Written with the cooperation of the Christie family and all of Lucy Worsley's trademark wit and wisdom, Agatha Christie emerges from the page as a thoroughly modern woman, full of light and shade and a world away from the cosy little old lady that she's so often perceived to be. It's also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman. I will also add that Lucy warns us and I'll second her warning for readers: There are numerous Agatha Christie book plot spoilers throughout the pages in her book .

Her behaviour tells a different story, as she had very definite ideas about her novels, even down to the blurbs on the covers. On the third day, she even failed to go to her work at the hospital, ‘because I did not dare leave my book .

Worsley's sparkling biography brings a fresh eye to Christie's life and work, firmly busting the myth that she, or her novels, were cosy.

I say this due to their being classified as such "The Westmacotts are definitely uneven in quality, but their reception was also damaged by their female authorship and subject matter: 'somewhat juvenile romantic novels' was one conclusion by a male critic. On a l'impression de toujours survoler les sujets, peut-être mise à part la question de la disparition d'Agatha Christie. Worsley also suggests that there might have been more than a flirtation between Agatha’s daughter Rosalind and Max Mallowan, that indeed they might have been one of the ‘secret couples’ one finds in Agatha Christie’s books.I loved listening to this highly entertaining account of Christie from Lucy Worsley on the train rides through the Alps. Her characters, especially Miss Marple and Poirot, live alongside iconic detective fiction figures like Poe’s Dupin and ACD’s Sherlock Holmes. I am constantly amazed by how deftly she introduces her characters, how amusing her dialogue is, and how well structured her plots are.

She combines an almost militant support for her subject with a considered analysis of her books and plays. When Agatha is patronised by a chemist from whom she’s trying to learn about poisons, Worsley simply says: “Urgh”.

It's always so nice when the book is narrated by the author, as they are able to really put the emotion that they felt when writing it into the narration. Page 316: One of the advantages of being seventy is that you really don’t care any longer what anyone says about you. Worsley is Joint Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces but is best known as a presenter of BBC Television series on historical topics, including Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency (2011), Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: A 17th Century History for Girls (2012), The First Georgians: The German Kings Who Made Britain (2014), A Very British Romance (2015), Lucy Worsley: Mozart’s London Odyssey (2016), and Six Wives with Lucy Worsley (2016). To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

Sorry to be the party-pooper, but up until the chapter on the 1926 disappearance I found this to be quite a flimsy affair.

I departed for English Heritage in 1997, first as an Assistant Inspector and then as an Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings; Bolsover Castle, Hardwick Old Hall, and Kirby Hall were my favourite properties there. I was born in Reading (not great, but it could have been Slough), studied Ancient and Modern History at New College, Oxford, and I've got a PhD in art history from the University of Sussex. It happened that you and I just fitted together: now and again two sould meet that fit, not because they are alike, but because they are counterparts.