Did you catch our post about Family Book Club? Family book club is a great way to get the whole family reading together when age differences or interests are too broad to get everyone reading the same book. Generally, we recommend by theme, and we can’t think of a better theme to kick this off than the mystery and fame of Agatha Christie herself. We felt quite inspired after our president, Joanne Sallay, read The Mystery of Mrs. Christie for her book club!
Did you know that The Guinness Book of World Records recognizes Agatha Christie as the best-selling novelist of all time? She’s collectively sold more than 4 billion copies of her books, and she is also the most translated individual author since her novels have been translated into over 100 languages. Pretty amazing, right? She also makes a great choice for Family Book Club.
Here are some picks to get you started searching for the perfect book to sink into, appropriate for all sorts of different ages. If you are looking to incorporate games and snacks to match the theme, we suggest a mystery snack box paired with The World of Agatha Christie 1000-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle and a classic game of Clue!
Picture books for kids under 10:
Agatha Christie
From Indigo: In this board book from the critically acclaimed Little People, BIG DREAMS series, discover the life of Agatha Christie, the most famous crime writer of all time.
The Deductive Detective
From Read Brightly: A cake thief is on the loose! Using deductive reasoning and subtraction, Detective Duck follows the clues to discover the identity of the cake thief. At the back of the book, there is a short section about the methods Duck uses to solve the mystery.
Mysteries for middleschoolers:
Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen: The Body under the Piano
From Penguin Random House: A smart and charming middle-grade mystery series starring young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, inspired by the imagined life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. Good news, fans will have more mysteries to uncover after finishing this first book in the series!
Murder Most Unladylike
From Penguin: At Deepdean School for Girls, Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong have set up their own detective agency. But they are struggling to find any real crimes to investigate. (Unless you count the case of Lavinia's missing tie. Which they don't.) Then Hazel discovers the Science Mistress, Miss Bell, lying dead in the Gym. To add to the mystery, when she and Daisy return five minutes later, the body has disappeared. Now Hazel and Daisy not only have a murder to solve: they have to prove one happened in the first place.
For teens and YA fans:
The Agathas
From Penguin Random House: Rich girl Alice and her tutor Iris try to solve a mystery when Alice’s ex-boyfriend is accused of murder. They take a page from Agatha Christie to try to solve it themselves. From two of the present-day’s acclaimed YA writers.
For Grown Ups:
The Christie Affair
From Goodreads: In 1925, Miss Nan O’Dea infiltrated the wealthy, rarefied world of author Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie. In every way, she became a part of their life––first, both Christies. Then, just Archie. Soon, Nan became Archie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted wife, desperate to marry him. Nan’s plot didn’t begin the day she met Archie and Agatha. What drives someone to murder? What will someone do in the name of love? What kind of crime can someone never forgive?
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
From Raincoast Books: The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room returns with a thrilling reconstruction of one of the most notorious events in literary history: Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926. For all our grown-up readers who love historical fiction, we recommend you check out Marie Benedict's other titles with a focus on more fascinating women from history!
We hope everyone is ready to kick off the break with a great read. Happy Reading!
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