resting_place movement death_date death_place children pseudonym birth_place imagesize notableworks name birth_date signature spouse genre image article_title birth_name occupation
church england of st mary , cholsey , oxfordshire , golden age of detective fiction 12 january 1976 wallingford , oxfordshire , england rosalind hicks -lrb- 1919 -- 2004 -rrb- mary westmacott agatha christie torquay , devon , england , uk 200px creation -rrb- marple , '' murder on the orient express '' of , '' the murder of roger ackroyd '' , '' characters death on the nile '' , '' the murder at hercule the vicarage '' , '' partners in crime '' , poirot '' the abc murders '' , '' and then there and were none '' , '' the mousetrap '' miss -lrb- jane dame agatha christie dbe 15 september 1890 agatha christie 's signature.png archibald -rrb- sir max mallowan -lrb- m. 1930 -- 76 ; christie her death -rrb- -lrb- m. 1914 ; div . 1928 murder , romance mystery , thriller , crime fiction , detective agatha christie.png agatha christie
 agatha mary clarissa miller novelist , short story writer , playwright , poet
agatha christie

dame agatha mary clarissa christie , dbe -lrb- née miller ; 15 september 1890 -- 12 january 1976 -rrb- was an english crime novelist , short story writer , and playwright .
she also wrote six romances under the name mary westmacott , but she is best known for the 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections that she wrote under her own name , most of which revolve around the investigative work of such characters as hercule poirot , jane marple , parker pyne , harley quin/mr satterthwaite , and tommy and tuppence beresford .
she also wrote the world 's longest-running play , `` the mousetrap '' .
in 1971 , she was made a dame by elizabeth ii at buckingham palace for her contribution to literature .
christie was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in torquay , devon .
she served in a hospital during the first world war before marrying and starting a family in london .
she was initially unsuccessful at getting her work published , but in 1920 the bodley head press published her novel `` the mysterious affair at styles '' , featuring the character of hercule poirot .
this launched her literary career .
the `` guinness book of world records '' lists christie as the best-selling novelist of all time .
her novels have sold roughly 2 billion copies , and her estate claims that her works come third in the rankings of the world 's most-widely published books , behind only shakespeare 's works and the bible .
according to index translationum , she remains the most-translated individual author -- having been translated into at least 103 languages .
`` and then there were none '' is christie 's best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date , making it the world 's best-selling mystery ever , and one of the best-selling books of all time .
christie 's stage play `` the mousetrap '' holds the record for the longest initial run : it opened at the ambassadors theatre in the west end on 25 november 1952 and is still running after more than 25,000 performances .
in 1955 , christie was the first recipient of the mystery writers of america 's highest honour , the grand master award , and in the same year `` witness for the prosecution '' received an edgar award by the mwa for best play .
in 2013 , `` the murder of roger ackroyd '' was voted the best crime novel ever by 600 fellow writers of the crime writers ' association .
most of her books and short stories have been adapted for television , radio , video games and comics , and more than thirty feature films have been based on her work .
