Finding Agatha: The Real Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie, the undisputed Queen of Crime, was the world's bestselling novelist who made the whodunnit genre accessible to millions of readers around the world. But why was this household name a camera-shy recluse? With fresh insight from bestselling crime writers Val McDermid, Kate Mosse, Greg Mosse and Tess Gerritsen, author Alice Johnson delves into the murderous high society of Christie's era. From Harrogate to Berkshire, Surrey to Devon, Johnson follows Christie's trail to uncover the true essence of her persona. For the first time ever Christie's strained relationship with the British media receives an in-depth analysis; exploring why they turned on the now-beloved crime writer, and how 1920s-era attitudes to mental health played a role in how the public perceived her. Johnson successfully tracks down the plucky schoolboy who door-stepped the Queen of Crime in 1971; and in an exclusive interview shares previously unheard anecdotes about her final years. In Finding Agatha: the Real Agatha Christie, Johnson also formulates a new definition of the murderous high-society featured in so many of Christie's works: the 'sitcrime'. Writer, globe-trotter, mother, dispenser, archaeologist, photographer, playwright, landlady: who was the real Agatha Christie? Find Agatha at www.findingagatha.com AUTHOR: Alice is a writer and journalist who wrote her first book aged eight and started reading Agatha Christie novels aged ten. After gaining a degree in English Literature she worked as an editor in London before spending eight years reporting from the Middle East. Alice has researched and written numerous non-fiction books and writes crime novels in her spare time. She grew up in Surrey and now lives with her family in the Midlands. 32 b/w illustrations