Agatha Christie (1890–1976) was an English crime novelist, short-story writer and playwright. Her reputation rests on 66 detective novels and 15 short-story collections that have sold over two billion copies, an amount surpassed only by the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare.[1] She is also the most translated individual author in the world with her books having been translated into more than 100 languages.[2][3] Her works contain several regular characters with whom the public became familiar, including Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, Parker Pyne and Harley Quin.[4][1] Christie wrote more Poirot stories than any of the others, even though she thought the character to be "rather insufferable".[4] Following the publication of the 1975 novel Curtain, Poirot's obituary appeared on the front page of The New York Times.[5][6]
 | |
| Novels↙ | 74 |
|---|---|
| Collections↙ | 28 |
| Poems↙ | 3 |
| Plays↙ | 16 |
| Broadcast works↙ | 7 |
| As editor↙ | 1 |
| Autobiography↙ | 2 |
| References and footnotes | |
She married Archibald Christie in December 1914, but the couple divorced in 1928.[4] After he was sent to the Western Front in the First World War, she worked with the Voluntary Aid Detachment and in the chemist dispensary, giving her a working background knowledge of medicines and poisons.[4] Christie's writing career began during the war, after she was challenged by her sister to write a detective story; she produced The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which was turned down by two publishers before being published in 1920.[4][7] Following the limited success of the novel, she continued to write and steadily built up a fan base. She went on to write over a hundred works, including further novels, short stories, plays, poetry, and two autobiographies. She also wrote six romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.[8]
One of Christie's plays, The Mousetrap, opened in West End theatre in 1952, and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then re-opened on 17 May 2021. In 2009, the London run exceeded 25,000 performances.[9]
In September 2015, a public vote identified And Then There Were None as the public's favourite Christie novel; the book was the writer's favourite, and the one she found most difficult to write.[10]
In September 1930, Christie married the archaeologist Max Mallowan. The pair travelled frequently on archaeological expeditions, and she utilized the experiences she had while on her many adventures as a basis for some plots, including Murder on the Orient Express (1934), Murder in Mesopotamia (1936) and Death on the Nile (1937). She also wrote the autobiographical travel book Come, Tell Me How You Live (1946), which described their life in Syria. Her biographer, Janet Morgan, reports that "archaeologists have celebrated ... [Christie's] contribution to Near Eastern exploration".[4] Christie died in 1976, her reputation as a crime novelist high.[11]
Novels
Initially in chronological order by UK publication date, even when the book was published first in the US or serialised in a magazine in advance of publication in book form.
Short fiction collections
Many of Christie's stories first appeared in journals, newspapers and magazines.[19] This list consists of the published collections of stories, in chronological order by UK publication date, even when the book was published first in the US or serialised in a magazine in advance of publication in book form.
List of short stories
A total of 166 stories have been written and published in 15 collections in the US and the UK.[21] 165 stories were published in the UK, with the omission of "Three Blind Mice." The 12 original short stories that were used for The Big Four were published in the UK in 2017. 154 other stories were published in the US. Some stories were published under different names in the US collections.
Four short stories, including "The Submarine Plans," "Christmas Adventure," "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest," and "The Second Gong," were expanded into longer stories by Christie (respectively "The Incredible Theft," "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding," "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest," and "Dead Man's Mirror").
UK collections
This is a list of 166 stories sorted by the 15 UK collections in chronological order.
