There is strong evidence that the house where Agatha Christie actually lived, Winterbrook Lodge in the town of Wallingford, is the model for Danemead, which is Miss Marple's house in the village of St Mary Mead.

Wallingford is believed to be the model for the fictional town of Market Basing, the site of a number of Agatha Christie's mysteries.

She came up with the idea of her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, while working in a hospital. It was published in 1920.

Agatha Christie wrote 66 novels, almost 150 short stories, and 16 plays.

Some of her more famous works are her novels Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and the longest-running play in history, The Mousetrap.

In 1971, the most popular mystery writer ever, with over one hundred million books published, became a Dame of the British Empire.