Agatha Christie: The Mysterious Life of the Mystery Queen

Today is mystery queen Agatha Christie’s 127th birth anniversary. We are big fans of the iconic author and were excited to know that the writer had quite a few twists and turns in her own life.

Here's how you can know more about the enigmatic book writer.

1. Also known as the "Queen of Crime" and the "Queen of Mystery", she was born on September 15th, 1980 as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller in Torquay, England. Her first book was published in 1920. The story was about the murder of a rich heiress, and introduced one of her most famous characters - Hercule Poirot, the detective.
   

   Did you know that her first novel was written on a dare? Her sister dared her to pursue a novel length project.

2. She was the youngest of three siblings, and was educated by her mother.
3. Agatha married a pilot, Colonel Archibald Christie and was even a nurse during World War 1. However, in 1926, she realised her husband was cheating on her. After finding out about it, Christie disappeared. Authorities found her a few days later, at a hotel, staying under the name of her husband’s mistress. She turned up claiming amnesia.
4. She divorced her husband in 1928, and in 1930 remarried an archaeology professor, Max Mallowan.
5. To her credit she has more than 70 novels and has sold more than 2 billion copies worldwide. The number is staggering. She also wrote the longest running play, in London’s West End, The Mouse Trap.
   

   Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple are Christie's most well-known detectives.

6. Under an alias, Mary Westmacott she wrote 6 romance novels.
7. Did you know that she loved surfing, and that she tried desperately to start smoking. She was disappointed that she couldn’t do it!
8. She was even made a dame in 1971. Christie died on January 12, 1976.

So much like the characters in her books, Christie herself was a fascination character to understand!

We are really happy to remember her on her birth anniversary. We certainly spent our childhoods reading her books, and we are sure many of you did too!

Pic Credit: Eskipaper

Also Read: Challenges of Writing Detective Fiction By Manjiri Prabhu