Born in Torquay in September 1890, Christie was the youngest of three siblings, and was educated at home by her mother, who encouraged her daughter to write. As a child, Christie enjoyed fantasy play and creating characters and wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty".

Iconic Characters | Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple

During her literary career, Christie created iconic characters such as Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Poirot made the most appearances in Christie’s work in titles including Death in the Clouds (Lot 122) and Cards on the Table (Lot 125). 

Miss Marple was first introduced in the short story The Tuesday Night Club, published in The Royal Magazine in December 1927. The story was republished in book form called The Thirteen Problems (Lot 113) and was the first of thirteen stories to feature the sleuthing spinster.  Others include The Moving Finger (Lot 137) and A Pocket Full of Rye (Lot 155).

Christie The Playwright

She was also a noted playwright.  The Witness for the Prosecution and Three Blind Mice (Lot 148) was originally broadcast as a half-hour radio play in the UK in 1947 in honour of the 80th birthday of Queen Mary. Christie then adapted the work for the present novella before subsequently expanding it for a full theatrical production when it was staged as The Mousetrap in 1952, which is still running today on London’s West End. Christie stipulated that as long as The Mousetrap was performed in the West End, the story should not be published in the UK. Consequently, this story has only ever appeared in the US.

Intricate plots and clever twists

Christie is celebrated for her intricate plots and clever twists and the auction includes some of her most famous works such as Murder on the Orient Express (Lot 120), And Then There Were None (Lot 130), and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Lot 105), as well as Dumb Witness (Lot 127) which she dedicated to her own dog, Peter, who is featured on the dust jacket.

Christie died at her home, Winterbrook House, aged 85 on 12 January 1976 and is buried in the churchyard of St. Mary’s Church in Cholsey - just 30 minutes away from Dreweatts’ salerooms in Newbury.  At her death, it was estimated that more than 300 million copies of her thrillers had been sold worldwide and her works continue to captivate readers across the globe. 

Auction Details

Ending Thursday 7 November, from 12 noon GMT.
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