How Many Books Agatha Christie Wrote: The Real Count and Why It’s Not Just 66

Ever tried counting a legend? It’s harder than it looks. If you ask a casual fan how many books Agatha Christie wrote, they’ll probably bark "66" at you faster than Hercule Poirot can polish his patent leather shoes.

And they aren't technically wrong. But they aren't really right, either.

The number 66 refers to her full-length detective novels. It's the "Golden Number" of the Christie canon. But honestly, if you stop there, you’re missing out on nearly half of what the woman actually did with her life. Agatha Christie wasn’t just a mystery machine; she was a literary powerhouse who dabbled in romance, poetry, and autobiography—sometimes under a secret name.

If we’re being precise, the total count depends on how you define a "book." Is a collection of short stories one book? Or are we counting the stories? Does a play count? What about the six "secret" novels she wrote as Mary Westmacott?

Let’s pull out the magnifying glass and look at the real breakdown.

Breaking Down the 66 Detective Novels

First, let's address the heavy hitters. The 66 crime novels are what made her the best-selling author of all time. We’re talking over 2 billion copies sold. That’s a "B," by the way.

The breakdown of these 66 is basically a tour of the most famous brains in fiction:

• Hercule Poirot: He stars in 33 of those novels.
• Miss Marple: The deceptively sweet old lady from St. Mary Mead features in 12.
• Tommy and Tuppence: The adventurous couple appears in 4.
• Superintendent Battle: He’s the lead in 5 books.
• The Rest: These are the standalone mysteries or those featuring Colonel Race or Parker Pyne.

Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, hit the shelves in 1920. Her last, Postern of Fate, came out in 1973. Think about that for a second. That is fifty-three years of constant, high-level output. Most writers run out of steam after a decade. Christie just kept twisting the knife.

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The Secret Six: Who Was Mary Westmacott?

Here is where the count gets tricky. Aside from the 66 mysteries, Christie wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott.

She managed to keep this secret for nearly 20 years! Basically, she wanted to write something different. She wanted to explore human psychology and relationships without needing a dead body in the library by chapter three.

These aren't "detective" books, but they are absolutely "Agatha Christie books." If you add these to the crime pile, your total jumps from 66 to 72.

1. Giant’s Bread (1930)
2. Unfinished Portrait (1934)
3. Absent in the Spring (1944)
4. The Rose and the Yew Tree (1948)
5. A Daughter's a Daughter (1952)
6. The Burden (1956)

Fans often overlook these, which is a shame. Absent in the Spring is widely considered one of the best things she ever wrote, even by her own standards.

The Short Story Collections (The Missing 14 or 15)

Now, things get messy. Christie wrote over 150 short stories. These were originally published in magazines, but they were eventually bundled into collections.

In the UK, there are generally 14 or 15 official collections.
Wait, why the "or"?
Because publishers in the US and the UK couldn't agree on anything. Some books, like The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories, exist in the US but not in the same format in the UK.

If we stick to the standard bibliography, we add 14 short story collections to our tally. Now we’re at 86 books.

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The "Other" Stuff: Plays, Poetry, and Life

You can't talk about Agatha Christie without mentioning The Mousetrap. It’s the longest-running play in history. She didn't just write novels; she was a prolific playwright.

• Plays: She wrote about 20 to 30 plays (the count varies because some are adaptations of her own books, while others are original works like Black Coffee).
• Poetry: She published two volumes of poetry: The Road of Dreams (1924) and Poems (1973).
• Non-Fiction: She wrote Come, Tell Me How You Live, a fun account of her time on archaeological digs with her husband, and her massive An Autobiography, which was published after she died.

The Final Tally (Sorta)

If you’re trying to build a complete shelf of everything the "Queen of Crime" wrote, you’re looking at a number closer to 93 to 95 distinct volumes.

Why Most People Get the Numbers Wrong

The biggest reason for the confusion is the "US vs. UK" publishing war. Back in the day, US publishers would often change titles or mix and match short stories to create "new" books.

For example, the novel And Then There Were None has gone through several title changes for various (and often controversial) reasons. Murder on the Orient Express was sold in the US as Murder in the Calais Coach.

If you count by title, you’ll end up with hundreds. If you count by unique work, you land back in the 90s.

What Most People Miss: The Archaeological Influence

A lot of people think she just sat in a cozy English village and dreamed up ways to poison people with arsenic. Not true.

A huge chunk of her work was written while she was literally sitting in the dirt in Iraq or Syria. Her second husband, Max Mallowan, was an archaeologist. She traveled with him every year. This is why we have classics like Death on the Nile and Murder in Mesopotamia.

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These "travel" years are actually when her writing became its most sophisticated. She wasn't just writing "whodunnits"; she was recording the atmosphere of a world that was rapidly disappearing.

Where to Start if You’re Overwhelmed

Look, 90+ books is a lot. You don't need to read them all this weekend.

If you want to understand why she matters, start with the "Big Three":

• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (The one that broke all the rules).
• And Then There Were None (The best-selling mystery of all time).
• Murder on the Orient Express (The one everyone knows).

Once you’ve done those, try Absent in the Spring under the Mary Westmacott name. It’ll show you a side of Christie that’s chillingly observant about how we lie to ourselves.

Actionable Next Steps for Christie Collectors

If you're serious about tracking down every book she wrote, here's your move:

1. Focus on the 66 first. Get a checklist of the detective novels to build your foundation.
2. Watch out for "Alternative Titles." Before you buy a "new" Christie book, check the copyright page to make sure it isn't just a renamed version of something you already own.
3. Seek out the Westmacott novels. They are often out of print or hidden in the back of bookstores. Finding them is a mystery in itself.

The sheer volume of her work is staggering. But whether it's 66, 72, or 95, the quality rarely dipped. That’s the real mystery.