Agatha Christie: An English Mystery

The author of the Somerset Maugham award-winning The Dogs: A Personal History of Greyhound Racing, and the brilliant biography Life In A Cold Climate: Nancy Mitford, Laura Thompson turns her highly acclaimed biographical skills to arguably the greatest crime writer in the world, Agatha Christie.

'Laura Thompson's outstanding biography . . . is a pretty much perfect capturing of a life' Kate Mosse, Book of the Year 2007

It has been 100 years since Agatha Christie wrote her first novel and created the formidable Hercule Poirot. In this biography, Laura Thompson describes the Edwardian world in which she grew up, explores the relationships she had, including those with her two husbands and daughter, and investigates the mysteries still surrounding Christie's life - including her disappearance in 1926.

Agatha Christie is a mystery and writing about her is a detection job in itself. But, with access to all of Christie's letters, papers and writing notebooks, as well as interviews with her grandson, daughter, son-in-law and their living relations, Thompson is able to unravel not only the detailed workings of Christie's detective fiction, but the truth behind her private life as well.

Praise for Laura Thompson

'Laura Thompson has certainly written the last word on Agatha Christie. Her book is a superb piece of biography' Literary Review

'Affectionate, admiring, perceptive and absolutely convincing' Sunday Telegraph

'This splendid account of [Christie's] life and work is unlikely to be bettered' Evening Standard

'A triumphant success' Daily Mail

'This book is a gem: fresh, intelligent and assured' Sunday Times

'Laura Thompson is a fine writer . . . and one can't help admire the way she breathes new life into an intriguing tale' London Review of Books

'Laura Thompson delivers the goods: a compelling narrative' The Times