When you make a list of most popular authors of all time, Agatha Christie beats history's most famous writers of fiction, non fiction and all other kind of literary works hands down. She holds some serious records coming from such a scorn upon genre of whodunnits. By an estimate, approx. 2-4 billions of her copies have been sold worldwide. That's next only to the Bible and Shakespeare perhaps. But what makes her such a phenomenon, let's unravel this mystery in our own little whodunnit today.
Her writing is a testimony to her keen eye for human nature. The secret at the end is almost always the most fundamental truths and that makes the readers jump out of joy screaming 'why didn't I see that coming?' Coming from an aristocratic affluent family, an American stockbroker father and a British mother, her characters often too bear the resemblance. Nearly always employing a maid or butler and other house staff, these nuanced characters were not likely to have what we call today as the third world problems. But they made us relate to their inner conflicts as if our own, people who appear calm and innocent on the surface but brewing a storm inside. Her chief mystery solvers for most whodunnits- a village simpleton Miss Marple and the suave sleuth from Belgium Hercule Poirot have been charming the world for decades with their magnificent character sketches. Poirot was based upon a Belgian police officer she encountered during her stint as a nurse during the World War, when he took shelter in England during the War and was famous for his huge burly mustaches.
After surviving a bout of depression due to a divorce, her mother's demise and burnout from writing work, Christie left England in 1928, to travel towards east- Istanbul and then Baghdad. This phase inspired Murder On The Orient Express, one of her most celebrated fictional work with multiple cinematic adaptations. During those travels in 1930, she met an Archaeologist 13 years younger in age. Christie was known for her sharp wit, both written and verbal. And she perhaps best displayed it when remarked about this second husband of her: "An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her."
The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd was voted in 2013 the best crime novel ever written by crime writers association. Whereas in 2015, And There Were None was voted her best creation (and I'd concur). Mousetrap, the stage play she wrote holds the record for longest initial run ever. She is also the world's most translated author, beating names like Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Stephen King and even Shakespeare himself. With more than 7000 translations made in over 100 languages (the only one to accomplish so), she has reached out to most diverse of cultures and communities in history. And it this juggernaut of book sales seems to refuse slowing down any time sooner, even after her demise 43 years back.
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