| UK collection | UK title | US collection |
|---|---|---|
| Poirot Investigates (11)[19] | "The Adventure of 'The Western Star'" | Poirot Investigates (14)—also includes "The Veiled Lady", "The Lost Mine", and "The Chocolate Box"[19] |
| "The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor" | ||
| "The Adventure of the Cheap Flat" | ||
| "The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge" | ||
| "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery" | ||
| "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" | ||
| "The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan" | ||
| "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" | ||
| "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim" | ||
| "The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" | ||
| "The Case of the Missing Will" | ||
| Partners in Crime (15)[22] | "A Fairy in the Flat" | Partners in Crime[22] |
| "A Pot of Tea" | ||
| "The Affair of the Pink Pearl" | ||
| "The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger" | ||
| "Finessing the King/The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper" | ||
| "The Case of the Missing Lady" | ||
| "Blindman's Buff" | ||
| "The Man in the Mist" | ||
| "The Crackler" | ||
| "The Sunningdale Mystery" | ||
| "The House of Lurking Death" | ||
| "The Unbreakable Alibi" | ||
| "The Clergyman's Daughter/The Red House" | ||
| "The Ambassador's Boots" | ||
| "The Man Who Was No. 16" | ||
| The Mysterious Mr Quin (12)[23] | "The Coming of Mr. Quin" | The Mysterious Mr Quin[23] |
| "The Shadow on the Glass" | ||
| "At the 'Bells and Motley'" | ||
| "The Sign in the Sky" | ||
| "The Soul of the Croupier" | ||
| "The Man from the Sea" | ||
| "The Voice in the Dark" | ||
| "The Face of Helen" | ||
| "The Dead Harlequin" | ||
| "The Bird with the Broken Wing" | ||
| "The World's End" | ||
| "Harlequin's Lane" | ||
| The Thirteen Problems (13)[24] | "The Tuesday Night Club" | The Tuesday Club Murders[24] |
| "The Idol House of Astarte" | ||
| "Ingots of Gold" | ||
| "The Blood-Stained Pavement" | ||
| "Motive v. Opportunity" | ||
| "The Thumb Mark of St. Peter" | ||
| "The Blue Geranium" | ||
| "The Companion" | ||
| "The Four Suspects" | ||
| "A Christmas Tragedy" | ||
| "The Herb of Death" | ||
| "The Affair at the Bungalow" | ||
| "Death by Drowning" | ||
| The Hound of Death (12)[25] | "The Hound of Death" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories[26] |
| "The Red Signal" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories[27] | |
| "The Fourth Man" | ||
| "The Gypsy" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | |
| "The Lamp" | ||
| "Wireless" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories under the name "Where There's a Will" | |
| "The Witness for the Prosecution" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | |
| "The Mystery of the Blue Jar" | ||
| "The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories under the name "The Strange Case of Sir Andrew Carmichael" | |
| "The Call of Wings" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | |
| "The Last Seance" | Double Sin and Other Stories[28] | |
| "S.O.S." | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | |
| The Listerdale Mystery (12)[25] | "The Listerdale Mystery" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories |
| "Philomel Cottage" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | |
| "The Girl in the Train" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | |
| "Sing a Song of Sixpence" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | |
| "The Manhood of Edward Robinson" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | |
| "Accident" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | |
| "Jane in Search of a Job" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | |
| "A Fruitful Sunday" | ||
| "Mr. Eastwood's Adventure" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | |
| "The Golden Ball" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | |
| "The Rajah's Emerald" | ||
| "Swan Song" | ||
| Parker Pyne Investigates (12)[29] | "The Case of the Middle-aged Wife" | Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective[29] |
| "The Case of the Discontented Soldier" | ||
| "The Case of the Distressed Lady" | ||
| "The Case of the Discontented Husband" | ||
| "The Case of the City Clerk" | ||
| "The Case of the Rich Woman" | ||
| "Have You Got Everything You Want?" | ||
| "The Gate of Baghdad" | ||
| "The House at Shiraz" | ||
| "The Pearl of Price" | ||
| "Death on the Nile" | ||
| "The Oracle at Delphi" | ||
| Murder in the Mews (4)[30] | "Murder in the Mews" | Dead Man's Mirror[26] |
| "The Incredible Theft" | ||
| "Dead Man's Mirror" | ||
| "Triangle at Rhodes" | ||
| The Labours of Hercules (12)[31] | "The Nemean Lion" | The Labors of Hercules[31] |
| "The Lernaean Hydra" | ||
| "The Arcadian Deer" | ||
| "The Erymanthian Boar" | ||
| "The Augean Stables" | ||
| "The Stymphalean Birds" | ||
| "The Cretan Bull" | ||
| "The Horse of Diomedes" | ||
| "The Girdle of Hippolyta" | ||
| "The Flock of Geryon" | ||
| "The Apples of the Hesperides" | ||
| "The Capture of Cerberus" | ||
| The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (6)[28] | "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" | Double Sin and Other Stories under the name "The Theft of the Royal Ruby" |
| "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest" | The Harlequin Tea Set | |
| "The Under Dog" | The Under Dog and Other Stories | |
| "Four and Twenty Blackbirds" | Three Blind Mice and Other Stories[30] | |
| "The Dream" | The Regatta Mystery[26] | |
| "Greenshaw's Folly" | Double Sin and Other Stories | |
| Poirot's Early Cases (18)[32] | "The Affair at the Victory Ball" | The Under Dog and Other Stories |
| "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" | ||
| "The Cornish Mystery" | ||
| "The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly" | Three Blind Mice and Other Stories | |
| "The Double Clue" | Double Sin and Other Stories | |
