Agatha Christie, known as one of the best mystery writers, and the Queen of Mystery, is at the top of the world in the genre of detective novels. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles featured her most renowned and admirable character Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective whose sharp intellect and precise intuition make him an iconic figure in her Poirot series.
She is best known for her short stories, plays, Poirot and Marple series. Agatha Christie has written over 75 novels which include 66 detective novels and other short stories.
Agatha Christie’s famous formula for her detective stories was that of a “whodunnit”, where each plot was enriched with mysteries and puzzles making the hearts of the readers race with curiosity. She was an incredibly talented writer who brought life into her characters with compelling and thrilling plotlines, making her the best-selling author of all time.
Agatha Christie’s Top 5 Books, Ranked
5. Five Little Pigs, 1942
Agatha Christie’s abilities lie in the depth of her psychological analysis which she thoroughly explores in her novel, Five Little Pigs. The story is centred around a reopened case of murder from 16 years ago, where Caroline Crale was found guilty of poisoning her husband. Her daughter is suspicious and is determined to prove her mother’s innocence upon receiving a letter from her deceased mother. Poirot focuses on psychological evidence rather than the psychical and uses unconventional methods for the truth. Parallel to the nursery rhyme of “Five Little Pigs”, Caroline Crale has murdered her husband but there were five other suspects who could have been guilty as well.
4. The Body in the Library, 1942
In Agatha Christie’s second Miss Marple mystery, “The Body in the Library,” the Bantry family discovers the bodies of two young women in their home. One woman is dressed in fancy clothes for a night out, while the other is found burned in their quarry. The story is full of unexpected turns, graphic details, and, of course, mystery. She takes readers on a journey to uncover exactly who these women are, the chronology of their murders and the tangled tale that will weave the entire story together.
3. The ABC Murders, 1936
In Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective, once again takes on the distinct task of apprehending a serial killer who is systematically murdering people in alphabetical order. The confident serial killer, armed with gifts, knows that Poirot is attempting to unmask him and strategically leaves clues for the detective to follow. Christie takes readers on a suspenseful journey as they track down the killer before he can harm his next victim, in alphabetical order unravelling the intricate mystery plots.
2. Murder on the Orient Express, 1934
On the Orient Express railcar, Hercule Poirot is faced with a murder committed by one of the train’s passengers. The crime seems to have been committed in a locked bedroom, making it a classic “locked-room” mystery. The array of motives and backstories that fit together to explain what happened may be more complex than the crime at Poirot’s neck. Various adaptations of this filmable novel have been done by Sidney Lumet in 1974.
1. And Then There Were None, 1939
Dark in theme and appalling in its storyline,” And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie, can be seen as an excellent example of storytelling. It’s like a gothic structure that explores justice, crime, guilt, and innocence, as well as the darker aspects of our human existence.
10 individuals, all summoned for various reasons, to an island known as Soldier Island, located on a rock off the shore of England. Upon their arrival, they are met with a recorded message, which accuses each guest of a particular murder – a crime for which they had previously evaded punishment. Parallel to the poem “Ten Little Soldier Boys”, each one of the guests keeps on dying and everyone is a suspect. The number of dead bodies increases, making the remaining guests more and more suspicious of each other.
It is one of the most gripping novels of Agatha Christie which essentially made her the Queen of Crime.
