Agatha Christie

A Brief Biography

One of the most

prolific and admired mystery writers of the 1900s.

In 1971, she was named Dame of the British Empire.

Agatha Christie

She wrote 66 mystery novels,

numerous short stories, plays, and screenplays.

She also published romance novels under the pen name of Mary Westmacott.

Agatha Christie

She was born

Agatha May Clarissa Miller in 1890.

She grew up in southwest England, where most of her novels were set.

Agatha Christie

She was born into a

wealthy family and had a very privileged upbringing.

She was very lonely, and used writing as a way to express herself.

Agatha Christie

She married Archie

Christie, a fighter pilot, and she worked as a nurse while he fought in World War I (how she learned about drugs)

She wrote her first mystery novel in 1920, The Mysterious Affair at Styles.

Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles: the story focused on the murder of a rich heiress

This was the format of many of her stories – a group of people would come together only for one of them to die. Her stories were primarily murder mysteries (who-done-its!)

Agatha Christie

Shortly afterward, she

introduced her two most famous characters: a detective named Miss Jane Marple and another detective named Hercule Poirot.

Agatha Christie

Marple and Poirot are

Christie's most well-known detectives, with the two featured in dozens of novels and short stories.

Cast of Characters

In 1926 the Christies

divorced after Archie fell in love with another woman.

She was very depressed, and disappeared from the public eye.

Agatha Christie

After being missing

for several days (under odd circumstances), Christie was discovered by authorities at a hotel, registered under the name of her husband's mistress!

Agatha Christie

When she surfaced, she

refused to talk about her failed marriage, and was criticized by the press.

Years later, she married Max Mallowan, with whom she had a long, happy, and stable marriage.

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is credited

with being the Queen of the Golden Age of Mysteries (or the Queen of Crime).

Agatha Christie