[126][127][128][129] The play closed down in March 2020, when all UK theatres shut due to the coronavirus pandemic. She was home-schooled, which was a lot more uncommon at the turn of the 20th century than it is now. Christie sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime. After keeping the submission for several months, John Lane at The Bodley Head offered to accept it, provided that Christie change how the solution was revealed. To contrast with the more stereotyped descriptions, Christie portrayed some "foreign" characters as victims, or potential victims, at the hands of English malefactors, such as, respectively, Olga Seminoff (Hallowe'en Party) and Katrina Reiger (in the short story "How Does Your Garden Grow?"). She wrote two books of poetry, and a work of travel literature while spending time with her second husband, archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan. [2]:73–74, Christie had long been a fan of detective novels, having enjoyed Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White and The Moonstone, and Arthur Conan Doyle's early Sherlock Holmes stories. [2]:212, 283–84 Similarly, she drew upon her knowledge of daily life on a dig throughout Murder in Mesopotamia. Her father was a relatively affluent stockbroker. [12]:173–74 On 3 December 1926, the pair quarrelled after Archie announced his plan to spend the weekend with friends, unaccompanied by his wife. A collection of ten hour-long dramas based on short stories by Agatha Christie. She was disappointed when the six publishers she contacted declined the work. Another character Christie used in novels was Miss Jane Marple. The Secret Adversary is the second published detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in January 1922 in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in that same year. The next day, Christie left for her sister's residence at Abney Hall, Cheadle, where she was sequestered "in guarded hall, gates locked, telephone cut off, and callers turned away". [98][99] A two-part adaptation of The Pale Horse was broadcast on BBC1 in February 2020. Agatha Christie’s Sven Hjerson is the first official Agatha Christie character spin-off. Murders starring John Malkovich and Rupert Grint began filming in June 2018 and was first broadcast in December 2018. [30][31], When they returned to England, Archie resumed work in the city, and Christie continued to work hard at her writing. She was among Britain’s first ‘stand-up’ surfers, research has revealed. They tipped off her husband, Colonel Christie, who came to collect Agatha immediately. Of necessity, the murderer had to be known to the author before the sequence could be finalised and she began to type or dictate the first draft of her novel. I … [124] The novel is emblematic of both her use of formula and her willingness to discard it. [170]:14–18 Margaret Rutherford played Marple in a series of films released in the 1960s. The case of the disappearing bloodstains; the t Directed by Terry Loane. [12]:500 The French television series Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie (2009–2012, 2013–2020), adapted thirty-six of Christie's stories. [28]:70 Inspired by Christie's affection for the figures from the Harlequinade, the semi-supernatural Quin always works with an elderly, conventional man called Satterthwaite. "And Then There Were None came first in a global vote to find the world's favourite Agatha Christie books for her 125th birthday. This was Agatha Christie's favourite among her novels, and as a reader it is easy to understand why. [10]:422 Marple appeared in twelve novels and twenty stories. The Tuesday Night Club is a venue where locals challenge Miss Marple to solve recent crimes. Are You Being Served (1973) 21:23. It received nine BAFTA award nominations and won four BAFTA awards in 1990–1992. The couple quickly fell in love. The UK edition retailed at eighteen shillings (18/-) and the US edition at $4.50.. [2]:80–81 Her second novel, The Secret Adversary (1922), featured a new detective couple Tommy and Tuppence, again published by The Bodley Head. Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890 into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon. Agatha Christie was more than just a writer of crime fiction, however, and she had incredible versatility. [82] As a result of her tax planning, her will left only £106,683[h] (approximately equivalent to £773,000 in 2019) net, which went mostly to her husband and daughter along with some smaller bequests. Magazines rejected all her early submissions, made under pseudonyms (including Mac Miller, Nathaniel Miller, and Sydney West); some submissions were later revised and published under her real name, often with new titles. Poirot investigates the brutal murder of an American heiress and the theft of a fabulous ruby on the Blue Train between Calais and Nice. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, "to celebrate the British cultural figures he most admires". )[22] Other stories followed, most of them illustrating her interest in spiritualism and the paranormal. [81] One estimate of her total earnings from more than a half-century of writing is $20 million (approximately $89.9 million in 2019). [120]:207–08, Christie is regularly referred to as the "Queen of Crime" or "Queen of Mystery", and is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation. He was a Belgian detective in many of her books. [2]:69[26] Her war service ended in September 1918 when Archie was reassigned to London, and they rented a flat in St. John's Wood. Agatha Christie's Poirot - S 1 E 2 - Murder in the Mews - Part 02. Early in the Second World War, she brought her skills up to date at Torquay Hospital. Created by Agatha Christie, Thierry Debroux, Sylvie Simon. Insert your e-mail below to start getting these recommendations. They tipped off her husband, Colonel Christie, who came to collect Agatha immediately. Wilson's 1945 essay, "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" She was the youngest of three children born to Frederick Alvah Miller, "a gentleman of substance",[1] and his wife Clarissa Margaret ("Clara") Miller née Boehmer. [12]:430–31, She felt differently about the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, directed by Sidney Lumet, which featured major stars and high production values; her attendance at the London premiere was one of her last public outings. [10]:497[105], Shortly before the publication of Curtain, Poirot became the first fictional character to have an obituary in The New York Times, which was printed on page one on 6 August 1975. [2]:6–7[5] She described her childhood as "very happy". Luckily I have created an all new Bosch Universe listing. Ten Little Niggers = And Then There were none‬, Agatha Christie And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by English writer Agatha Christie, widely considered her masterpiece and described by her as the most difficult of her books to write. [10]:3 The Millers lived mainly in Devon but often visited her step-grandmother/great-aunt Margaret Miller in Ealing and maternal grandmother Mary Boehmer in Bayswater. [162][163][164][165] She is also UK's best-selling spoken-book author. [122] The writer Raymond Chandler criticised the artificiality of her books, as did Symons. She books into a hotel as Mrs. Neele. Hercule Poirot – a professional sleuth – would not be at home at all in Miss Marple's world. Her later novel The Pale Horse was based on a suggestion from Harold Davis, the chief pharmacist at UCH. [103] Thompson believes Christie's occasional antipathy to her creation is overstated, and points out that "in later life she sought to protect him against misrepresentation as powerfully as if he were her own flesh and blood. A collection of ten hour-long dramas based on short stories by Agatha Christie. Directed by Hettie Macdonald. [12]:301[27]:244 She also devoted time and effort each season in "making herself useful by photographing, cleaning, and recording finds; and restoring ceramics, which she especially enjoyed". She was too shy to perform. "[116]:viii There were to be many medical practitioners, pharmacists, and scientists, naïve or suspicious, in Christie's cast of characters; featuring in Murder in Mesopotamia, Cards on the Table, The Pale Horse, and Mrs. McGinty's Dead, among many others. [59][60], The British intelligence agency MI5 investigated Christie after a character called Major Bletchley appeared in her 1941 thriller N or M?, which was about a hunt for a pair of deadly fifth columnists in wartime England. [125], In addition to Poirot and Marple, Christie also created amateur detectives Thomas Beresford and his wife, Prudence "Tuppence" née Cowley, who appear in four novels and one collection of short stories published between 1922 and 1974. As Christie herself said, "Ten people had to die without it becoming ridiculous or the murderer being obvious. furktava. [2]:32–33, The family's financial situation had by this time worsened. Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders Your weapon is your knowledge. [77] The family's share of the company allowed them to appoint 50% of the board and the chairman, and retain a veto over new treatments, updated versions, and republications of her works. Hjerson is the fictional detective of Christie’s fictional author Ariadne Oliver. He was in Spain when her mother died and seemed completely indifferent to her feelings and grief. The Secret Adversary is the second published detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in January 1922 in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in that same year. With Dean Andrews, Ruth Bradley, Bebe Cave, Amelia Dell. During the Second World War, Christie wrote two novels, Curtain and Sleeping Murder, featuring Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, respectively. Seeking justice, she becomes entangled in an organization centered around an inn run by purported witches. Christie published few non-fiction works. The setting is a village deep within the English countryside, Roger Ackroyd dies in his study; there is a butler who behaves suspiciously ... Every successful detective story in this period involved a deceit practised upon the reader, and here the trick is the highly original one of making the murderer the local doctor, who tells the story and acts as Poirot's Watson. Her autobiography was published in 1977. After four years of war-torn London, Christie hoped to return some day to Syria, which she described as a "gentle fertile country and its simple people, who know how to laugh and how to enjoy life; who are idle and gay, and who have dignity, good manners, and a great sense of humour, and to whom death is not terrible". She was eventually recognized by one of the hotel’s banjo players, Bob Tappin, who alerted the police. [21] Christie later said that her father's death when she was eleven marked the end of her childhood. But his wife was in no hurry to leave. Agatha Christie's Poirot - S 1 E 2 - Murder in the Mews - Part 02. Christie wrote so many novels some say she lost count. She said she had more fun writing plays than writing books. Three months after their first meeting, Archie proposed marriage, and Agatha accepted. Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile . [116], Gillian Gill notes that the murder method in Christie's first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, "comes right out of Agatha Christie's work in the hospital dispensary". A fun card game for 2-6 sleuthing friends or family members with a hidden traitor mechanic and inspired by the works of Agatha Christie. [94] Subsequent productions have included The Witness for the Prosecution[95] but plans to televise Ordeal by Innocence at Christmas 2017 were delayed because of controversy surrounding one of the cast members. A fun card game for 2-6 sleuthing friends or family members with a hidden traitor mechanic and inspired by the works of Agatha Christie. [116], In her youth, Christie showed little interest in antiquities. [153], In her prime Christie was rarely out of the bestseller list. Archie married Nancy Neele a week later. [12]:64–67 In October 1912, she was introduced to Archibald "Archie" Christie at a dance given by Lord and Lady Clifford at Ugbrooke, about 12 miles (19 kilometres) from Torquay. With Blandine Bellavoir, Samuel Labarthe, Elodie Frenck, Dominique Thomas. [2]:242, 251, 288, In the 1950s, "the theatre ... engaged much of Agatha's attention. [91] As part of that deal, the BBC broadcast Partners in Crime[92] and And Then There Were None,[93] both in 2015. It was a poem about electric trams. I do my best to make sure the book lists are complete and current, but due to human or machine error while attempting to keep 9000+ authors up to date, the occasional book can be missed or will be listed under an alternate title. In 1914, she married Archibald Christie, who was a Lt. Colnel. Are You Being Served (1973) 21:23. As well as being Christie's maternal great-aunt, Miller was Christie's father's step-mother as well as Christie's mother's foster mother and step-mother-in-law – hence the appellation "Auntie-Grannie". Her last novel was Postern of Fate in 1973. It consisted of about 6,000 words on "madness and dreams", a subject of fascination for her. We looked at all of the books authored by Agatha Christie and bring a list of Agatha Christie books in order for you to minimize your hassle at the time of choosing the best reading order. Quin. Christie involved herself in the war effort as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. Their final home was a large Georgian house near Torquay, not far from Agatha’s childhood home. [13] To assist Mary financially, they agreed to foster nine-year-old Clara; the family settled in Timperley, Cheshire. [2]:124–25[12]:154–55, Christie's mother, Clarissa Miller, died in April 1926. Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie became, and remains, the best-selling novelist of all time. [2]:355[79] Agatha Christie Limited still owns the worldwide rights for more than eighty of Christie's novels and short stories, nineteen plays, and nearly forty TV films. This episode of Agatha’s life is perhaps the most talked about and less known. She later married Max Mallowan, an archeologist. The other Westmacott titles are: Unfinished Portrait (1934), Absent in the Spring (1944), The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948), A Daughter's a Daughter (1952), and The Burden (1956). Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her sixty-six detective novels and fourteen short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. After his stepfather's death in 2005, Prichard donated Greenway and its contents to the National Trust. The Poirot stories are being continued by Sophie Hannah with books including The Monogram Murders, Closed Casket, and The Mystery of Three Quarters. These French adaptations are a fresh, stylish twist on classic Christie tales. [76], Christie was unhappy about becoming "an employed wage slave",[12]:428 and for tax reasons set up a private company in 1955, Agatha Christie Limited, to hold the rights to her works. There was an extensive search, with some thinking she was dead and others speculating she was alive. [160][161] Christie is one of the most-borrowed authors in UK libraries. Agatha Christies Poirot - S01E01 - The Adventure of the Clapham Cook - Part 02 . Archibald returned to military service right after their marriage, and Agatha was later to say that she felt her married life really began in 1918—when her husband was stationed in London. [12]:68 After her marriage to Mallowan in 1930, she accompanied him on annual expeditions, spending three to four months at a time in Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Nineveh, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud. The answer is no. [12]:295–96[53] Their marriage lasted until Christie's death in 1976. Agatha Christie, in full Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, née Miller, (born September 15, 1890, Torquay, Devon, England—died January 12, 1976, Wallingford, Oxfordshire), English detective novelist and playwright whose books have sold more than 100 million copies and have been translated into some 100 languages. I … [134], Many of Christie's works from 1940 onward have titles drawn from literature, with the original context of the title typically printed as an epigraph.[135]. I am often asked by readers of the site if I accept donations as a “thank you” for the work I put into the site. [2]:79, 81–82 It was published in 1920. [175][176][177][178], During the First World War, Christie took a break from nursing to train for the Apothecaries Hall Examination. Directed by Terry Loane. Agatha and the Truth of Murder is a 2018 British alternative history drama film about crime writer Agatha Christie becoming embroiled in a real-life murder case during her 11-day disappearance in 1926. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, which was performed in the West End from 1952 to 2020, as well as six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Deciding she lacked the temperament and talent, she gave up her goal of performing professionally as a concert pianist or an opera singer. Writing under the pseudonym Monosyllaba, she set the book in Cairo and drew upon her recent experiences there. The simple funeral service was attended by about 20 newspaper and TV reporters, some having travelled from as far away as South America. Agatha Christie at home in Devon in 1946. [27]:93 In 1961, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Exeter. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images. Agatha Christie did nothing to arouse suspicions as she joined in with the balls, dances and Palm Court entertainment. The Guardian reported that, "Each design incorporates microtext, UV ink and thermochromic ink. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $1.75.. as supersleuth Hercule Poirot, it's up to you to solve the shocking mystery as you sail along the exotic Nile River. [27]:343, From 1971 to 1974, Christie's health began to fail, but she continued to write. [2]:2–5[3] Their first child, Margaret Frary ("Madge"), was born in Torquay in 1879. The couple seemed to overcome this and try to stay together. Christie's familial relationship to Margaret Miller née West was complex. These concealed clues can be revealed using either a magnifying glass, UV light or body heat and provide pointers to the mysteries' solutions. ", "The West End and UK Theatre venues shut down until further notice due to coronavirus", "The London theatres that are closed due to coronavirus", "Everyone loves an old-fashioned murder mystery", "Edgars Database – Search the Edgars Database", "New faces on Sgt Pepper album cover for artist Peter Blake's 80th birthday", "Sir Peter Blake's new Beatles' Sgt Pepper's album cover", "Agatha Christie: genius or hack? Born in Torquay in 1890, Agatha Christie became, and remains, the best-selling novelist of all time. Along with The Mousetrap the plays included were Witness for the Prosecution and Spider's Web[132] Christie said, "Plays are much easier to write than books, because you can see them in your mind's eye, you are not hampered by all that description which clogs you so terribly in a book and stops you from getting on with what's happening. j. Over the ensuing decades, Oliver reappeared in seven novels. Agatha Christie was born in Ashfield. They still employed a maid. In September 2015, And Then There Were None was named the "World's Favourite Christie" in a vote sponsored by the author's estate. [28]:23 In the 1971 New Year Honours, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE),[63][64][65] three years after her husband had been knighted for his archaeological work. Her unique literary talents have crossed every boundary of age, race, class, geography and education. [115]:269 Archaeologists and experts in Middle Eastern cultures and artefacts featured in her works include Dr Eric Leidner in Murder in Mesopotamia and Signor Richetti in Death on the Nile. Agatha grew up in the town of Torquay in southwest England. [2]:135[33][34], The disappearance quickly became a news story, as the press sought to satisfy their readers' "hunger for sensation, disaster, and scandal". [27]:120, In 1928, Michael Morton adapted The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for the stage under the title Alibi. It featured perhaps her best-known character, Hercule Poirot. If you haven’t read this series yet – please do. With Blandine Bellavoir, Samuel Labarthe, Elodie Frenck, Dominique Thomas. "[133] After her authorship of the first four Westmacott novels was revealed by a journalist in 1949, she wrote two more, the last in 1956.[12]:366. Christie's mother had also passed away recently. Boehmer's death registration states he died at age 49 from bronchitis after retiring from the army, Christie hinted at a nervous breakdown, saying to a woman with similar symptoms, "I think you had better be very careful; it is probably the beginning of a nervous breakdown.". Her first husband was Archibald Christie; they married in 1914 and had one child before divorcing in 1928. Unlike her other sleuths, the Beresfords were only in their early twenties when introduced in The Secret Adversary, and were allowed to age alongside their creator. [2]:48–49 (The story became an early version of her story "The House of Dreams". Agatha Christie was born in Ashfield. The longest-running West End show, it has by far the longest initial run of any play in history, with its 27,500th performance taking place on 18 September 2018. nicolasliam8289. [28]:15 Early in her career, a reporter noted that "her plots are possible, logical, and always new. Christie's obituary in The Times notes that "she never cared much for the cinema, or for wireless and television." [9][12]:10 Two weeks after Boehmer's death, Mary's sister Margaret West married widowed dry goods merchant Nathaniel Frary Miller, a US citizen. Agatha Christie is one of history’s foremost crime novelists. Wed 7 Oct 2020 05.33 EDT. [184] The Doctor Who episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (17 May 2008), with Fenella Woolgar, portrays Christie in her early writing career and explains her disappearance as the result of having suffered a temporary breakdown owing to a brief psychic link being formed between her and an alien wasp called the Vespiform. By inclination as well as breeding she belonged to the English upper middle-class. Both books were sealed in a bank vault, and she made over the copyrights by deed of gift to her daughter and her husband to provide each with a kind of insurance policy. The author’s mother died in 1926, not long before Archibald left Agatha for another woman. nicolasliam8289. The first was the 1928 British film The Passing of Mr. Quin. She is best known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, as well as the world’s longest-running play – The Mousetrap.Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. ", The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories, Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories, Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories, Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express, Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Agatha_Christie&oldid=994285770, 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights, Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature, Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2018, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2020, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 December 2020, at 23:10. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).. She was initially an unsuccessful writer with six consecutive rejections, but this changed in 1920 when The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot, was published. [2]:201 The Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, the southern terminus of the railway, claims the book was written there and maintains Christie's room as a memorial to the author. We looked at all of the books authored by Agatha Christie and bring a list of Agatha Christie books in order for you to minimize your hassle at the time of choosing the best reading order. "[120]:208 Reflecting a juxtaposition of innocence and horror, numerous Christie titles were drawn from well-known children's nursery rhymes: And Then There Were None (from "Ten Little Niggers"),[136] One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (from "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"), Five Little Pigs (from "This Little Piggy"), Crooked House (from "There Was a Crooked Man"), A Pocket Full of Rye (from "Sing a Song of Sixpence"), Hickory Dickory Dock (from "Hickory Dickory Dock"), and Three Blind Mice (from "Three Blind Mice"). [12]:477, Harley Quin was "easily the most unorthodox" of Christie's fictional detectives. [2]:297, 300 [12]:278 Marple was a genteel, elderly spinster who solved crimes using analogies to English village life. With Maurice Denham, Angela Easterling, Christopher Wren, Michael Aldridge. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies. Agatha Christie, Writer: Witness for the Prosecution. [2]:75–79[28]:17–18 Her original manuscript was rejected by Hodder & Stoughton and Methuen. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images. [2]:177 The play enjoyed a respectable run, but Christie disliked the changes made to her work and, in future, preferred to write for the theatre herself. This time it is the 1930s; a divided country where suspicion and hatred are on the rise, and the gap between wealth and poverty is great and growing greater. [113][114], Christie did not limit herself to quaint English villages – the action might take place on a small island (And Then There Were None), an aeroplane (Death in the Clouds), a train (Murder on the Orient Express), a steamship (Death on the Nile), a smart London flat (Cards on the Table), a resort in the West Indies (A Caribbean Mystery), or an archaeological dig (Murder in Mesopotamia) – but the circle of potential suspects is usually closed and intimate: family members, friends, servants, business associates, fellow travellers. 31:04. Speaking of authors who write multiple series within the same universe – Michael Connelly wrote another great Lincoln Lawyer novel last month. This time it is the 1930s; a divided country where suspicion and hatred are on the rise, and the gap between wealth and poverty is great and growing greater. [117]:58 Arsenic, aconite, strychnine, digitalis, thallium, and other substances were used to dispatch victims in the ensuing decades. Karp is an excellent writer and is one of the best series. [100] Death Comes as the End will be the next BBC adaptation. [2]:45–47, At eighteen, Christie wrote her first short story, "The House of Beauty", while recovering in bed from an illness. Hidden Object. [75], Mallowan, who remarried in 1977, died in 1978 and was buried next to Christie. They travelled back to England at least once a year. Top Questions . That was an essential part of her charm. [173][174], Christie's books have also been adapted for BBC Radio, a video game series, and graphic novels. [149], In 2016, one hundred years after Christie wrote her first detective story, the Royal Mail released six stamps in her honour, featuring The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, The Body in the Library, and A Murder is Announced. [2]:372 Her daughter authorised the publication of Curtain in 1975,[2]:375 and Sleeping Murder was published posthumously in 1976. [146] In 2012, Christie was among the people selected by the artist Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous work, the Beatles' Sgt. [27]:373 She was buried in the nearby churchyard of St Mary's, Cholsey, in a plot she had chosen with her husband ten years before. [119] Christie mocked this insight in her Foreword to Cards on the Table: "Spot the person least likely to have committed the crime and in nine times out of ten your task is finished.