| "The King of Clubs" | The Under Dog and Other Stories | |
| "The Lemesurier Inheritance" | ||
| "The Lost Mine" | Poirot Investigates (US edition only) | |
| "The Plymouth Express" | The Under Dog and Other Stories | |
| "The Chocolate Box" | Poirot Investigates (US edition only) | |
| "The Submarine Plans" | The Under Dog and Other Stories | |
| "The Third-Floor Flat" | Three Blind Mice and Other Stories | |
| "Double Sin" | Double Sin and Other Stories | |
| "The Market Basing Mystery" | The Under Dog and Other Stories | |
| "Wasps’ Nest" | Double Sin and Other Stories | |
| "The Veiled Lady" | Poirot Investigates (US edition only) | |
| "Problem at Sea" | The Regatta Mystery | |
| "How Does Your Garden Grow?" | ||
| Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories (8) | "Sanctuary" | Double Sin and Other Stories |
| "Strange Jest" | Three Blind Mice and Other Stories | |
| "Tape-Measure Murder" | ||
| "The Case of the Caretaker" | ||
| "The Case of the Perfect Maid" | ||
| "Miss Marple Tells a Story" | The Regatta Mystery | |
| "The Dressmaker's Doll" | Double Sin and Other Stories | |
| "In a Glass Darkly" | The Regatta Mystery | |
| Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (8) | "Problem at Pollensa Bay" | The Regatta Mystery |
| "The Second Gong" | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | |
| "Yellow Iris" | The Regatta Mystery | |
| "The Harlequin Tea Set" | The Harlequin Tea Set | |
| "The Regatta Mystery" | The Regatta Mystery | |
| "The Love Detectives" | Three Blind Mice and Other Stories | |
| "Next to a Dog" | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | |
| "Magnolia Blossom" | ||
| While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (9) | "The House of Dreams" | The Harlequin Tea Set |
| "The Actress" | ||
| "The Edge" | ||
| "Christmas Adventure" | Midwinter Murder[33] | |
| "The Lonely God" | The Harlequin Tea Set | |
| "Manx Gold" | ||
| "Within A Wall" | ||
| "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest" | The Regatta Mystery | |
| "While the Light Lasts" | The Harlequin Tea Set | |
| The Big Four – The Detective Club (short story version) (12)[20] | "The Unexpected Guest" | As yet unpublished in the US |
| "The Adventure of the Dartmoor Bungalow" | ||
| "The Lady on the Stairs" | ||
| "The Radium Thieves" | ||
| "In the House of the Enemy" | ||
| "The Yellow Jasmine Mystery" | ||
| "The Chess Problem" | ||
| "The Baited Trap" | ||
| "The Adventure of the Peroxide Blonde" | ||
| "The Terrible Catastrophe" | ||
| "The Dying Chinaman" | ||
| "The Crag in the Dolomites" | ||
| Never published in a UK collection | "Three Blind Mice" | Three Blind Mice and Other Stories |
| The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural | "The Wife of the Kenite" | The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural |
US collections
There are 14 US collections, excluding Poirot's Early Cases, since all of its eighteen stories appeared in earlier collections, and The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural, which includes only one previously unavailable Christie story.
| Year | US collection | Number of stories |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Poirot Investigates | 14 |
| 1929 | Partners in Crime | 15 |
| 1930 | The Mysterious Mr Quin | 12 |
| 1932 | The Tuesday Club Murders | 13 |
| 1934 | Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective | 12 |
| 1937 | Dead Man's Mirror | 4 |
| 1939 | The Regatta Mystery | 9 |
| 1947 | The Labors of Hercules | 12 |
| 1948 | The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories | 11 |
| 1950 | Three Blind Mice and Other Stories | 9 |
| 1951 | The Under Dog and Other Stories | 9 |
| 1961 | Double Sin and Other Stories | 8 |
| 1971 | The Golden Ball and Other Stories | 15 |
| 1997 | The Harlequin Tea Set | 9 |
Miscellany
| Title[1][34] | Year of first publication | First edition publisher (All London) | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Road of Dreams | 1924 | Geoffrey Bles | Poetry | |
| Ask a Policeman | 1933 | Arthur Barker | Novel | Part 1 of The Detection Club trilogy |
| Come, Tell Me How You Live | 1946 | William Collins & Sons | Autobiographical travel book | Under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan |
| Star Over Bethlehem | 1965 | William Collins & Sons | Poetry and short stories | Under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan |
| Poems | 1973 | William Collins & Sons | Poetry | |
| The Times of London Anthology of Detective Stories | 1973 | John Day | Mystery stories | Editor, with others |
| Agatha Christie: An Autobiography | 1977 | William Collins & Sons | Autobiography | |
| The Scoop and Behind the Screen | 1983 | Victor Gollancz | Mystery novellas | With members of The Detection Club |
| The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery | 2012 | Letters |
Broadcast works
Several of Christie's works have been adapted for stage and screen; the following is a list of only those works written by her on her own or as a member of a group.[35]
| Title[1] | First performance | Date of first performance | Type of work | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behind The Screen | BBC Radio | 14 June 1930 | Radio play | Written together with Hugh Walpole, Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, E. C. Bentley and Ronald Knox of The Detection Club. | [36] |
| The Scoop | BBC Radio | 10 January 1931 | Radio play | Written together with Dorothy L. Sayers, E. C. Bentley, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts and Clemence Dane of The Detection Club. | [37] |
| Wasp's Nest | BBC Television | 18 June 1937 | Television play | [38] | |
| The Yellow Iris | BBC Radio | 2 November 1937 | Radio play | [39] | |
| Three Blind Mice | BBC Radio | 30 May 1947 | Radio play | [40] | |
| Butter in a Lordly Dish | BBC Radio | 13 January 1948 | Radio play | [41] | |
| Personal Call | BBC Radio | 31 May 1954 | Radio play | [42] |
Stage works
The definitive study of Agatha Christie's stage plays is Curtain Up: Agatha Christie, a Life in Theatre by Julius Green.
