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Agatha Christie Books In Order

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Publication Order of Hercule Poirot Books

The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Murder on the Links (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Poirot Investigates (1924)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Big Four (1927)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Black Coffee (1930)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Peril at End House (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Lord Edgware Dies / Thirteen at Dinner (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Three Act Tragedy / Murder in Three Acts (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder on the Orient Express / Murder in the Calais Coach (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Death in the Clouds / Death in the Air (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The A.B.C. Murders (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Cards on the Table (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Dumb Witness / Poirot Loses a Client (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Death on the Nile (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder in the Mews / Dead Man's Mirror (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Appointment with Death (1938)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Hercule Poirot's Christmas / Holiday for Murder / Murder for Christmas (1938)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sad Cypress (1940)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe / Overdose of Death (1940)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Evil Under the Sun (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Five Little Pigs / Murder in Retrospect (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Hollow / Murder after Hours (1946)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Taken at the Flood (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Mrs. McGinty's Dead / Blood Will Tell (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
After the Funeral / Funerals are Fatal (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Hickory Dickory Dock (1955)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Dead Man's Folly (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Cat Among the Pigeons (1959)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Clocks (1963)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Third Girl (1966)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Hallowe'en Party (1969)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Elephants Can Remember (1972)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Curtain (1975)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Hercule Poirot Short Stories/Novellas

The Adventure of the Cheap Flat (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The King of Clubs (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Adventure of Johnnie Waverly (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Veiled Lady (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Kidnapped Prime Minister (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Plymouth Express (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Affair at the Victory Ball (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Adventure of the Western Star (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Submarine Plans (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Adventure of the Clapham Cook (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Lost Mine (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Lemesurier Inheritance (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Chocolate Box (1925)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Double Sin (1928)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Wasps' Nest (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Second Gong (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
How Does Your Garden Grow? (1935)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Poirot and the Regatta Mystery (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Yellow Iris (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Incredible Theft (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Dream (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mystery of the Spanish Chest (1960)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Afternoon at the Seaside (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Patient (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Witness for the Prosecution (1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Four and Twenty Blackbirds (1989)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Million Dollar Bond Robbery (1998)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Market Basing Mystery (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Cornish Mystery (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Problem at Sea (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Under Dog (2016)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Double Clue (2019)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the Missing Will (2019)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Hercule Poirot Collections

The Labours of Hercules / The Labors of Hercules (1947)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Witness for the Prosecution (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Poirot's Early Cases (1974)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Hercule Poirot's Casebook (By: Maxim Jakubowski) (1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories (1997)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Double Clue (2016)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot (2019)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Grey Cells of Mr. Poirot (2019)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Miss Marple Books

The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Body in the Library (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Moving Finger (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Murder is Announced (1950)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
They Do It With Mirrors (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Pocket Full of Rye (1953)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
4:50 From Paddington / What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! (1957)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Caribbean Mystery (1964)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
At Bertram's Hotel (1965)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Nemesis (1971)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sleeping Murder (1976)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Miss Marple Short Stories/Novellas

The Idol House of Astarte (1928)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Ingots of Gold (1928)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Motive v. Opportunity (1928)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Thumb Mark of St. Peter (1928)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Blue Geranium (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Herb of Death (1930)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Miss Marple Tells a Story (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the Caretaker (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Strange Jest (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Tape-Measure Murder (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the Perfect Maid (1942)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sanctuary (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Greenshaw's Folly (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Christmas Tragedy (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Miss Marple Collections

The Thirteen Problems (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
13 Clues for Miss Marple (1966)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Miss Marple's Final Cases (1979)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Miss Marple Short Stories (2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Tommy and Tuppence Books

The Secret Adversary (1922)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Partners in Crime (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
N or M? (1941)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Postern of Fate (1973)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Tommy & Tuppence Short Stories/Novellas

A Fairy in the Flat (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Affair of the Pink Pearl (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Man in the Mist (1977)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The House of Lurking Death (1995)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Finessing the King (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Blindman's Buff (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Pot of Tea (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Crackler (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Clergyman's Daughter/The Red House (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Ambassador's Boots (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Superintendent Battle Books

The Secret of Chimneys (1925)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Cards on the Table (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder is Easy / Easy To Kill (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Towards Zero (1944)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Colonel Race Books

The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Cards on the Table (1936)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Death on the Nile (1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sparkling Cyanide (1944)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Harley Quin Books

The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Harley Quin Short Stories/Novellas

The Shadow on the Glass (1924)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Sign in the Sky (1925)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
At the 'Bells and Motley' (1926)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Soul of the Croupier (1927)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The World's End (1927)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Voice in the Dark (1927)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Face of Helen (1927)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Harlequin's Lane (1927)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Dead Harlequin (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Man from the Sea (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Bird with the Broken Wing (1930)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Love Detectives (1993)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Coming of Mr. Quin (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Parker Pyne Short Stories/Novellas

