a voracious reader from an early age. Some of her earliest memories were of reading children's books by Mrs Molesworth and Edith Nesbit. When a little older, she moved on to the surreal verse of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll.: 18–19  As an adolescent, she enjoyed works by Anthony Hope, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens, and Alexandre Dumas.: 111, 136–37  In April 1901, aged 10, she wrote her first poem, "The Cow Slip".By 1901, her father's health had deteriorated, because of what he believed were heart problems.: 33  Fred died in November 1901 from pneumonia and chronic kidney disease. Christie later said that her father's death when she was 11 marked the end of her childhood.: 32–33 The family's financial situation had, by this time, worsened. Madge married the year after their father's death and moved to Cheadle, Cheshire; Monty was overseas, serving in a British regiment.: 43, 49  Christie now lived alone at Ashfield with her mother. In 1902, she began attending Miss Guyer's Girls' School in Torquay but found it difficult to adjust to the disciplined atmosphere.: 139  In 1905, her mother s.... Discover the Agatha Christie popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Agatha Christie books.

Best Seller Agatha Christie Books of 2024

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Laura Thompson

    'Laura Thompson's outstanding biography . . . is a pretty much perfect capturing of a life' Kate MosseIt has been 100 years since Agatha Christie wrote her first novel and created...

  • The Christie Affair synopsis, comments

    The Christie Affair

    Nina de Gramont

    Why would the world's most famous mystery writer disappear for eleven days? What makes a woman desperate enough to destroy another woman's marriage? How deeply can a person crave r...

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie

    Când o fetiță este găsită moartă, înecată, după ce sa lăudat că a văzut o crimă, faimoasa scriitoare de romane polițiste Ariadne Oliver îl cheamă pe vechiul său prieten Hercule Poi...

  • Witness in Death synopsis, comments

    Witness in Death

    J. D. Robb

    Writing as J.D. Robb, Nora Roberts presents the tenth book in the New York Times bestselling series. When a celebrity is killed right before her eyes, New York detective Eve Dallas...

  • In a Dark, Dark Wood synopsis, comments

    In a Dark, Dark Wood

    Ruth Ware

    AUTHOR OF THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 and THE LYING GAME INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE An NPR Best Book of the Yea...

  • Payment in Blood synopsis, comments

    Payment in Blood

    Elizabeth George

    “The Lynley books constitute the smartest, most gratifyingly complex and impassioned mysteries now being published.”Entertainment WeeklyThe career of playwright Joy Sinclair comes ...

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Laura Thompson

    It has been one hundred years since Agatha Christie wrote her first novel and created the formidable Hercule Poirot. A brilliant and award winning biographer, Laura Thompson now tu...

  • The It Girl synopsis, comments

    The It Girl

    Ruth Ware

    INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of the “claustrophobic spinetingler” (People) One by One returns with an unputdownable mystery following a...

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Lucy Worsley

    A new, fascinating account of the life of Agatha Christie from celebrated literary and cultural historian Lucy Worsley."Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the hero...

  • The Agatha Christie Collection synopsis, comments

    The Agatha Christie Collection

    Agatha Christie

    This edition is a collection of some of AGATHA CHRISTIE’S finest works. Detective novels have been around for decades, all beginning with Agatha Christie. She was a pioneer in this...

  • The Agatha Christie Collection synopsis, comments

    The Agatha Christie Collection

    Agatha Christie

    This ebook collection contains the following works of Agatha Christie: The Mysterious Affair At Styles The Secret Adversary The Murder On The Links The Man in the Brown Suit The S...

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Laura Thompson

    Fans of Murder on the Orient Express won't want to miss out on this insight into the life of arguably the greatest crime writer in the world, as Laura Thompson turns her highly acc...

  • All by Myself, Alone synopsis, comments

    All by Myself, Alone

    Mary Higgins Clark

    A glamorous cruise on a luxurious ocean liner turns deadly in the latest mystery from “Queen of Suspense” and #1 New York Times bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark.Fleeing a disa...

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie

    The Plymouth Express Affair A young woman is found dead in a train compartment and her valuable jewels have been stolen. Her wealthy father asks Poirot to find her killer. The Hun...

