About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign countries. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.

Reviews

‘A compelling, entertaining and joyful read. It is the people she meets along the way for whom she saves her best prose… It is they, and her wonderful descriptions of them, that make this book as enjoyable as any of her novels.’ – SUNDAY EXPRESS ‘The 32-year-old Agatha is confident, full of laughter, and sharply observant. She misses none of the local gossip… We can see an author gathering material for future use – the courting couples, elderly clergymen, spinsters, male secretaries, gouty ex-army officers, and vamps with kohl-ringed eyes, who form Agatha Christie’s typical cast of characters. The long sea voyages, sleeping compartments and dining cars will become the train in Murder on the Orient Express or the paddle steamer in Death on the Nile.’ – DAILY MAIL