When Agatha Christie Was At The Heart Of A Mystery

June 29, 2022

Agatha Christie, who was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, had been trying to get published for a while before she married her first husband, Archibald Christie in 1914. She finally started to find success in 1920, when her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring detective Hercule Poirot was published. By 1922, she had published her second novel, The Secret Adversary. That same year, she and her husband participated in an around-the-world promotional tour for the British Empire Exhibition, and they spent 10 months traveling. Upon their return to England, Christie continued to write, and the couple bought a house in Sunningdale, Berkshire. She may have found success, but she also kept a tight rein on finances and insisted they live a modest lifestyle. In April 1926, Christie’s mother, Clarissa Miller died, which sent her into a depression as she had been very close to her mother.

English writer and novelist Agatha Christie (1890-1976) studies documents with her husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan (1904-1978), in a library in her home, Winterbrook House near Wallingford, Oxfordshire in 1950. Agatha Christie has written a number of

According to newspaper reports, in August 1926, Christie had gone to a village near Biarritz to recover from a “breakdown” caused by “overwork.” That month, Archie asked her for a divorce; he had fallen in love with Nancy Neele. Some argue that Christie’s frugal lifestyle may have led to tensions in their relationship, which culminated in his affair with Neele. On December 3, he told Christie that he was planning to spend the weekend with friends, but Christie would not be joining them, which resulted in a quarrel. Christie disappeared from their house late that night. The next morning, her car was found parked at Newlands Corner with clothes and an expired driver’s license. Hence, Christie herself became the subject of a mystery.

She Surfaced At A Hotel 184 Miles Away From Home

English writer and novelist Agatha Christie (1890-1976) studies documents with her husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan (1904-1978), in a library in her home, Winterbrook House near Wallingford, Oxfordshire in 1950. Agatha Christie has written a number of

After she disappeared, Archie and Neele both found themselves under suspicion, and more than a thousand policemen and 15,000 volunteers began a massive manhunt. They dredged a local lake, the Silent Pool and several airplanes searched the rural landscape. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle joined, enlisting the help of a clairvoyant who used one of Christie’s gloves to attempt to locate the missing writer. A newspaper offered £100 reward, and news of her disappearance was featured on the front page of The New York Times.

Ten days after she disappeared, on December 14, 1926, she was found 184 miles north of her home in Sunningdale. She had checked in to the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire under the name of Mrs. Tressa Neele (her husband’s mistress’s surname). She claimed to be from “Capetown [sic] S.A.” (South Africa). The owner of the hotel, which is now known as the Old Swan Hotel, contacted the police to let them know that the South African guest may actually be Christie in disguise.