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Deb Borofka

September Author Spotlight: Agatha Christie


Agatha Christie circa 1925 (Credit: Historia/Shutterstock)

Agatha Christie was born September 15, 1890, in Torquay Deron England. She is a recognized author and screenwriter most notably known for her detective-mystery novels. She began her writing career while working as a nurse during World War 1. There she began writing detective fiction writing. As a result, she produced her first mystery novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920. Christie’s novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was widely recognized and became her first major achievement. Likewise, Christie was successful in screenwriting. Christie’s play, The Mousetrap, has the record for having the longest continuous run time at one theatre. The Ambassadors Theatre in London held 8,862 performances in the span of twenty-one years.

Various covers of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Credit: linked Agatha Christie website)

In 1974 production moved to St. Martins Theatre and continued without break until 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, production came to a pause as theatres closed. By this time, it had surpassed 28,200 performances.

Many of Christie’s work had successful film adaptations. Such as the film adaptation of And Then There Were None, adapted in 1945, and Death of the Nile - adapted in 1978.

The author later in life (Credit: The Guardian)

Christie wrote fictional mystery novels, however that transferred to her real life. After discovering her husband with another woman, she disappeared, and was nowhere to be found, until she was discovered by authorities in a hotel under the name of the woman her husband was seeing.


By the time of her death, she had written more than 70 detective novels and short fiction, including romance novels that she wrote under the name Mary.

Her legacy continues to shine as she is recognized with titles such as “queen of crime”. Christie is one of the top-selling authors in history. All of Christie’s combined works have sold more than 2 billion copies worldwide. Consider reading these top novels from Agatha Christie.


Works Cited


“Agatha Christie.” Edited by Biography.com Editors, Biography.com, A&E Networks

Television, 23 Apr. 2021, www.biography.com/writer/agatha-christie.


Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Agatha Christie". Encyclopedia


Djeannerod. “Agatha Christie's Vintage Book Covers.” International Crime Fiction



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