Agatha Christie

DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE d1976. British crime writer of novels, short stories and plays who according to The Guinness Book of Records is the best selling novelist of all-time, selling over 4 million books translated into over 100 languages. According to her estate, she ranks third after the Bible and William Shakespeare for most published books. Christie's stage play "The Mousetrap" holds the record for the longest initial run : it opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on 25th November 1952 and as of 2012 was still running after more than 24,600 performances. In 1955 she was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America highest honour, the Grand Master Award and in the same year Witness For The Prosecution was given an Edgar Award by the MWA for best play. She is still best known for her 66 detective novels and short stories featuring her most famous characters, Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Many of her books and short stories have been filmed, some more than once including ; Murder on The Orient Express / Death on The Nile and 4.50 from Paddington. Many have also been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics. She died of natural causes aged 85 in 1976.