1890-1976. English detective novelist who
created the characters Hercule Poirot and
Miss Jane Marple. She wrote more than 70
novels including The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
1926 and Ten Little Indians 1939, and the
play The Mousetrap 1952. Born in Torquay as
Agatha Miller, she married Colonel Archibald
Christie 1914 and served during World War I
as a nurse. Her first crime novel, The
Mysterious Affair at Styles 1920, introduced
Hercule Poirot. She often broke `purist'
rules, as in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in
which the narrator is the murderer. She
caused a nationwide sensation 1926 by
disappearing for ten days when her husband
fell in love with another woman. After a
divorce 1928, she married the archaeologist
Max Mallowan (1904-78) 1930.