- Over two billion copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her book sales are surpassed only by the Bible and by William Shakespeare. She is the best-selling author of all time.
- She wrote Hercule Poirot's Christmas for her godson James (an avid fan of her books), after he complained her murders were getting too refined. He wanted a good solid murder, with lots of blood, and the body positioned in such a way that it couldn't be anything but murder. There is a dedication to him in the book.
- The last two novels published were Curtain (chronicling Hercule Poirot's last case) and Sleeping Murder (the last Miss Marple novel). She wrote both books in the 1940s, and then locked them in a safe deposit box. It is stated in her biography, that she wrote the two final cases for Marple and Poirot early, in case she was killed in WWII. This way fans would have closure concerning her characters fates.
- Disappeared for several days in 1926. Disappearance remains unexplained.
- While her fans loved Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie herself was increasingly fed up with her creation. Late in her career, she described him as "an egocentric creep".
- On Saturday April 12th, 1958, her play The Mousetrap, which opened in London on November 25, 1952, became the longest running production of any kind in the history of British Theatre, beating out the five-and-a-half years of Chu Chin Chow.
- First novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920), was also the first to feature her eccentric Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
- According to her grandson Mathew Prichard, who runs the Agatha Christie estate, she was very keen on using new types of media to help reach fans in new ways. He said this in April 2004 when it was announced that five of her books would be turned into computer games.
- Wrote six romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.
- Her second husband, Max Mallowan, was an archaeologist, and she chronicled her travels with him in the Middle East in her 1946 book "Come, Tell Me How You Live."
- Although it was not the last novel she published in her lifetime, the last novel that Agatha Christie wrote was Postern of Fate (1973). It featured her re-occurring characters Tommy and Tuppence, and marks their final appearance in a novel.
- Last published novel, Sleeping Murder (1976), featured her other world-famous sleuth, the shrewdly inquisitive Miss Jane Marple.
- Due to being married to archaeologist Max Mallowan, Agatha Christie developed an interest in archaeology herself. She joined him in excavations in Iraq and Syria, and received some training in tasks such as archaeological restoration and reconstructing pottery.
- Her influence even extended to science fiction and her murder mysteries influenced three stories from the television series Doctor Who (1963): The Robots of Death: Part One (1977), Black Orchid: Part One (1982) and The Trial of a Time Lord: Part Nine (1986). She was later portrayed on screen in the story The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008).
- While it is unclear whether Agatha Christie intended it this way, most of her long-running series and stand-alone novels seem to take place in a shared universe. She wrote crossover novels such as "Three Act Tragedy" (1934) and "Cards on the Table" (1936) where major characters from various series meet and interact. But Christie also had the habit of reusing various supporting and/or minor characters, which seem to migrate from series to series.
- Her father was from the United States, and her mother was English.
- She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1956 Queen's New Year Honours List and the DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1971 Queen's New Year Honours List for her services to literature.
- Ariadne Oliver, a major character in several novels by Christie, is a self-caricature of Agatha Christie. She is a mystery novelist with a strong belief in feminine intuition, has a vast familiarity with literary tropes, and several comical eccentricities.
- Her novel, And Then There Were None, is also published as Ten Little Indians and is the #1 bestseller.
- The titles of Agatha Christie's works are often allusions to phrases or lines found in works by other writers. "Sad Cypress" (1940) derives from a line in "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare. "Evil Under the Sun" derives from a phrase in "Ecclesiastes", an anonymous work from the 3rd century BC. "The Moving Finger" (1942) derives from a phrase in the poetry collection "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" by translator Edward FitzGerald. "Absent in the Spring" (1944) derives from a line in "Sonnet 98" by William Shakespeare. "Taken at the Flood" (1948) derives from a phrase in "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. "The Rose and the Yew Tree" (1948) derives from a phrase used in "Four Quartets" by T. S. Eliot. "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side" (1962) derives from a phrase in "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" (1968) derives from a phrase used in "Macbeth" by William Shakespeare. "Postern of Fate" (1973) derives from a line in "Gates of Damascus" by James Elroy Flecker.
- Her work has been translated into more than a hundred languages.
- Wrote several romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.
- Despite her reputation as a crime novelist, Agatha Christie's literary output actually includes works in several genres. The "Tommy and Tuppence" series mostly consists of spy fiction, as do several of her one-shot novels. "The Mysterious Mr Quin" collection includes the supernatural figure of Mr. Harley Quin (Harlequin) and several fantasy and horror elements. "The Hound of Death" short story collection includes tales of horror and magic. "Death Comes as the End" is a historical novel set in Ancient Egypt, and "Star Over Bethlehem" is a collection of religiously-themed stories featuring Jesus, Mary, Satan, etc.
- Despite Agatha Christie intending "Sleeping Murder: Miss Marple's Last Case" (1976) to be the finale to the career of her long-running character Miss Jane Marple, there is nothing final about the fate of the character. Marple survives the tale and there are no apparent changes in her life.
- Christie's work had also often been used as uncredited source for other works such as Beverly Hills Cop II, which borrows the entire idea for its plot from her novel "The ABC Murders".
- Gave birth to a daughter, Rosalind, in 1919.
- She worked at a chemist's shop between 1915 and 1918 in the seaside resort of Torquay, England.
- She was played by Vanessa Redgrave in Agatha (1979). Redgrave previously played Mary Debenham in Murder on the Orient Express (1974), an adaptation of her 1934 novel of the same name.
- Agatha Christie created several series protagonists during her writing career, but her best known protagonist was Hercule Poirot. He appeared in 33 novels, one theatrical play, and more than 50 short stories He first appeared in "The Mysterious Affair at Styles" (1920) and last appeared in "Curtain: Poirot's Last Case" (1975) which famously features his death.
- Interred at Cholsey Churchyard, Cholsey, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
- Her first husband's brother Campbell Christie was also a writer.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content