Agatha Christie was awarded a CBE in 1956 and was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1971. As her play The Mousetrap (the longest-running play in the history of theatre) testifies, Agatha Christie's detective stories are likely to appeal for a long time to come. On screen, Peter Ustinov, David Suchet, Margaret Rutherford, Joan Hickson, Geraldine McEwan and Julia McKenzie have all memorably played Agatha Christie's famous sleuths. More recently, June Whitfield portrayed Miss Marple on BBC Radio 4, whilst John Moffat starred as Hercule Poirot. In 1930 she was one of a number of crime writers asked to contribute a chapter to a mystery, Behind the Screen, that was broadcast on BBC radio on 21st June that year. The brilliance of Christie's plots, and her enduring appeal, have led to several dramatisations of her work on radio, television and film. In all, Agatha Christie published over 80 novels and short story collections.

In 1930 the sharp-witted spinster sleuth Miss Marple made her first appearance in The Murder at the Vicarage. This novel, with its complex plot and genuinely shocking conclusion, attracted considerable public attention and has since been acknowledged by many experts as a masterpiece. However, it was not until the publication of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd that Agatha Christie's reputation was firmly established.

This was published in 1920 (although in fact she had written it during the war) and was followed over the next six years by four more detective novels and a short story collection. Her first novel was The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduced Hercule Poirot to the world. During the First World War she worked as a hospital dispenser, and it was here that she gleaned the working knowledge of various poisons that was to prove so useful in her detective stories. Agatha Christie, the acknowledged 'Queen of Crime' (The Observer) was born in Torquay in 1890. Murder in Mesopotamia (2001) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Tom Clegg Writing Credits Cast (in credits order) verified as complete Produced by Music by Christopher Gunning Cinematography by Kevin Rowley.

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