Deemed the creator of the modern detective fiction novel and nicknamed the Duchess of Death, Agatha Christie continues to be one of the most popularly read authors since the publication of her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920. Since then, more than 100 million copies of her books and stories have been sold.

Born Agatha Miller on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, located in Devonshire, England, Christie enjoyed a Victorian childhood where her parents' dinner parties introduced her to Henry James and Rudyard Kipling. Formally educated in France and debuting in Cairo,

Agatha began writing seriously after she married Archibald Christie in 1914. She wrote her first novel in 1916 in just two weeks. Several publishers rejected the manuscript. Almost two years later, John Lane accepted the book and offered her a contract for five more.

While her creative interests increased, Christie's relationship with her...