The Case of the Discontented Soldier (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the City Clerk (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the Distressed Lady (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the Discontented Husband (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The House at Shiraz (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Have You Got Everything You Want? (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Gate of Baghdad (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Oracle at Delphi (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Pearl of Price (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Case of the Rich Woman (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Giant Bread (As:Mary Westmacott) (1930)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Sittaford Mystery / The Murder at Hazelmoor (1931)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Unfinished Portrait (As:Mary Westmacott) (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? / The Boomerang Clue (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
And Then There Were None / Ten Little Indians (1939)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Absent in the Spring (As:Mary Westmacott) (1944)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Death Comes as the End (1944)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Rose And The Yew Tree (As:Mary Westmacott) (1947)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Crooked House (1949)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
They Came to Baghdad (1951)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Daughter's a Daughter (As: Mary Westmacott) (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Destination Unknown / So Many Steps to Death (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Burden (As:Mary Westmacott) (1956)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Ordeal by Innocence (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Pale Horse (1961)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Endless Night (1967)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
13 at Dinner (1969)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Passenger to Frankfurt (1970)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Unexpected Guest (With: Charles Osborne) (1999)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Accident (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Actress (1923)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Red Signal (1924)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mystery of the Blue Jar (1924)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl (1924)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Philomel Cottage (1924)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Wireless (1925)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Within a Wall (1925)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The House of Dreams (1926)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Magnolia Blossom (1926)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Lonely God (1926)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Rajah's Emerald (1926)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Edge (1927)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sing a Song of Sixpence (1929)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Manx Gold (1930)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Fourth Man (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Gipsy (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Manhood of Edward Robinson (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Three Blind Mice: A Novella (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Dressmaker's Doll (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Water Bus (1965)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Jane in Search of a Job (1974)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Girl in the Train (1993)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
S.O.S. (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Lamp (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Call of Wings (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Fruitful Sunday (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Swan Song (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Naughty Donkey (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
In the Cool of the Evening (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Island (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (1932)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Hound of Death (1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Listerdale Mystery and Eleven Other Stories (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Parker Pyne Investigates (1934)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Double Sin and Other Stories (1961)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Star Over Bethlehem and Other Stories (By: Agatha Christie Mallowan) (1965)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Golden Ball and Other Stories (1971)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Mousetrap and Other Plays (1978)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Problem at Pollensa Bay (1985)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Tuesday Club Murders (1986)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
While the Light Lasts (1997)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Bloodstained Pavement and Other Stories (2003)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Death by Drowning (2003)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder In Three Stages (With: Charles Osborne) (2004)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Seven Deadly Sins (2004)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Masterpieces in Miniature (2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Detectives - Short Stories (2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Tuesday Night Club and Other Stories (2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Red Signal and Other Stories (2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Listerdale Mystery (2005)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Masterpieces of Mystery and the Unknown (2006)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Actress and Other Short Stories (2006)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Fruitful Sunday and Other Short Stories (2006)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Miss Marple and Mystery (2008)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Midwinter Murder (2020)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Midsummer Mysteries: Tales from the Queen of Mystery (2021)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Deadly Affair (2022)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Plays

The Mousetrap (1952)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Spider's Web (1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Verdict (1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Rats (1962)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Come, Tell Me How You Live (By: Agatha Christie Mallowan) (1946)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Agatha Christie: An Autobiography (1977)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery (With: Mathew Prichard) (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Anthologies

Murder in the Dark(0)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror(1931)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Floating Admiral(1931)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Ask a Policeman(1933)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Six Against the Yard(1937)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
World's Great Mystery Stories(1943)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction(1948)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Nero Wolfe Mystery Magazine Volume 1 Number 1, January 1954(1954)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July 1958(1958)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Nine Detective Stories(1964)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Daring Detectives(1969)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Women Writing(1979)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Ghosts That Haunt You(1980)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Seventeenth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories(1981)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Eighth Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories(1982)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Scoop and Behind the Screen(1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Web She Weaves(1983)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Spooky Tales(1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Witches' Brew(1984)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Handle with Care: Frightening Stories(1985)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
English Country House Murders(1988)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder British Style(1993)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
English Crime Stories of Today(1993)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder Intercontinental(1996)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Mystery Stories(1996)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Win, Lose or Die(1996)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder to Music(1997)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Law and Order(1997)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas(1999)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Oxford Book of Detective Stories(2000)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Century of British Mystery and Suspense(2000)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Malice Domestic 9(2000)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Crime Never Pays(2001)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Murder On The Railways(2003)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction(2004)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Books to Die For(2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Bodies from the Library(2019)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
The Agatha Christie Collection: 41 Works(2020)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Marple: Twelve New Mysteries(2022)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

About Agatha Christie:

Agatha Christie was born in Ashfield. Agatha grew up in the town of Torquay in southwest England. She taught herself how to read at five years old even though her mother didn’t want her to do so until she was eight. She was home-schooled, which was a lot more uncommon at the turn of the 20th century than it is now. Her father was her primary teacher, but her mother was a storyteller—and gave strong encouragement for Agatha to write.