| Title[1][43] | Location of first performance (London, unless otherwise stated) | Date of first performance | Year of publication | Publisher (All London) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Coffee | Embassy Theatre | 8 December 1930 | 1934 | Ashley | Novelised by Charles Osborne in 1998 as Black Coffee |
| Ten Little Niggers | St James's Theatre | 17 October 1943 | 1944 | Samuel French Ltd. | Based on the 1939 novel Ten Little Niggers; also known as Ten Little Indians and And Then There Were None. |
| Appointment with Death | Piccadilly Theatre | 31 March 1945 | 1945 | Samuel French Ltd. | Based on the 1938 novel Appointment with Death |
| Murder on the Nile | Wimbledon Theatre | 1945 | 1948 | Samuel French Ltd. | Based on the 1937 novel Death on the Nile; a revised version—published as Murder on the Nile—was produced at Ambassadors Theatre on 19 March 1946 |
| The Hollow | Fortune Theatre | 7 June 1951 | 1952 | Samuel French Ltd. | Based on the 1946 novel The Hollow. |
| The Mousetrap | Ambassadors Theatre | 25 November 1952 | 1954 | Samuel French Ltd. | As of 2024[update] the play was still running.[44] In February 2024 the London run exceeded 29,500 performances.[9] |
| Witness for the Prosecution | Winter Garden Theatre | 28 October 1953 | 1954 | Samuel French Ltd. | Based upon the 1925 short story "The Witness for the Prosecution" |
| Spider's Web | Savoy Theatre | 14 December 1954 | 1957 | Samuel French Ltd. | Novelised by Charles Osborne in 2000 as Spider's Web |
| Towards Zero | St James's Theatre | 4 September 1956 | 1957 | Samuel French Ltd. | With Gerald Verner; based on the novel Towards Zero |
| Verdict | Strand Theatre | 22 May 1958 | 1958 | Samuel French Ltd. | |
| The Unexpected Guest | Duchess Theatre | 12 August 1958 | 1958 | Samuel French Ltd. | Novelised by Charles Osborne in 1999 as The Unexpected Guest |
| Go Back for Murder | Duchess Theatre | 23 March 1960 | 1960 | Samuel French Ltd. | Based on the novel Five Little Pigs |
| Rule of Three | Duchess Theatre | 20 December 1962 | 1963 | Samuel French Ltd. | Contains three works: Afternoon at the Sea-side, The Patient and The Rats |
| Fiddlers Three | Kings Theatre, Southsea | 7 June 1971 | |||
| Akhnaton | New York | 1979 | 1973 | William Collins & Sons | First produced under the title Akhnaton and Nefertiti. |
| Chimneys | Pitlochry Festival Theatre Company | 1 June 2006 | Unpublished. Written in 1931 and forgotten until the early 1980s when the script was discovered in the British Library Archive. Its existence was suppressed for 20 years at the request of Christie's daughter, but eventually came to light when it was discovered by another researcher who was unaware of the request. The play was unperformed until 2006. Based on the 1925 novel The Secret of Chimneys. | ||
| The Lie | Paignton, Devon | 15 September 2018 | Unpublished. Written in the 1920s and discovered by Julius Green in the Christie archive while doing research for Curtain Up.[45][46] |
| The Conqueror | One act play |
|---|---|
| Teddy Bear | One act play |
| Eugenia and Eugenics | One act play |
| The Clutching Hand | Full-length play. Adapted from: The Exploits of Elaine, a novel by Arthur B. Reeve (1915) |
| The Last Seance | One act play |
| Ten Years | One act play |
| Marmalade Moon | One act play |
| Someone at the Window | Full-length play. Adapted from Agatha Christie's short story "The Dead Harlequin" |
| Miss. Perry | Full-length play |
| Bleak House | Full-length movie script. Adapted from the Charles Dickens novel |