AGATHA CHRISTIE'S GREATEST MYSTERY WAS LEFT UNSOLVED
In December of 1926, Agatha Christie vanished after an argument with her husband, only to resurface 11 days later. A crime writer explores why we're still so fascinated with her disappearance.
Like many good stories, it started on a cold, dark night. Agatha Christie, having been overheard arguing with her husband, kissed her sleeping daughter goodbye and, with a crunch of gravel, drove off into the night. The following morning, her Morris Cowley was discovered crashed on the edge of a chalk pit, headlamps still blazing, her coat and a bottle labelled “poison lead and opium” abandoned on the back seat.
For the press, it was a gift: a famous murder-mystery writer had gone missing in highly suspicious circumstances. Headlines around the world revelled at Life imitating Art; a giant manhunt was launched; and as the days passed, famous crime writers were quick to offer their theories. Had her husband, who was having an affair, bumped her off? Had she drowned herself in the nearby reservoir and framed him as revenge? Was it an elaborate publicity stunt for her latest novel?