J o h n e s c o t t agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot, played by the actor David Suchet
good detective-story writer, Agatha, and your books are 
beginning to sell well.’
So Massie sent Agatha’s next book - The Murder o f 
Roger Ackroyd -  to William Collins’ publishers. It was 
an important book for Agatha.
The Murder o f Roger Ackroyd came out in the spring 
of 1926 - and people began to talk about it immediately.
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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
What did they talk about? The big surprise at the end 
of the book!
‘T h at’s cheating!’ some people said, when they got to 
the end and found out the name of the murderer.
‘No, it’s not,’ said other readers. ‘It’s a very clever story.’
‘What’s the matter with everybody?’ Agatha said to 
Archie. ‘I didn’t cheat. It’s wrong to say that. People 
must read the story carefully.’
And she was right. All the clues were there in the 
story, and a very clever reader could guess the name of 
the murderer. But most people couldn’t.
(So what was the surprise at the end, and who was the 
murderer? The only way to find out is to read the book!)
After The Murder o f Roger Ackroyd was published, 
more and more people began to buy Agatha’s books, 
and Agatha had more money to spend.
The Christies bought a house at Sunningdale, about 
thirty miles from London.
‘What shall we call it?’ said Agatha.
‘Styles,’ said Archie, ‘after your first book.’
And they put a picture of the front cover of the book, 
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, on the wall.
But not long after they moved to Sunningdale, 
something happened that put Agatha’s name on the 
front pages of every newspaper in England.
She disappeared.
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Agatha disappears
People think that it happened because she was very 
unhappy at this time. First, her mother died. And then 
Agatha found out that Archie was in love with a young 
woman called Nancy Neele.
CHAPTER 6
Agatha disappears
O
n the morning of Friday, the 3rd of December, 
1926, Archie left Styles and went to stay with 
some friends for the weekend. Nancy Neele was also 
staying at this house for the weekend. Perhaps Agatha 
knew this, perhaps she didn’t - we can’t be sure.
Nobody knows what Agatha was thinking, late that 
dark winter evening. Rosalind, now seven years old, 
was in bed. The Christies’ two housemaids were in the 
kitchen. But we know this. At about eleven o ’clock that 
evening, Agatha went out and drove away in her car.
She did not return home that night.
On Saturday morning, a woman arrived by taxi at the 
Hydro Hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire. The Hydro was 
one of Harrogate’s biggest and best hotels, near the 
centre of the town.
‘Can I have a room, please?’ the woman asked. She
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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
was carrying a small suitcase, and she looked very tired.
‘Yes, of course,’ said the man behind the hotel desk. 
‘There’s a nice room on the first floor - room number 
five. It has hot and cold water, and the cost is seven 
pounds for a week.’
‘Thank you, that will be all right,’ said the woman.
‘What name, please?’ asked the man.
‘Mrs Teresa Neele,’ said the woman with the suitcase.
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Also on that cold Saturday morning in December, a 
fifteen- year-old boy was walking beside a lake called the 
Silent Pool. This was at a place called Newlands Corner, 
about fourteen miles from Sunningdale. The boy’s name 
was George Best.
Suddenly, George saw a car. It was off the road, down 
by the lake, but the lights were on.
‘T h at’s strange,’ he thought. ‘Why is that car down 
there, and why are the lights on?’ And he went to have 
a better look.
The car was empty, but the driver’s door was open. 
George looked inside. He saw a coat, and an open 
suitcase. Half-out of the suitcase were three dresses, 
some shoes - and some papers with the name ‘Mrs 
Agatha Christie’ on them.
George quickly went to find a policeman.