Agatha Christie Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.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 | (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
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 | (1930) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Sittaford Mystery / The Murder at Hazelmoor | (1931) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Unfinished Portrait | (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 | (1944) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Death Comes as the End | (1944) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Rose And The Yew Tree | (1947) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Crooked House | (1949) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
They Came to Baghdad | (1951) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Daughter's a Daughter | (1952) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Destination Unknown / So Many Steps to Death | (1954) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burden | (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 | (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 | (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 | (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 | (1946) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Agatha Christie: An Autobiography | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery | (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 also wrote a few novels under the name Mary Westmacotte. Several of these may still be available through your library
I am working on re-reading everything she wrote by date –
I never tire of the amazing ability she had to write these treasures!
^ 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.
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
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?
Is reading with this order important?
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.
Was just going to say the same thing
I have one called Thirteen for Luck which isn’t on the list…
Should that be “Thirteen for Lunch”? 🙂
I know The Lord Edgeware book had an American version “Thirteen at Dinner”
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”
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.
Just curious to find out why “Cards on the Table” is listed under different series?
This book is a Poirot mystery in which Supt. Battle also helps with the investigation.
CROSS”FRICKING”OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
This is very helpful, but I was looking for a list not divided by main characters. Is that somewhere on the site? Thank you.
Probably because it was finished by another writer.
Anyone read the Sherlock Holmes series? I may want to start reading on those
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.
I realised it too, maybe they forgot to put it in?
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?
It was retitled And Then There Were None. It’s listed under Standalone Novels. It was published in 1939.
Thank you
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.