The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie
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The mystery writer Agatha Christie (1890-1976) provided a mystery of her own in 1926. On the evening of 3rd December she disappeared from her home in Berkshire and the next morning her car was found abandoned a few miles away.
The event became big news as 15,000 people volunteered to search the surrounding countryside and a lake was dragged by the police, the fear being that Mrs Christie had met her death by accident or design.
However, the search was called off eleven days later when Agatha Christie was found, perfectly safe, staying at a hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Despite this outcome, the mystery of what had happened during the interim between disappearance and discovery continued, because Agatha Christie had no memory of how she had got from Berkshire to Yorkshire and could offer no explanation for her behaviour.
The mystery has never been solved, although various theories have been put forward.
One thought was that the whole thing was a publicity stunt designed to boost sales of Agatha Christie’s latest novel, “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”. However, this is unlikely because the book was doing very well anyway and there was no need for any such promotion.
Another suggestion made at the time was that she had suffered an attack of amnesia after the recent death of her mother.
A more likely explanation is that it had something to do with Agatha Christie’s private life, particularly her state of mind over the crumbling of her marriage to Archibald Christie. A clue to this possibility is that she checked into the Harrogate hotel using the name of Archibald’s mistress, which must mean that the affair was uppermost in her mind.
The marriage stumbled on for another two years before the Christies divorced. Agatha would later find happiness with her second husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan. She used to joke that an archaeologist was the perfect husband because he got more interested in his spouse the older she got!
The story of Agatha Christie’s disappearance was featured in the Hollywood film “Agatha” in 1979. This frankly disappointing production starred Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman, the latter playing a completely fictional American investigating journalist. The attempt to make an exciting story out of something that was basically a non-event led, somewhat predictably, to a result that left much to be desired.
The event became big news as 15,000 people volunteered to search the surrounding countryside and a lake was dragged by the police, the fear being that Mrs Christie had met her death by accident or design.
However, the search was called off eleven days later when Agatha Christie was found, perfectly safe, staying at a hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Despite this outcome, the mystery of what had happened during the interim between disappearance and discovery continued, because Agatha Christie had no memory of how she had got from Berkshire to Yorkshire and could offer no explanation for her behaviour.
The mystery has never been solved, although various theories have been put forward.
One thought was that the whole thing was a publicity stunt designed to boost sales of Agatha Christie’s latest novel, “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd”. However, this is unlikely because the book was doing very well anyway and there was no need for any such promotion.
Another suggestion made at the time was that she had suffered an attack of amnesia after the recent death of her mother.
A more likely explanation is that it had something to do with Agatha Christie’s private life, particularly her state of mind over the crumbling of her marriage to Archibald Christie. A clue to this possibility is that she checked into the Harrogate hotel using the name of Archibald’s mistress, which must mean that the affair was uppermost in her mind.
The marriage stumbled on for another two years before the Christies divorced. Agatha would later find happiness with her second husband, the archaeologist Max Mallowan. She used to joke that an archaeologist was the perfect husband because he got more interested in his spouse the older she got!
The story of Agatha Christie’s disappearance was featured in the Hollywood film “Agatha” in 1979. This frankly disappointing production starred Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman, the latter playing a completely fictional American investigating journalist. The attempt to make an exciting story out of something that was basically a non-event led, somewhat predictably, to a result that left much to be desired.
orientalove › Great story. I didn't know that
Michellekidwell › I remember reading about her disappearance in a biography about her! Glad you shared this article!
Violet › Interesting story about the well known writer.
Explorer2017 › It's a mystery as what the subject writes about her books.
RasmaSandra › I remember this. It has been a mystery ever since. I suppose it will never be solved. I wonder if those who do believe in the world beyond have ever thought of holding a seance to see if this mystery can be finally solved or perhaps that is just wishful thinking.
indexer › @RasmaSandra As mysteries go, there have been far more intriguing and important ones! This was something that Agatha Christie was not willing to talk about during the rest of her long life, so why would she do so long after she has died?