Although she became a prolific writer, she claimed she really did not have much in the way of lessons other than arithmetic. Although she did not have the social experience of public school, she studied dance and piano as a teenager. She was too shy to perform. Her first published writing happened when she was 11. It was a poem about electric trams. She was very clever at inventing ways to keep occupied.

She has been quoted as saying, “There is nothing like boredom to inspire you to write.” She had written a number of short stories by the time she was 17. In 1910, at 20, Christie spent winter months in Egypt with her mother. Her time there influenced the rest of her life.

In 1914, she married Archibald Christie, who was a Lt. Colnel. Archibald returned to military service right after their marriage, and Agatha was later to say that she felt her married life really began in 1918—when her husband was stationed in London. She began writing detective fiction while working as a nurse during World War 1. The confusion and sadness of the patients she tended affected her deeply, and her knowledge of poison and drugs is seen again and again in her novels.

During quiet periods at the hospital, she started writing in response to her sister’s statement of long past that she could not write a detective story. The author’s mother died in 1926, not long before Archibald left Agatha for another woman. He was in Spain when her mother died and seemed completely indifferent to her feelings and grief. He told her of his affair and love for Nancy Neel (an acquaintance) immediately upon returning from Spain.

The couple seemed to overcome this and try to stay together. They moved to Styles. But after a few months, she left her house and disappeared after a huge fight. There was an extensive search, with some thinking she was dead and others speculating she was alive. When it was discovered she was indeed alive, there was speculation that she did it to either spite her husband or gain publicity for her latest novel. This episode of Agatha’s life is perhaps the most talked about and less known.

She later married Max Mallowan, an archeologist. They spent over a decade in Assyria, at an archeological dig. They travelled back to England at least once a year. Mallowan and Christie bought several homes and lived in several flats over the years. Their final home was a large Georgian house near Torquay, not far from Agatha’s childhood home. In 1936, Mallowan was part of an expedition which dug up seventy cuneiform tablets.

The couple traveled back and forth between England and the Middle East quite extensively. Agatha returned to serving as a nurse during World War II. Her one child, Rosalind, was named after a female hero from a Shakespeare play. Rosalind had a significant share in Agatha’s company that controlled the rights to her works. In 1954, Christie had three plays she had written running at the same time. Her novels and her plays did so well that she had to form a company to avoid excessive taxation. Her most famous play was The Mousetrap. She said she had more fun writing plays than writing books. Christie wrote so many novels some say she lost count.

She was named a Dame of the British Empire in 1971. There is speculation that Agatha suffered from dementia in her later years even though she kept writing. Changes in the vocabulary and dialog of her later novels have been said by some to support this theory.

There is an increasing preoccupation with older people in her writing, especially the novels Elephants Can Remember, and Postern of Fate. She died in 1976. She spend much of her life avoiding the public, according to some because of the way the press found her and wrote about her when she was “hiding” after leaving her first husband—an incident she never spoke of or wrote about. She had her way and wrote her life story herself. She began writing her life story in 1950 and finished it in 1965. Her autobiography was published in 1977.

Writings

Her first novel was published in 1920, but it wasn’t until 1926 when her novel, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, gained recognition that her novels hit the best-selling lists. After this novel, 75 subsequent novels hit the best-seller lists in England and the United States. It featured perhaps her best-known character, Hercule Poirot.

He was a Belgian detective in many of her books. Poirot was described by the author as “a small man, muffled up to the ears of whom nothing was visible but a pink-tipped nose and the two points of an upward-curled mustache.” His detection methods spring from his ability to get people to talk and inventing fictitious backgrounds for himself in order to make this happen. This character was so popular, and some say so well written, that he is mentioned in textbooks that teach crime scene analysis.

Another character Christie used in novels was Miss Jane Marple. Like Poirot, this character has had significant impact. She is considered the source of what is termed, “The Spinster Detective.” The nice little old lady who is cunning and intelligent—who makes sense of crimes by comparing them to events in normal life. Of her novels that were made into films, two stand out: Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.

