Start the Literary Festival off in style! Dress up in 1920s clothes and join us for this free event, promenading along the Agatha Christie Trail from the brand-new sculpture, past the Agatha Christie bust and along to Princess Pier.

In March, it was announced that Lucy Foley will be writing a new Miss Marple novel. After the success of the 2022 Marple book, with twelve new short stories by twelve bestselling female authors, this is very exciting news for Christie fans. Lucy will be interviewed alongside Sophie Hannah, author of the bestselling Poirot continuation novels. Both authors will be talking to publishing director for the Christie estate at Harper Collins, David Brawn, about continuing Agatha Christie’s two iconic detectives.

The Agatha Christie Festival are delighted to welcome author and screenwriter, Chris Chibnall, to the Festival. In an interview with our guest host he will discuss his debut novel, Death at the White Hart, as well as his work writing for television, including adapting The Seven Dials Mystery for the screen. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear from the writer behind some of our most loved television shows.

Most Christie fans are aware of a small number of high-profile criminal cases that Christie ripped from the headlines for a few of her most celebrated works (e.g. Murder on the Orient Express, The Mousetrap). In this talk, All About Agatha host and mystery author, Kemper Donovan, will explore just how often Christie used true crime as inspiration in the creation of her mysteries over the course of her long and brilliant career. The answer just may surprise you…

The Agatha Christie Festival are delighted to bring you this wonderful evening celebrating the artwork of Tom Adams, creator of numerous iconic Agatha Christie book covers. The event begins with a talk by David Morris, author of CollectingChristie.com, who will share exclusive insights into the creative genius of Tom Adams in his talk entitled Tom Adams: The Art of the Artist. An original retrospective into Tom Adams' iconic Agatha Christie book covers. Following David's talk attendees are invited to join us at the adjacent Torre Abbey Museum for a drinks reception that celebrates the launch of a new and related exhibit 'Tom Adams and Agatha Christie: Partners in Crime'. You will have exclusive access to view the exhibition before its opening to the public on Friday 19th September.

Cover artist Tom Adams created numerous iconic Agatha Christie book covers, mostly in the 1960s, '70s and '80s but also as recently as the 2010s. Thanks to the generosity of Georgie Adams, Tom’s widow, and her family as well as David Morris, visitors will be able to see some of Tom Adams’ original artwork, objects featuring on his iconic covers, and some never-before-seen material showing how Tom’s artistic processes brought these covers to life. The exhibition will enable local schoolchildren and students not only to learn about Tom’s work but also to engage with, and be inspired by, his artistic processes.

John Curran looks at Golden Age detective fiction as a literary game and explains how Agatha Christie was the greatest player. Ever.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Secret of Chimneys, bestselling Devon-based author, Victoria Dowd, will give an entertaining talk on Bundle Brent. Lady Eileen ‘Bundle’ Brent featured in both The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery, and had a love of adventure and fast cars. Beloved by Victoria and fans alike, Bundle epitomised all the glamour and excitement of the bright young things of the 1920s.

The return of our free lunchtime social club, for people to take part in a fun activity while enjoying their lunch. More details coming soon...

Agatha Christie travelled the world, but Devon always had her heart: in 1922 she described South Africa as 'like all beautiful places, just like Torquay!' This talk will explore her relationship - both personal and literary - with her childhood home Ashfield, with Greenway House, and with the county that she loved so deeply.

HarperCollins’ head of literary estates David Brawn marks 30 years in his role as Agatha Christie’s publisher by taking us behind the scenes of her UK publishing house and giving a unique insight into how the author’s complete canon of novels and short stories continue to thrive.

Join Dr Mark Aldridge (Agatha Christie's Marple: Expert on Wickedness) and Gray Robert Brown for their first ever LIVE recording of hit podcast The Swinging Christies, exploring how 1960s aesthetics made their way into the realm of Agatha Christie book designs, adaptations and magazine serialisations. Expect new insight, giggles and time to peace out (or ask questions)!

A Murder is Announced celebrates its 75th anniversary of publication in 2025. One of the most beloved Miss Marple novels, this story has been admired for its nuanced interpersonal relationships, immediate-post-war social commentary, and use of the writing itself to clue the solution. It is the noteworthy plot device that draws the reader and characters into the story – an advertisement placed in the local newspaper – that forms the initiation of Dr Kazmer’s talk.

While best known for her detective stories and thrillers, Agatha Christie also wrote many stories of the supernatural, many of which were collected in The Last Séance. The occult and supernatural themes appear in many of her novels and stories, including her first short story, published in 1919.

The return of our free lunchtime social club, for people to take part in a fun activity while enjoying their lunch. More details coming soon...

In 2023, attendees at the Agatha Christie Festival crowned 'The Witness for the Prosecution' as the author's best short story, and so this year Dr Mark Aldridge takes a deep dive into the many lives of Christie's classic mystery. Drawing on extremely rare material, including illustrations and recently discovered footage, Mark explores the fascinating story of one of Christie's greatest successes on page, stage and screen.

Paddle steamers, luxury trains, archaeological digs, to name but a few. Agatha Christie’s settings have become almost as iconic as her plots. Settings play a key role in detective fiction, something the authors on our Super Panel know all about. Their varied and exciting settings include a 1920s trans-Atlantic liner, a psychiatric unit and a remote Cornish village. In our first Super Panel event, bestselling authors, Tom Hindle, Alex Michaelides and C.B. Everett, discuss the importance of settings in Agatha Christie’s books and the influence it has on their own crime novels.

Join us for an evening of celebration at the Grand Hotel! As part of our commemoration of the 80th anniversary of VE Day you are invited to enjoy a complimentary welcome drink followed by a three-course meal. After the meal, you can dance the night away to the sounds of AJ’s Big Band, a 17-piece band and singer who authentically recreate the big band classics of the '30s and '40s.

Agatha Christie wrote her first mystery novel during the First World War, and reflected a world in turmoil. At the height of her career during the Second World War, global conflict shaped her work and how it was read, even as the adventures of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot were seen as escapist. Later, she engaged with the uncertainties and anxieties of the Cold War, seeing history repeat itself. Continuing with our celebrations of the 80th anniversary of VE Day, in this talk, Dr Jamie Bernthal-Hooker explores Christie’s often overlooked thrillers, to unlock the mysteries of a remarkable twentieth century chronicler of war and warfare.

Between 1941 and 1947 Agatha Christie lived in the Lawn Road Flats in Hampstead, Britain’s first Modernist apartment block. Advertised during the Blitz, as the “safest building in London”, it was here, living in a tiny, 25-square-metre Minimum Apartment, that Christie entered one of the most prolific periods of her career. She penned the stage play, which would eventually become The Mousetrap, and Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case, the story in which she killed off her eponymous hero.

The return of our free lunchtime social club, for people to take part in a fun activity while enjoying their lunch. More details coming soon...

Teenagers feature in a number of Agatha Christie’s novels, so Young Adult crime writer, Troy Hunter, gives a fascinating insight into Agatha’s intriguing, and often complex, adolescents.

Agatha Christie is as synonymous with the Golden Age as Poirot is with Hastings, or Tommy is with Tuppence. In her Golden Age detective novels, Christie and her contemporaries created the blueprint for future detective fiction. Common tropes such as amateur sleuths, locked-room mysteries or seemingly impossible crimes, a small group of suspects, clues and red herrings, often feature in detective fiction written today. In our second Super Panel event, bestselling authors, Janice Hallett, Vaseem Khan and Steph McGovern discuss the never-ending Golden Age and how their novels are taking Christie's blueprint in new directions.