Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen

Lucy explores Agatha Christie’s early life and the origins of her talent for murder mysteries, unearthing the inspiration for some of her greatest characters and the secrets that the enigmatic Christie kept carefully hidden from public view. Lucy’s investigation follows the trail of pivotal moments in Christie’s life and the nation’s experience to weave a picture of a woman who was both of her time, and thoroughly ahead of it. She explores how, far from being cosy whodunnits, Christie’s early books tap into and capture the social upheavals of one of the most tumultuous periods of the 20th century.

Lucy Worsley investigates Agatha Christie's shocking disappearance in 1926, her subsequent discovery and memory loss, and reveals the profound influence this experience had on her writing. On the evening of 3 December 1926, Agatha Christie left her home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in her Morris Cowley. The next morning, her car was found abandoned, balanced precariously on the edge of a quarry. Agatha's coat, suitcase and driver's license were inside, but the author had disappeared. What followed was the biggest manhunt in Britain and front-page newspaper coverage. Was this a publicity stunt? A hoax? Or was Agatha the victim of foul play? Ten days later Agatha was discovered in a hotel in Harrogate, claiming to have lost her memory.