I've Read All of Her Books

One of my favorite authors as a teenager was Agatha Christie.  I'm pretty sure I have read all her books and collections.  Sometime late last century (love saying that), Brooklyn Public Library started revamping their collection of her work.  I was so exuberant; I think I have read every book published in the United States. I had a list so I wouldn't reread anything until I had read all the other books. 
Crooked House is still my favorite Agatha Christie story.





 
I don't really have a favorite between Miss Marple or Hercules Poirot, her two main detectives.  I like Miss Marple.  Everyone thinks she is a quiet, unassuming doddering spinster, but she is very with it.  No one can get anything past her.  My favorite Miss Marple book is A Murder Is Announced.









Hercule Poirot is somewhat different.  He is well traveled and had a successful career as a detective before retiring and becoming a private detective.  He is very confident in his abilities and has no problem flaunting his abilities.  My favorite Hercule Poirot book is Murder on the Orient Express. 




Her greatest mystery was her disappearance for 11 days in the winter of 1926.  After having an argument with her husband, she left home.  Her secretary found a note that she was going to another town.  Nobody could find her or get in contact with her.  Eleven days later she was found in a hotel under an assumed name and was either unable or unwilling to give any details of the preceding eleven days.  To this day, we have no concrete idea of what really happened.  Some people think she was trying to frame her husband for her murder; some think she just wanted a little privacy.  Whatever the reason, Agatha took the secret to her grave.

She is one of the best selling authors of all times, has had the longest running play, and many film adaptations of her novels.  Her detective Hercule Poirot is the only fictional character to have a New York Times autobiography.   All this from a woman who started her career trying to prove to her sister she could write better mysteries than the Sherlock Holmes series.

Do you have a favorite author?  Have you read all their books?