Agatha Christie: A Study of Her Work and Writing Advice

The queen of whodunnits once famously wrote, "Every murderer is probably somebody's old friend.” Agatha Christie gave new meaning to writing crime fiction, as she delved deep into the study of human psychology in order to create her larger-than-life characters. One of the world’s bestselling authors, the British detective fiction and romance novelist and playwright had a profound impact on the field of crime writing. Known for creating beloved detective characters Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple (among others), Christie is best known for her novels such as Murder On the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, And Then There Were None, Death On the Nile, The Murder At the Vicarage, and more. Her works have sold upwards of a billion copies and have been translated into hundreds of languages. Even since her passing in the 1970s, her books are still read by thousands of bookworms around the globe today. Christie’s stories can be seen on screen and on stage, and her influence continues to inspire young writers today.

Early Life + Writing Beginnings

Born in 1890, Christie grew up in Devon, England, and was homeschooled by her mother, who fostered her love of learning, reading, and writing. After completing her education, she briefly spent a period as a debutante before breaking an engagement and subsequently marrying Archie Christie after a whirlwind romance in 1914. She then began serving as a nurse in World War I. In 1919 she gave birth to her daughter named Rosalind, who would be her only child. She then began her career as an author while working as a nurse during the war and published her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920.

After the war ended, Christie continued working in the medical field and publishing her novels and short stories. In the 1920s, Christie decided that she no longer wanted to work with her publisher The Bodley Head, so she switched to publishing her works with William Collins and Sons, which would later become the well-known company HarperCollins that continues to operate today. At this same time, her personal life took a horrible turn. Christie’s beloved mother passed away in 1926, and she subsequently found out that her husband Archie was having an affair with a family friend, Nancy Neele, and wanted a divorce. It was at this time that Christie famously became a character in her own mystery in which her fans became detectives and the whole world was watching through the media.

Christie’s Mystery + Subsequent Marriage

Like something out of her novels, Christie also had her own mystery in which she was the star, and the public felt the need to solve it. When Christie’s first husband Archie requested a divorce, in December 1926 she did the unexpected and like one of the characters in her novels, she vanished into the night. After leaving her daughter in the protective care of professionals in her home, she left the house without telling anyone her planned whereabouts or when she would be back. The British media and her fan base went into a frenzy, as the authorities found her car abandoned the following morning and for many days after, the iconic author was nowhere to be found. A search party looked for her high and low for a short period of time until she was eventually discovered at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel, where she had booked a room under a pseudonym, Theresa Steele. The pseudonym ironically happened to match the last name of her husband’s mistress. According to reports, Christie did not remember her husband and was “Possibly concussed and suffering from amnesia, Agatha had no recollection of who she was. An intensely private person, made even more so by the hue and cry of the press, Agatha never spoke of this time with friends or family.” This momentous event remains an unsolved mystery to this day. After this wild series of events, Christie divorced Archie in 1928 and shocked her fans once again by escaping to the Middle East and traveling extensively for years on end.

After hearing about a young couple’s trip to Baghdad, Christie set off to explore the Middle East and gain inspiration for her later novels. While traveling, she ventured to Ur and befriended some archaeologists, eventually meeting Sir Max Mallowan and later marrying him in 1930. Venturing back and forth from England and the Middle East, Christie continued writing her novels and publishing them at a rapid pace. While traveling in the 1930s, Christie took up playwriting in addition to fiction writing, and dove headfirst into a whole new world of storytelling. Wanting to come up with new characters for the stage, Christie temporarily left her famous Belgian detective Poirot behind for a short period of time. She began writing more plays in the 1940s, and in 1947 wrote a radio play for the BBC for Queen Mary’s 80th birthday. Little did she know this play, originally entitled Three Blind Mice but eventually renamed The Mousetrap, would become the world’s longest-running play. After premiering in Nottingham in October 1952, the play moved theaters but had an uninterrupted run until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. After this burst of success, Christie continued writing dozens of plays throughout the 1950s. Her best-known plays include Black Coffee, Witness For the Prosecution, and And Then There Were None (an adaptation of her novel of the same name). Her plays are regularly put on even today, and many of her works have been adapted for the screen in recent years.

Later Years and Writing Advice

In the middle and latter ends of her career, “She also wrote romantic nondetective novels, such as Absent in the Spring (1944), under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.” Although her romance novels aren’t as well known, Christie did find success with this new genre. Christie wrote her novel Curtain in 1975, which was “the very last Poirot novel” about which “The New York Times ran the first ever obituary for a fictional character.” In 1971, after writing dozens of novels, short stories, and plays, Christie was awarded the title of Dame (DBE), which indicated her profound impact on British society and the world at large. Sadly, Christie passed away in 1976 at the age of 85, and in her honor, “the lights were dimmed in West End theatres.” In her highly adventurous and fulfilling lifetime, she wrote approximately “66 novels and 14 short story collections,” in addition to her plays and the numerous other works she wrote under a pseudonym. Christie’s autobiography was released posthumously in 1977, and since her passing, her work has continued to come alive on the page, stage, and screen today.

In addition to being known for her unparalleled mystery writing skills, Christie was also recognized for her incredibly on-the-nose writing advice. In various interviews and her own writing, she was always happy to provide her well-earned knowledge and advice to burgeoning young writers. When advising people about writing and editing their work, Christie once said, “There is no doubt that the effort involved in typing or writing does help me in keeping to the point. Economy of wording, I think, is particularly necessary in detective stories. You don't want to hear the same thing rehashed three or four times over.” Christie also heavily emphasized the importance of doing diligent research prior to writing. She advised her fans and aspiring writers to research carefully and heavily when writing crime fiction, as she recollected, “As a result of writing crime books one gets interested in the study of criminology. I am particularly interested in reading books by those who have been in contact with criminals, especially those who have tried to benefit them or to find ways of what one would have called in the old days 'reforming' them - for which I imagine one uses far more grand terms nowadays!” When searching for ideas, in an interview with The New York Times, Christie told young authors to find inspiration by “Walking or just washing up, a tedious process. […] Years ago I got my plots in the tub, the old-fashioned, rim kind – just sitting there, thinking, undisturbed, and lining the rim with apple cores.”

Christie remains a bestselling author nearly 50 years after her death and is one of the top fiction crime writers of all time. The ultimate weaver of mysteries, Christie was the original sleuth. Prior to author Caroline Keene’s wildly popular Nancy Drew book series published in the 1930s, Christie was one of the most well-known female detective fiction writers. Like the author of the author of the Sherlock Holmes books, Arthur Conan Doyle, this British writer has cemented her place in the detective fiction writing hall of fame, and her impact will continue to be seen for decades to come. Christie’s themes and questions pondered in her works are timeless and continue to serve as a great example for aspiring crime fiction writers today. After living through two long and violent world wars, Christie managed to find major success as an author and playwright and lived a long and adventure-filled life.