Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie whose full name is Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, née Miller was born on September 15, 1890 in England. She is well known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, and all these are revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie also wrote the world's longest-running murder mystery play 'The Mousetrap' . She was an English detective novelist and playwright whose books have sold more than 100 million copies and have also been translated into 100 languages.

She got educated by her mother at home. She started writing detective fiction while working as a nurse during World War I. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, introduced her egotistic Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. After this Poirot reappeared in about 25 novels and many short stories before returning in the novel Curtain where he died. Miss Jane Marple is the elderly spinster and the other principal detective figure beside Poirot who first appeared in the novel Murder at the Vicarage. Her major recognition came with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which became a best-seller. Christie's play Witness for the Prosecution was adapted into a successful film. Her other works were also adapted for television.

Christie’s mother died in 1926, and her husband, Colonel Archibald Christie, requested a divorce. Christie married the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan in 1930 and after that she spent several months each year on expeditions in Iraq and Syria with him. Along with detective novels she also wrote romantic novels, such as Absent in the Spring (1944), under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Her Autobiography (1977) appeared posthumously.

Agatha Christie died on 12 January 1976 at age 85 at her home Winterbrook House. She is buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey with her husband Sir Max who died some ten years before she died.

Must read books of Agatha Christie:

1.The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Hercule Poirot retired to the village of King’s Abbot. But when the wealthy man Roger Ackroyd is found stabbed in his study, he agrees to investigate. It can be stated as a typical village murder mystery with a plot twist at the end.

2. Peril at End House

The owner of End House hosts a party where fireworks camouflage the shot that kills her cousin. The novel is perfectly paced, with subtle and ingenious clueing, and an unexpected but totally logical solution.

3. Murder on the Orient Express

The Orient Express stops during the night, due to snowdrifts and the very next morning Mr. Ratchett is found stabbed in his compartment mysteriously. This provides Poirot with an international cast of suspects and one of his biggest challenges. This is one of the greatest surprise endings in the genre.

4. Crooked House

The novel evolves around Leonides family who live together in a not-so-little crooked house. Murder in the extended family provided fertile ground for Christie, and this was one of her own favourites.

5. And Then There Were None

In this novel ten people are invited to an island for the weekend and although they all harbour a secret, they remain unsuspecting until they begin to die, one by one, until eventually … there are none. It’s a perfect combination of a thriller and detective story that is a must read for every detective story lover.