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As2015marks the 125
th
anniversaryof thebirthofAgathaChristie,
SarahRees
takesa
moment tocelebrateanEnglishcrimenovelistwhoshouldbeat the topof yourmust-
read list.
The Queen Of Crime
Super sleuths
If the name of the author does not ring
a bell, perhaps her two most famous,
recurring characters might: Hercule Poirot
and Miss Marple. This pair of sleuths are
responsible for disentangling many of her
complicated, surprising whodunits that
continue to enthral readers of all ages
and nationalities 39 years after her death.
She was reportedly a very private
person, rarely giving interviews even
at the height of her fame. Christie was
born in a pretty English seaside town to
a wealthy family in 1890. She spent much
of her youth roaming the garden and her
own imagination, as no formal education
was offered or suggested. It was during
this time that she first began to write,
penning poems that were occasionally
published.
Pen to paper
With the outbreak of the First World
War in 1914, Christie found work as a
nurse, during which time she started to
write the detective novels that would
go on to make her famous. The writing
continued as the war ended and she took
up the role of mother and wife to her first
husband, Archie. She garnered a reputa-
tion and an appreciative audience for her
vivid settings, her realistic characters and
murderers that were impossible to identify
until she revealed them at the final page.
Her mental ingenuity may have been
fuelled by her turbulent life – her first
husband asked for a divorce after falling
in love with another woman, prompting
Christie, after an argument, to disappear
for six days. She resurfaced in a hotel and
could never explain where she had gone.
It was thought she suffered amnesia,
and never referred to the incident in later
years.
Travel bug
Once single and in her right mind again,
Christie decided to travel, and it was
during her voyages that she fell in love
with a man who would become her
second husband. He was an archaeologist
and his job took them all over the world,
much to the delight of Christie. He spent
his days digging for artefacts while she
wrote furiously, using many of their exotic
locations as settings for her stories.
By the time of her death in 1976,
Christie had written 66 crime novels
and 14 short story collections that often
revolved around her two much-loved
W o r d s :
S a r a h R e e s
characters – the Belgian detective Poirot
and inquisitive old maid Marple. Her
most popular title –
And Then There Were
None
– is credited as being one of the
best-selling books of all time, topped only
by Shakespeare’s works and the Bible.