One of the most successful novelists in history, her eighty or so novels sell in their millions, and have been translated into more languages than all the works of Shakespeare, which is no mean feat - she is the most translated author ever.
Only the entire works of Walt Disney have exceed the number of publications in foreign languages. She also penned romantic novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, but is best remembered for her detective stories and her successful theatre plays in London's West End.
Her stage play, The Mousetrap, holds the record for the longest initial run in the world, opening at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on 25 November 1952, and as of 2008 is still running after more than 20,000 performances.
Agatha Christie books have sold an estimated four billion copies, a figure which has only been beaten by sales of the Bible. Some of her best books include ' The Secret Adversary ' in 1922, ' The Mysterious Affair at Styles ' in 1920, ' The Man in the Brown Suit ' in 1924 and 'Murder on the Links' in 1923.
Two prominent fictional detectives featured in her books have become the archetypal idiosynchratic crime fighters who use the brain cells, rather than action, to apprehend the criminals - namely Hercule Poirot the Belgium Detective and Miss Jane Marple. Poirot has two foils to his activities, Miss Lemon his secretary (a wonderfully unlikely name) and his right hand man Captain Hastings. Hastings evokes the typical slwart English gentlemen who who frequently is at a loss to understand his Belgian friend.
Of course, Poirot is slightly eccentric, of course he is much more intelligent than those around him and of course he always unravels the mystery. His light is made to glow even brighter by coming into contact with local police inspector, who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, to put it kindly.
Miss Jane Marple is a spinster who lives in the village of St Mary Mead , and she can always evoke her own memories of someone that she has known who is just like the killer. She is constantly observing people , noting their characteristics and motives for their every day actions. Even though the killer may hide many of the facts, Miss Marple needs just a small clue to feed her vivid imagination - her insight into human motivation and her famous tenacity ensure that the criminal has no chance at all to escape his just punishment.
Many, many films have been produced featuring her stories and particularly her two most famous creations, Marple and Poirot, including Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and 4.50 From Paddington. In addition, the novels have been adapted into televised serials all over the globe.
