Often referred to as the “Queen of Crime,” Dame Agatha Christie revolutionized the literary world forever with her contributions to the mystery fiction genre.
Agatha Christie was born in 1890 into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Devon, England. Her family lived in a beautiful country home and traveled abroad from time to time. These settings would later manifest themselves in some of Christie’s works. Agatha was homeschooled for much of her education and began reading at the age of 4 despite a widely accepted idea that a child shouldn’t be able to read until age 8, and she quickly became an avid reader of such popular authors as Dickens and Dumas. Christie began writing seriously around the age of 18, focusing mostly on short stories and plays but each of her works was rejected by publishers. It was about this time that two major events impacted Agatha’s life; World War 1 was on the horizon, and she met Royal Artillery Officer Archibald Christie.
Agatha and “Archie” Christie married, and she served her country as a nurse during the war. It was during this time that Christie began writing her first successful detective story, The Mysterious Affair at Styles. Christie had always been drawn to detective novels, enjoying the stories of Sherlock Holmes, and works such as The Woman in White and The Moonstone by Wilke Collins. In emulating this style of fiction, Christie found her niche.
“One of the pleasures of writing detective stories is that there are so many types to choose from: the light-hearted thriller, which is particularly pleasant to do; the intricate detective story with an involved plot which is technically interesting and requires a great deal of work, but is always rewarding; and then what I can only describe as the detective story that has a kind of passion behind it - that passion being to help save innocence. Because it is innocence that matters, not guilt.” – Agatha Christie, from An Autobiography
The Mysterious Affair at Styles was the first of many successful detective stories for Christie, and also served as the debut novel for the notorious detective that would appear in so many of her novels to follow: Hercule Poirot. Notable for his attention to detail, his proclivity for a perfect breakfast, his ‘little grey cells,’ and his immaculately groomed mustache, the Belgian detective would be featured in 33 novels, 59 short stories, and 1 play. While she would go on to create mysteries featuring other detectives, Poirot remains one of the best-known fictional detectives of the genre.
By the numbers, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, second only to Shakespeare and the Bible according to her official website. With 66 novels to choose from, it may be difficult to know where to begin. So which is the best Agatha Christie novel?
Take Dame Christie’s advice:
Sources:
“Agatha Christie, Queen of Crime.” https://www.english-online.at/literature/agatha-christie/agatha-christie-queen-of-crime.htm
“The world's best-selling novelist - Agatha Christie.” https://www.agathachristie.com/about-christie
Hardy, Liberty. “The Mysterious Affair at Styles and the Inception of Hercule Poirot.” Hachette Book Group, https://www.novelsuspects.com/articles/the-mysterious-affair-at-styles-and-the-inception-of-hercule-poirot/.
“Rare Interview with Agatha Christie.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnXOFET06xc