Stories gradually arose hinting that her husband Archie, known to have a mistress, had murdered her, but there were also suggestions that the entire situation was nothing more than a grandiose publicity stunt. She had a daughter she adored, and her sixth book, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, was extremely successful.
This gave rise to speculation that Christie had drowned herself, yet there was no sign of a body, and nothing, it seemed, in Christie’s life that might have driven her to suicide. Not far away was the Silent Pool, a reputedly bottomless natural spring which was believed to be haunted by two children who had drowned there. There was no sign of Christie, but the car contained random items of women’s clothing and an attaché case of papers. Some sources claim that there was nothing to indicate an accident, whereas others state that the car was found up a slope, its front wheels over the edge of a chalk quarry, with only a thick growth of hedge or shrubbery having prevented it from plunging to the bottom of the pit. On 6th December, three days after Christie vanished, her car was discovered near Guildford at Newlands Corner.
The story of Christie’s disappearance made headlines across the world, with newspapers such as the New York Times publishing rumours and speculation about what might have happened, as well as reporting on the progress of the police investigation. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy L Sayers also attempted to provide the police with some assistance, without success. Personalities such as the Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks became involved, maintaining pressure on the police for a speedy resolution. When Christie failed to return home, one of the largest-ever manhunts was instigated, with thousands of police, civilians, dogs and planes – the first time planes had been used for this purpose. It would be eleven days before her family saw her again. South Devon is peppered with locations that can be linked to Agatha Christie.Ĭhristie was at home in Berkshire on Friday, 3rd December, 1926, when she went to say goodnight to her seven year-old daughter Rosalind, then got into her Morris Cowley and drove away.
She stayed on Burgh Island, which features in both And Then There Were None and Evil Under the Sun, and attended dances at Oldway in Paignton. There are many other Devon-related anecdotes: Christie wrote her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, whilst staying at the Moorlands House Hotel near Haytor on Dartmoor in 1916, and met her first husband Archibald Christie at a concert in Ugbrooke, near Chudleigh, in 1912. This beautiful Georgian house, Greenway, is now in the care of the National Trust and is visited by thousands of people every year. Despite living in a number of different places and travelling extensively with both of her husbands, she retained a love for Devon, purchasing a holiday home on the banks of the River Dart. Whether you believe that it was a publicity stunt or the result of a decline in her mental health, Agatha Christie’s 11-day disappearance in 1926 remains to this day one of her best unsolved mysteries.Ĭhristie is one of Devon’s own, born in Torquay on September 15th, 1890, to an American father and English mother. Posted By Ben Fox on | 0 comments Joop van Bilsen / Anefo – Photo of Agatha Christie