The reigning mistress of the murder mystery

With a star-studded reboot of Miss Marple in the works, healthy book sales and new generations of fans, Agatha Christie is more popular than ever 50 years after her death. BETHANY WHITTINGHAM speaks to her great-grandson James Pritchard

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Judi Dench in Murder On The Orient Express Helena Bonham Carter in Netflix hit Seven Dials

FIFTY years after Dame Agatha Christie’s death, the world still can’t get enough of her brilliance. The Queen of Crime’s mystery story Seven Dials on Netflix, starring Mia McKenna-Bruce, has been a ratings hit, a Miss Marple reboot is in the works and her award-winning play The Mousetrap remains a West End favourite 73 years after its debut.

None of this surprises the writer’s great-grandson, James Pritchard, who became chairman and chief executive of her estate in 2010. “We're probably selling more books now than we have for a very long time,” he chuckles with obvious delight.

The super-prolific Christie wrote 66 detective novels, 150 short stories and more than 20 plays during her lifetime. She is often cited as the third most-published author in the world — with her works trailing only Shakespeare and the Bible. And her writing has stood the test of time.

“Because it's only 50 years ago she died, it proves how modern a writer and a woman she was,” says James, 55. “She was still writing at the beginning of the Seventies.”

He was only five when his great-grandmother died. He can remember visiting her at home but his memories come into greater focus on the day of her death in January 1976.

“I remember my father [Mathew, Christie’s only grandchild] being in deep mourning but I also remember that it was the lead item on the Six O’Clock News,” he recalls.

“That was the moment I realised it wasn't normal to have your great-grandmother’s death on the news.”

Today, James sees her as two women.

“There’s Agatha Christie, the icon, and then there is Nima, which my father called her, the family member,” he explains. “She was an amazing parent and grandparent, and she really loved to be around those people.”