This unique event celebrates Agatha Christie’s love of sea swimming, by taking participants on a one mile ‘sightseeing swim’ between two of her favourite beaches. Participants are encouraged not to race, but to enjoy the scenery, whilst raising money for Rowcroft Hospice.

This award-winning walking tour tells the story of Agatha’s extraordinary life. Guests will be enthralled to listen to her years growing up in Torquay, and visit some of the places from her life and work.

Opening the Agatha Christie Festival 2023, we bring you the stellar crime-writing supergroup ‘The Fun-Lovin Crime Writers’. They’ll be killing it on stage at the Palace Theatre, Paignton.

The legendary detective Rufus Caper has been framed and needs your help to uncover the truth! PaddleBoat Theatre Company presents a thrilling family whodunnit with their distinctive fingerprints all over it! Expect music, puppetry, physical comedy and more. Come and help us catch the clues and spot the suspects before Rufus goes down for a crime he didn’t commit!

Suitable for families with children 8+

Join us for a boat trip around the Bay, passing beaches and locations loved by Agatha or featured in her works. Why not dress in your best detective outfits, as there will be a murder mystery to solve along the way, courtesy of Moonstone Theatre Company. There will also be period music, a fully stocked lounge bar and some fantastic views on this evening cruise. 



Join us for a unique dog walking murder mystery, courtesy of Moonstone Theatre Company

Due to popular demand, we are bringing back this favourite event, taking place in the stunning walled gardens at Torre Abbey. Meet the Head Gardener, learn about Agatha Christie’s potent and poisonous plants and her time as a pharmacist in Torquay and join us for afternoon tea – if you dare!

Our friends at Kents Cavern are hosting a unique underground film festival, with a double bill of two Agatha Christie classics. In February of this year, Cave Cinema won Gold for Devon’s Event of the Year, so we are delighted they will be celebrating the queen of crime in the caves that inspired Hampsly Cavern in The Man in the Brown Suit.

Following the huge success of last year’s event, we be bringing back our literary take on a bar crawl, visiting some quirky and unusual venues around Torquay harbour. Once again you can expect readings, poetry, music and unexpected happenings along the way. 



The Mousetrap turns 70 this year and ahead of the opening night performance we are delighted to welcome former festival director, Tony Medawar for a fascinating talk about the history of the world’s longest running play - from its origins as a 30-minute radio play and the premiere of the stage version in 1952 right up to the present day.

The Mousetrap turns 70 this year and we are thrilled that the touring production will be at the Princess Theatre in Torquay for the week of the festival (Monday 11 to Saturday 16 September).

This fun and informative evening combines sampling wine whilst solving a mystery. Can you decant the crime and catch the uncorked culprit, before there’s another vineyard victim.

Following the sell-out success of this event at last year’s festival, Caroline Hostein returns to chat about cocktails in Christie’s work and the stories behind the creation of our favourites. She’ll be joined by award-winning cocktail mixologist, Cosmo Boardman who will demonstrate how to make your own cocktails in this delicious Festival Fringe talk and demonstration.

Unleashed Theatre Company presents a brand new musical review at Torquay’s historic Royal Lyceum Theatre, telling the life of Agatha Christie through the songs of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Tom Lehrer and more.

Asked to describe an Agatha Christie story, you'll probably picture an affluent, rural and distinctively English setting... but her travels abroad and excavations at archaeological sites also provided the writer with intriguing settings and unusual plots. Local author Emma Seaman takes us on a tour of some of Mrs Christie's more unusual novels.

To open this year’s Festival, we are delighted to welcome Robert Thorogood, author and creator of the hit mystery television series Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise, and Ruth Ware, author of The IT Girl , The Turn of the Key and other crime thrillers.

Moira Redmond is a journalist, writer, reviewer and author and the creator of the Clothes in Books blog, which has over 2000 entries and three million page views. For this talk she will be discussing Agatha Christie as social observer and clothes detective.

A panel discussion chaired by Kemper Donovan of the All About Agatha team, with Christie authorities, Dr John Curran, Dr Jamie Bernthal-Hooker, Mark Aldridge and Christie fan and author of the Smart Women crime mysteries, Victoria Dowd. 

In this panel debate, our Christie experts will challenge each other with their own pitches for Agatha’s Greatest Short Story.  

We are really pleased to welcome Torbay writer Rachel Trethewey, author of Mothers of the Mind, a new book in which she describes the remarkable women who shaped Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath.

Christie super-fan Jaclyn is no stranger to the festival, being one half of the international crime-fighting duo Lurker-Linane Investigations, who organise the annual golfing-themed murder mystery events on the nearby Pitch and Putt course. She will be flying across the pond to speak about Agatha Christie and her American connections, including her family, her travels and the portrayal of Americans in her novels.