Here is a list of books about Agatha Christie, including memoirs, biographies, critical studies, reference works, and more!
Biographies and Memoirs
Cade, Jared. Agatha Christie and the Eleven Missing Days. London: Peter Owen, 1998.
Christie’s grandson Mathew Prichard understandably railed against the book and its author. Cade draws on the memories of a different branch of the Christie family. Its conclusion that Christie planned her disappearance as a way of getting back at her husband, Archie, deviates from the official history. Laura Thompson responds to this book in her biography.
Christie, Agatha. An Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books, 1977.
The author’s story in her own words. What she leaves out can be just as revealing as what she discusses.
Christie, Agatha. The Grand Tour. London: HarperCollins, 2012.
In 1922, Christie accompanied her husband, Archie, on a world tour as part of his job promoting the British Empire Exhibition. This collection of letters, photographs and memorabilia, expertly edited by her grandson, reveals Christie as a delightful traveling companion with a sharp eye for character. Her letters and photographs from aboard ship, South Africa, Rhodesia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Canada reveal a lively, observant woman known better as Mrs. Archie Christie. Ideal for Christie fans and armchair travelers.
Feinman, Jeffrey. The Mysterious World of Agatha Christie. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1975.
Gill, Gillian. Agatha Christie: The Woman and Her Mysteries. New York: The Free Press, 1990.
This unauthorized biography discusses the Christie as revealed through her writings, particularly as Mary Westmacott. An interesting alternative take.
Hack, Richard. Duchess of Death: The Unauthorized Biography of Agatha Christie. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Phoenix Books, 2009.
Included only as a warning. Covers the same ground as the more thorough official biographies, and the boast on the cover that the book was based on “over 5,000 unpublished letters, notes and documents” is a reference to the papers of Christie’s agent, not the Christie archives.
Mallowan, Max. Mallowan’s Memoirs. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1977.
Morgan, Janet. Agatha Christie. New York: Knopf, 1985.
The first official biography, written with the family’s cooperation.
Murdoch, Derrick. The Agatha Christie Mystery. Toronto: Pagurian Press, Ltd., 1976.
Quickie biography to cash in on her recent death.
Norman, Andrew. Agatha Christie: The Finished Portrait. Strode, Great Britain: Tempus Publishing Ltd., 2006.
Osborne, Charles. The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999.
A biography told through Christie’s publications. Osborne would go on to novelize three Christie plays: Black Coffee, The Unexpected Guest and Spider’s Web.
Ramsey, G.C. Agatha Christie, Mistress of Mystery. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1967.
Thompson, Laura. Agatha Christie: An English Mystery. London: Headline, 2007.
The second official biography, which delves more into the biographical elements in her fiction to tell the same story.
Worsley, Lucy. Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman. New York: Pegasus Crime, 2022.
The third major Christie biography by an historian and documentary host. Some of it reads more like a script (and in fact she’s doing one on Christie), and she makes assumptions and conclusions that reflect her class more than reality. Some of her conclusions are, to put it mildly, astonishing (“There is no such thing as a ‘bad mother.’ There are just plain ‘mothers’, who sometimes have good days, and sometimes bad.”) Worthwhile for new material drawn from Agatha’s letters.
Books about her novels, stories, and characters
Aldridge, Mark. Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World. New York: HarperCollins, 2021.
Barnard, Robert. A Talent to Deceive — An Appreciation of Agatha Christie. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1980.
Barnard draws on his experience as a mystery writer — whose books I highly recommend — to discuss aspects of Christie’s life and works: her thrillers, her Miss Marple books, the way she surprises the reader and her disappearance. This takes up only 126 pages. The remaining 88 pages are devoted to a substantial Christie bibliography.
Bunson, Matthew. The Complete Christie: An Agatha Christie Encyclopedia. New York: Pocket Books, 2000.
The best of several books that have gathered information about Christie’s works, characters, movies, plays and TV shows. Also contains a long suggested reading list.
Cook, Cathy. The Agatha Christie Miscellany. Strode, Great Britain: The History Press, 2013.
Curran, John. Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks. New York: Harper, 2009, and Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making. New York: Harper, 2011.
Curran draws on Christie’s notebooks in the family’s archives to reveal insights into her working methods. Mystery writers in particular should find them fascinating as will fans who delight in peeking behind the scenes.
Fitzgibbon, Russell H. The Agatha Christie Companion. Bowling Green, Ky.: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1980.
Goddard, John. Agatha Christie’s Golden Age: An Analysis of Poirot’s Golden Age Puzzles. London: Stylish Eye Press, 2018.
In-depth analysis of 21 Poirot novels.
Holgate, Mike. Stranger Than Fiction: Agatha Christie’s True Crime Inspirations. Stroud, Great Britain, 2010.
The author stretches the definition of true crime to fill this already-thin book. Sir Christopher Lee’s war record? Eden Philpotts secret molestation of his daughter? The suicide of an actor associated with one of her productions? None of them were inspiring, but they are curious.
Hurdle, Judith. The Getaway Guide to Agatha Christie’s England. Oakland, Calif.: RDR Books, 1999.
Keating, H.R.F., ed. Agatha Christie, First Lady of Crime. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1977.
Macaskill, Hilary. Agatha Christie at Home. London: Frances Lincoln Ltd., 2009.
Coffee-table book about Greenway, Christie’s home on the River Dart in her native Devon. It also looks at the settings — fields, farms, coastal towns, churches, etc. — she used in her books. Ideal for literary tourists.
Pendergast, Bruce. Everyman’s Guide to the Mysteries of Agatha Christie. New York: Trafford Publishing, 2006.
Riley, Dick, and Pam McAllister, eds. The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Agatha Christie. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1979.
Sanders, Dennis and Len Lovallo. The Agatha Christie Companion: The Complete Guide to Agatha Christie’s Life and Work. New York: Avenel Books, 1985.
Shaw, Marion and Sabine Vanacker. Reflecting on Miss Marple. London: Routledge, 1991.
Academic inquiry into the character and her cases from a feminist perspective.
Sova, Dawn B. Agatha Christie A to Z. New York: Facts on File, 1996.
Sheeran, Peter. Swigatha: A Re-Read of Agatha Christie. 2021.
Toye, Randall. The Agatha Christie Who’s Who. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1980.
Wagstaff, Vanessa and Stephen Poole. Agatha Christie: A Reader’s Companion. London: Aurum Press, 2004.
Colorful collection of information about each of the books, enlivened with vintage book covers, promotional art, and other memorabilia.
Zemboy, James. The Detective Novels of Agatha Christie. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2008.
Detailed reference work stuffed with information and opinions that are worth debating. Expensive, but worth it.
Books about her movies, plays, and television shows
Aldridge, Mark. Agatha Christie on Screen. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Quite a lot of information about each of the productions. Perhaps too much at times when he delves into what else the writer / director / actors also did.
Green, Julius. Curtain Up, Agatha Christie: A Life in the Theatre. New York: HarperCollins, 2015.
Excellent detailed history of Christie’s involvement in the theatre.
Suchet, David. Behind the Lens: My Life, London: Little, Brown, 2021.
Part memoir, part photographic scrapbook, covers his 50-year career.
Suchet, David. Poirot and Me. London: Headline, 2014.
Palmer, Scott. The Films of Agatha Christie. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd., 1993.
Outdated list of movies and TV shows, ending in 1993 in the middle of the Poirot TV run. Each entry consists of the cast list followed by an extended summary with a few paragraphs of critique.