Hercule Poirot and Lord Peter Whimsey ( the respective creations of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers ) have retained Holmes' egotism but not his zest for life and eccentric habits.

His reading ranged from Agatha Christie to The Book Of Job and he had an insatiable interest in his fellow-creatures, while his letters were full of gossip about new politicians and old men of letters with whom he had been intimately thrown six decades before.

The world's best-selling mystery writer, and often referred to as the “ Queen of Crime ”, Agatha Christie is considered a master of suspense, plotting, and characterisation.

Many of the settings for Agatha Christie ’ s books were directly inspired by the many archaeological field seasons spent in the Middle East on the sites managed by her second husband Max Mallowan.

From 8 November 2001-24 March 2002, The British Museum had an exhibit named “ Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia ”, which presented a fascinating look at the secret life of Agatha Christie and the influences of archaeology in her life and works.

In 1971 Agatha Christie was made a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Several biographical programs have been made, such as the 2004 BBC television programme entitled Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures, in which she is portrayed by Olivia Williams, Anna Massey, and Bonnie Wright.

Christie features as a character in Gaylord Larsen's Dorothy and Agatha and The London Blitz Murders ' by Max Allan Collins.

Christie has also been parodied on screen, such as in the film Murder by Indecision, which featured the character " Agatha Crispy ".

Hercule Poirot (; ) is a fictional Belgian detective, created by Agatha Christie.

By 1930, Agatha Christie found Poirot " insufferable ", and by 1960 she felt that he was a " detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep ".

This is how Agatha Christie describes Poirot in The Murder on the Orient Express in the initial pages:

Like Agatha Christie, she isn't overly fond of the detective she is most famous for creating – in Ariadne's case the Finnish sleuth Sven Hjerson.

In The Agatha Christie Hour, she was portrayed by British actress Angela Easterling, while in Agatha Christie's Poirot, she was portrayed by Pauline Moran.

On 22 February 1945, " speaking from London, Agatha Christie introduced the initial broadcast of the Poirot series via shortwave.

Agatha Christie attributed the inspiration for the character of Miss Marple to a number of sources: Miss Marple was " the sort of old lady who would have been rather like some of my grandmother's Ealing cronies – old ladies whom I have met in so many villages where I have gone to stay as a girl ".

When she made it, the results, starring Margaret Rutherford, were popular and successful light comedies, but were disappointing to Christie herself ; nevertheless, Agatha Christie dedicated the novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side to Rutherford.

In the 1940s, Joan appeared on-stage in an Agatha Christie play, Appointment with Death, which was seen by Christie who wrote in a note to her, " I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple ".

The character of Jessica Fletcher is thought to be based on a combination of Miss Marple, Agatha Christie herself, and another Christie character, Ariadne Oliver, who often appears in the Hercule Poirot mysteries.

The same joke-translation is mentioned in Agatha Christie's Evil Under the Sun by Patrick Redfern to Hercule Poirot – a prank which inadvertently gives Poirot the answer to the murder.

* 1952 – Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London later becoming the longest continuously-running play in history.

* 1890 – Agatha Christie, English author ( d. 1976 )

* December 3 – Agatha Christie disappears from her home in Surrey ; on December 14 she is found at the Harrogate Hotel.

* January 12 – Agatha Christie, English writer ( Murder On The Orient Express ) ( b. 1890 )

* November 6 – Agatha Christie's mystery novel And Then There Were None is published in book form in the United States.

* May 15 – The Cathedral of Saint Agatha in Catania is consecrated by the Breton Abbot Ansger of Saint Euphemia.

The attack, which initially had the approval of the Haganah ( the principal Jewish paramilitary group in Palestine ) and was conceived of as a response to Operation Agatha ( in which widespread raids, including one on the Jewish Agency, had been carried out ), was the deadliest directed at the British during the Mandate era ( 1920 – 1948 ).

* Miss Agatha Dawson ( deceased ) – a rich elderly cancer patient who died suddenly 3 years prior to the novel's action

On 30 March, 2009, they released Agatha Christie's Poirot – Complete Collection, a 28-disc box set that features all 61 episodes up to and including the 2009 season.

Some were more unorthodox, such as a year's supply of beer, while the same short breaks away – an Agatha Christie Murder Weekend, a stay at a health spa or a canal holiday – were won on the show for many years.

* Agatha Christie – Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories

* Agatha Christie – Miss Marple's Final Cases and Two Other Stories

* Agatha Christie – Sparkling Cyanide

* Agatha Christie – Destination Unknown

* Agatha Christie – Sleeping Murder

* January 12 – Agatha Christie, best-selling crime writer

* Agatha Christie – Curtain

* Agatha Christie – Postern of Fate

* Agatha Christie – Elephants Can Remember

* Agatha Christie – Passenger to Frankfurt

* Agatha Christie – Hallowe ' en Party