Agatha’s Favorites: The Best of Agatha Christie, According to the Queen of Crime Herself
Having written somewhere around 75 novels (and those are just the published ones!), it would be very hard to choose the best of the best from all of Agatha Christie’s mysteries. Luckily, we don’t have to choose, because the queen herself did that for us!
I was browsing the Agatha Christie section at my bookstore recently and picked up a copy of Crooked House. On the back, there was a list of Agatha’s Favorites, Crooked House being number 6 on the list. Naturally, I immediately created a little reading challenge for myself and purchased Agatha’s #1 favorite, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and determined to read her favorites by the end of the year.
You can join in on my little challenge! I even created a printable poster for you of Agatha Christie’s favorite novels! All you need to do is input your email in order to receive the My Dear Hastings newsletter, a periodical just for mystery lovers, and you will receive the printable for free in your inbox.
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So, how do we know which book are Christie’s top ten favorites? She told us herself, in a response she wrote to a fan in 1972:
“My own ten would certainly vary from time to time because every now and then I re-read an early book for some particular reason, to answer a question that has been asked me perhaps, and then I alter my opinion—sometimes thinking it is much better than I thought it was—or not so good as I had thought.”
Agatha admitted here that her own top ten favorites were subject to change, but since she died a few years after writing this ultimate list, it’s safe to assume her favorites wouldn’t have shifted much by the end of her life. I also enjoy knowing that she was open to discussion about her characters and plot points for so many years, even to the extent of admitting they were better or not so good as she’d thought.
But, let’s get to the list!
Agatha Christie’s Top 10 Favorite Novels:
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First on the list and incidentally one of the most popular, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a Hercule Poirot novel and often considered the one that put Agatha Christie on the map.
As one of the most well known Christie novels and the inspiration for many TV and movie adaptations, it’s no surprise Murder on the Orient Express made Agatha’s favorites list! Another Poirot novel and inspired by Christie’s own travels, this is one of my personal favorites too.
Third on the list and the third Miss Marple novel, The Moving Finger is another of my personal favorites because of the lovable characters and the relationships between them. Members of small towns will really feel seen, I think!
Another most recognizable title, And Then There Were None is one of the spookier of Christie’s works. A stand-alone story, this one had me guessing up until the last gasp!
One of my favorite stories! Towards Zero has an excellent cast of characters and is the 5th Superintendent Battle novel, a lesser known Agatha Christie sleuth.
Crooked House
Crooked House has everything you’d want in a mystery: a sprawling mansion, a huge family (the murderer is among us!) an amateur detective and even young love. Agatha Christie said about this novel, “Writing Crooked House was pure pleasure and I feel justified in my belief that it is one of my best.”
A Murder is Announced is everything a mystery lover wants in a story. A game turns deadly. You’re intrigued, right? Another of my personal favorites.
Ordeal by Innocence is a thriller with incredible depth of both plot and characters and where moral dilemmas abound. You may recognize this title from a recent miniseries adaptation, but while the characters are the same, the book is much different than the series, so you’re still in for a surprise!
A psychological thriller, Endless Night is a work of pure genius. You will be riveted, as I was, until the very last twist!
The 13 Problems
This last book on Agatha’s list is more of a collection of short Miss Marple stories. Told in a creative and fun way, Miss Marple and her friends are having a bit of a fireside chat, where mysteries are told and solved. So fun! I can imagine Agatha having so much fun writing this one.
That’s the list! Will you join me in reading Agatha’s favorites? Let me know if you do! Send me a “Letter to the Editor” and tell me your thoughts on her choices. Do you agree or disagree with some of them? There are a few that surprised me, I think, but in the end, I can see why she chose these ten as favorites, though I think many people would be surprised that Death on the Nile didn’t make the cut, as it’s so popular today.
Of course, if you don’t have time for all the reading, but would love to hear these stories, consider an Audible subscription. With Audible Plus, you can actually listen to some Christie works without using up your credits! I also really enjoy the BBC Radio dramas, they’re so well done. I have used my Audible credits for Miss Marple and Poirot collections of these radio dramas and have listened to them all more than once, so it’s been a great way to get more Agatha Christie. I’ve been a member for many years and am a true fan.
Don’t forget to sign up for the My Dear Hastings Newsletter to get your free printable of Agatha’s Favorites!
Until next time,
Ariadne
P.S. I do not enable comments on individual articles, but I do encourage Letters to the Editor! Please know that your thoughts may be included an article featuring these letters at some point down the road, though your email address will be kept confidential, of course.
