Happy Birthday Agatha Christie!

September 15th would have been Agatha Christie's 120th birthday!  This beloved author was born in England in 1890, was the youngest of three children, and a nurse during WWI.  She wrote romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott , but is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful theatre plays.  Her novels, particularly those featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, have given her the title the 'Queen of Crime' and made her one of the most important writers in the development of the mystery genre.
The Guinness Book of World Records referred to Christie as "the best-selling writer of any kind along, with William Shakespeare"--and only the Bible is known to have outsold her novels.  Christie's books have been translated into at least 56 languages and many have been adapted for movies, television, radio, video games and comics.
Her first novel to feature Hercule Poirot was The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Miss Marple's debut book was The Murder at the Vicarage.

Here are some of her most well-known titles (and one of my favorites*):

4:50 from Paddington--book and movie.
Death on the Nile--book and movie.
Mousetrap--play.
Murder on the Orient Express--book and movie.
*10 Little Indians or And Then They Were None--book, movie, and videogame.

For more Dame Agatha go to the library's website and for more great mysteries try our Super Sleuths booklist from our Great Books, Great Libraries collection.