Half a century after her death, the queen of crime is getting the grandest tribute London has staged in a generation. On 30 October 2026 the British Library opens Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery, its biggest exhibition devoted to the bestselling novelist of all time — and the largest celebration of her work mounted in the UK in almost 25 years.
Christie sold more than a billion books in English and another billion in over 100 languages, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Yet this show is less about the staggering numbers than about the woman behind them. Going behind the books, it explores how Christie’s life, travels and interests shaped iconic creations like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple — drawing on over 100 items, many never displayed before, from the Library’s own collection, the Christie Archive Trust and other lenders.
Five Rooms, One Remarkable Life
The exhibition unfolds across five immersive sections, each a setting drawn straight from Christie’s world. It opens in the country house — that quintessential backdrop for the ‘drawing room reveal’ — tracing her childhood at the family home, Ashfield, and her first steps as a writer. Visitors will see the typescript for her first short story, a notebook from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Sherlock’s method, and feedback on her work from Dorothy L. Sayers.
Next comes the dispensary, a nod to Christie’s First World War service as a nurse and pharmacy dispenser — the source of the expert knowledge of poisons that would later make her plots so lethally convincing. Here sit her 1917 pharmaceutical study notes and research notes on the toxins that fill her fiction, including those behind The Pale Horse, a novel since credited with saving real lives.
From there, visitors board an Orient Express-inspired carriage in the train, evoking the glamour of 1920s travel and Christie’s mastery of the ‘closed circle mystery’. A keen rail enthusiast, she turned her own journeys into the settings for novels like Murder on the Orient Express — and the section even includes photographs of her surfing in Hawaii in 1922, with a replica of her surfboard. The dig follows, recreating the 1930s archaeological excavations in Iraq and Syria that she joined with her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan, and which inspired Murder in Mesopotamia and They Came to Baghdad. The journey ends in the theatre, in the glittering West End of the 1950s, celebrating the work that made her the most successful female playwright of all time — with rare footage from The Mousetrap and costumes from recent screen adaptations.
Throughout, clues and ‘Easter eggs’ are dotted about for fans to sleuth out, and interviews with leading writers and broadcasters reflect on Christie’s enormous influence on the crime genre.
We’re honoured to be working with the Christie Archive Trust and Agatha Christie Limited on this very special exhibition to mark the legacy of Agatha Christie, the most famous crime writer of all time. The biggest exhibition held in the UK in almost 25 years to celebrate Christie’s writing, visitors will see over 100 items from different periods in her life, including material never displayed before.
Lucy Rowland, Lead Curator, British Library
A Family Affair
The show forms a centrepiece of Agatha Christie Limited’s 2026 anniversary programme, and the family connection runs deep. Items were selected from the Christie Archive by Mathew Prichard, the author’s grandson, whose own son James now chairs the company.
We are delighted to be partnering with the British Library for this major exhibition dedicated to my great grandmother’s extraordinary life and works. It feels fitting to do this to help mark the 50th anniversary of her death; this combines an opportunity for quiet reflection, but also an opportunity to celebrate the immense achievements of her life. Hers was truly one of the most remarkable lives of the 20th century.
James Prichard, CEO and Chairman of Agatha Christie Limited and Christie’s great-grandson
There’s a neat railway thread running through it all, too. The exhibition is supported by Great Western Railway, whose own history is bound up with Christie’s: her journeys between London and the Devon coast — Torquay, where she was born, and Dartmouth — helped inspire some of her most celebrated work. A new accompanying book, edited by crime novelist Martin Edwards with curator Lucy Rowland and featuring contributors from David Suchet to Kenneth Branagh, will be the first comprehensive volume on Christie published in 50 years. Beyond the Library, a UK-wide season of crime fiction events and Living Knowledge Network displays will run at public libraries around the country.
Agatha Christie: A World of Mystery
The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
30 October 2026 – 20 June 2027
Nearest station: King’s Cross St Pancras
Tickets: bl.uk/agathachristie
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