The latter was even made into a video game. Murder on the Orient Express is perhaps her most famous piece. It has been a novel, a play, a movie, a TV movie, and a radio show. In addition to her detective stories, Christie is the author of many poems, and some romances. Absent in the Spring, for example, was published in 1944 under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Agatha Christie

25 Responses to “Agatha Christie”

  1. Readerdick: 1 year ago

    Agatha Christie also wrote a few novels under the name Mary Westmacotte. Several of these may still be available through your library

    Reply
  2. Kathy Lennox: 2 years ago

    I am working on re-reading everything she wrote by date –
    I never tire of the amazing ability she had to write these treasures!

    Reply
  3. Job Blog: 2 years ago

    ^ A chapter each was completed by: Canon Victor Whitechurch, George and Margaret Cole, Henry Wade, Agatha Christie, John Rhode, Milward Kennedy, Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley. G. K. Chesterton contributed the prologue.

    Reply
  4. Anita Gilbert: 3 years ago

    I have seen two TV program versions of “The Pale Horse” They are vastly different. Did Agatha Christie rewrite the story? Are there such extensive rewrites of her work by others for television programs? Thank you

    Reply
  5. jcase16: 5 years ago

    I’m looking to read a ton of agatha christie books. I’m trying to figure out what makes the most sense for an order in which to read them. Would you read them by their groupings listed above or would you read them in a different order?

    Reply
  6. Jeremy: 6 years ago

    Is reading with this order important?

    Reply
    • Kay_W: 4 years ago

      not really. she sometimes references other mysteries, but nothing is given away. some books have recurring characters that showed up in other books, but again, not important.

      Reply
  7. cocoonofbooks: 7 years ago

    Was just going to say the same thing

    Reply
  8. Jo Christie: 7 years ago

    I have one called Thirteen for Luck which isn’t on the list…

    Reply
    • genroku: 6 years ago

      Should that be “Thirteen for Lunch”? 🙂

      Reply
    • Wayne Fowble: 6 years ago

      I know The Lord Edgeware book had an American version “Thirteen at Dinner”

      Reply
    • David Grewe: 6 years ago

      Maybe this from from WiKi will help.

      “Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. Before its book publication, the novel was serialised in six issues (March–August 1933) of The American Magazine as 13 For Dinner.”

      Thriteen At Dinner was also the name of the Movie based on the book “Lord Edgware Dies”

      Reply
    • nightMair Creative: 6 years ago

      I too have 13 for Luck and it’s def not 13 at Finner as I have that one too. 13 for luck is a collection of Poirot Maroke Harley Quinn Parker Pune, Tommy and Tupoence and Inspector Evans. I’m sticking it with Gokden Ball and Other Stories.

      Reply
  9. Chris Barber: 7 years ago

    Just curious to find out why “Cards on the Table” is listed under different series?

    Reply
    • Wayne Fowble: 7 years ago

      This book is a Poirot mystery in which Supt. Battle also helps with the investigation.

      Reply
      • George Orlando de Assis Machad: 6 years ago

        CROSS”FRICKING”OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

        Reply
  10. Chaserville2009: 8 years ago

    This is very helpful, but I was looking for a list not divided by main characters. Is that somewhere on the site? Thank you.

    Reply
  11. Chaserville2009: 8 years ago

    Probably because it was finished by another writer.

    Reply
  12. Charlotte Ang: 8 years ago

    Anyone read the Sherlock Holmes series? I may want to start reading on those

    Reply
    • Chari Carico: 8 years ago

      I recently read the first Sherlock Holmes book, A Study in Scarlet, and was really surprised at how different it was than any of the TV shows that are supposed to be based on it. Some of the ideas were the same, but executed in much different ways. I enjoyed both the book and the Cumberbatch version of it quite a bit, but I think I liked the book much better. Of course, that could be because it’s the book actually written by Arthur Conan Doyle so that may play into my preference. I really enjoyed the history of it, and was surprised by the motivation behind the killing ( I won’t give it away but nothing at all like the TV version). I am getting ready to start the second book, The Sign of Four, and am very excited about it.

      Reply
  13. Charlotte Ang: 8 years ago

    I realised it too, maybe they forgot to put it in?

    Reply
  14. hilarylawley: 9 years ago

    I am sorting out all our Agatha Christie books and i have used your list to go by. At the end i have one book left which i cannot find listed on your site. It is Ten Little ——-. Can you tell me why it isn’t listed please?

    Reply
    • readerella: 9 years ago

      It was retitled And Then There Were None. It’s listed under Standalone Novels. It was published in 1939.

      Reply
      • hilarylawley: 9 years ago

        Thank you

        Reply
    • genroku: 6 years ago

      Because the title was changed to “Ten Little Indians”, which I believe was the US title for the obvious reason. “And Then There Were None” is the last, and probably final, title change.

      Reply

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