Agatha Christie Biography

Daughter of Frederick Alvah Miller and Clarissa Miller

Educated at home. Sent to school in Paris when she was 16. Studied singing and piano

1914 : Christie married Archibald Christie (Officer in the Flying Royal Corps). Christie's marriage broke up in 1926

World War I : She worked in Torquay in a Red Cross Hospital (a hospital dispenser)which gave her a knowledge of poisons. Very useful knowledge for her mysteries novels

1914 : First novel : The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Introducing Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective) He appeared in more thant 40 books, the last of which was Curtain (1975)

1919 : Their daughter, Rosalind, was born

1930 : Her second strong character appeared in her first novel: Murder at the Vicarage.(Miss Jane Marple - lived in the village of Saint Mary Mead and was featured in 17 novels).The last one was sleeping Murder in 1977

1930 : Married Archeologist Max Mallowan. (Met him on her travel in Near East in 1927). About her marriage she once said : "An archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her."

In 56 years she wrote 66 detective novels(the best of which are: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1934), DEATH ON THE NILE (1937), and TEN LITTLE NIGGERS (1939)

World War II : Worked in the dispensary of
University College Hospital in London

1971 : Achieved her country's highest honor: she received the Order of Dame Commander of the British Empire

1976 : She died on January 12th

Agatha Christie said that she never knew where the ideas for a new novel would spring from: "Plots come to me at such odd moments, when I am walking along the street, or examining a hat shop suddenly a splendid idea comes into my head"