Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, the child of an American father and an English mother. Educated at home, Christie began writing during World War I while employed as a nurse. The Mysterious Affair at Styles, her first novel, was written at this time although not published until 1920. Christie's egocentric Belgian supersleuth, Hercule Poirot, makes his debut in this book.In 1925, Christie published her classic detective novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, regarded by many as her greatest achievement. This "subtle masterpiece of misdirection" is typical of Christie with its numerous inventive plot elements feeding into a complex solution. It is not only a classic of detective fiction, but also helped to create the genre.
Shortly after its publication, Christie's husband left her and Christie herself disappeared, becoming the subject of a nationwide search by the tabloid media. When she was found 10 days later, apparently amnesiac, she became even more widely known than before and her books were regularly bestsellers. In 1930, she met and married the archaeologist, Max Mallowan. Thereafter she spent much time with him in the Middle East, which provided the settings for some of her best-known books, such as Death on the Nile (1937) and Appointment with Death (1938).
Christie's other famous sleuth, the village spinster Miss Jane Marple, emerged in the late 1920s in the short-story collection entitled The Tuesday Night Club Murders (1927-32) and in the novel, Murder at the Vicarage (1930). In the 1930s, Christie reached her peak, writing a series of skilfully-plotted detective novels with ingenious and surprising solutions, establishing her as the queen of detective fiction.
At the start of World War II, Christie wrote Curtain, which brought Poirot back to Styles, the scene of his first case, and ended with his death. This book, Poirot's swan song, was not published until 1975, in accordance with Christie's instructions.
She now began to write fewer Poirot books and more Marple books, such as The Body in the Library (1942). Christie's post-war books are generally considered to lack some of the qualities of her earlier work, but still achieve a high level of plot complexity and storytelling ingenuity, notably Dead Man's Folly (1956), The Clocks (1963) and Elephants Can Remember (1972).
Christie also wrote some successful plays, especially The Mousetrap (1952), which easily holds the world record for the longest continuous run in one theatre (21 years). Her Witness for the Prosecution (1953) was adapted into a famously successful film starring Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. Other successful film adaptations include Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and Death on the Nile (1978). In 1971, Christie was made a DBE (Dame of the British Empire). Her autobiography appeared posthumously, in 1977.
