Published in 1920, this was the first book in a fantastic literary career for Agatha Christie. She went on to become the top-selling fiction author of all time with sales reaching an incredible one billion in English and another billion in a multitude of foreign language translations. Altogether, the Christie output has been excelled only by the Bible and Shakespeare. As a result, she was sometimes called the "Duchess of Death," "Mistress of Mystery," and "Queen of Crime," all apt descriptions. The lead character in this initial manuscript, Hercule Poirot, was eventually featured in thirty-three novels and fifty short stories. Over the years, her other most renowned subject was Miss Marple. She didn't make her first appearance until 1930 but wound up in a dozen novels and twenty short stories.

Listen now to the start of the Christie saga.