  • The Fury synopsis, comments

    The Fury

    Alex Michaelides

    A masterfully paced thriller about a reclusive ex–movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder from the #1 New York Ti...

  • Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot Ultimate Collection synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot Ultimate Collection

    Agatha Christie

    Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and longrunning characters, appearing in 33 novel...

  • A Great Deliverance synopsis, comments

    A Great Deliverance

    Elizabeth George

    To this day, the low, thin wail of an infant can be heard in Keldale's lush green valleys. Three hundred years ago, as legend goes, the frightened Yorkshire villagers smothered a ...

  • The Greatest Murder Mysteries - Agatha Christie Edition synopsis, comments

    The Greatest Murder Mysteries - Agatha Christie Edition

    Agatha Christie

    This eBook edition of "The Greatest Murder Mysteries Agatha Christie Edition" has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devic...

  • BRITISH MURDER MYSTERIES - Agatha Christie Collection synopsis, comments

    BRITISH MURDER MYSTERIES - Agatha Christie Collection

    Agatha Christie

    This carefully crafted ebook: "AGATHA CHRISTIE – Detective Mysteries Collection" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents: The Mysteri...

  • The Lying Game synopsis, comments

    The Lying Game

    Ruth Ware

    INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER! “So many questions...Until the very last page! Needless to say, I could not put this book down!” Reese Withersp...

  • The Collected Works of Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    The Collected Works of Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie

    Musaicum Books presents to you this unique and meticulously edited mystery collection: The Mysterious Affair at Styles The Secret Adversary The Murder on the Links The Affair at th...

  • The Agatha Christie Collection. 30 books synopsis, comments

    The Agatha Christie Collection. 30 books

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and ...

  • Clues to Christie synopsis, comments

    Clues to Christie

    Agatha Christie

    Dying to read Agatha Christie for the first time or to reread one of her classic mysteries but don’t know where to start? This fully authorized and comprehensive guide to the Queen...

  • Murder at the Mena House synopsis, comments

    Murder at the Mena House

    Erica Ruth Neubauer

    Wellheeled travelers from around the world flock to the Mena House Hotelan exotic gem in the heart of Cairo where cocktails flow, adventure dispels the aftershocks of World War I, ...

  • Agatha Christie Collection - 3 Novels And 25 Short Stories synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie Collection - 3 Novels And 25 Short Stories

    Agatha Christie

    AGATHA CHRISTIE COLLECTION 3 NOVELS AND 25 SHORT STORIES WHAT'S INCLUDED: NOVELS The Mysterious Affair At Styles The Secret Adversary The Murder On The Links SHORT STORIES The Aff...

  • The Christie Caper synopsis, comments

    The Christie Caper

    Carolyn G. Hart

    A group of Christie buffs. . .In honor of Agatha Christie's one hundredth birthday, mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance Darling plans a weeklong celebration of mystery, treasure...

  • Zero Days synopsis, comments

    Zero Days

    Ruth Ware

    The New York Times bestselling “new Agatha Christie” (Air Mail) Ruth Ware returns with this adrenalinefueled thriller that combines Mr. and Mrs. Smith with The Fugitive about a wom...

  • The Death of Mrs. Westaway synopsis, comments

    The Death of Mrs. Westaway

    Ruth Ware

    A “perfectly executed suspense tale very much in the mode of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca” (The Washington Post) from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Woo...

  • One Perfect Couple synopsis, comments

    One Perfect Couple

    Ruth Ware

    Harkening to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, this hightension and ingenious thriller follows five couples trapped on a stormswept island as a killer stalks amon...

  • The Turn of the Key synopsis, comments

    The Turn of the Key

    Ruth Ware

    INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A superb suspense writer…Brava, Ruth Ware. I daresay even Henry James would be impressed.” Maureen Corrigan, author of So We Read On “This approp...

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie

    The Hunter’s Lodge Case Mr Roger Havering requests Poirot to investigate the murder of his uncle at his hunting lodge in Derbyshire. Poirot is ill in bed and so Hastings travels t...

  • Agatha Christie synopsis, comments

    Agatha Christie

    Gillian Gill

    In this sensitive and revealing biography of Agatha Christie, Gillian Gill probes the mysterious private life and motivations of one of the bestselling authors of all time and disc...