The mysterious talents of my grandmother, queen of crime

"I never ever remember her being locked away in a room with only her typewriter," says the author's only grandson. "Although, I was a very energetic child and so I suppose even if she had wanted to she could never have written when I was around.

"Agatha was a perfectly normal grandmother. I remember her as being a marvellous listener, someone who was always interested in what I was doing and who desperately wanted me to be interested in books.

"She foresaw what a detrimental effect television would have on children's imaginations and was always introducing me to stories she thought I might like."

When Christie's first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduced Hercule Poirot to the world was published in 1920

no-one suspected it was only the start of one of the most prolific careers in fiction. By the time of her death at the age of 85 in 1976, Christie had penned 80 detective books, written or adapted 19 plays and, under the name of Mary Westmacott, had completed six romantic novels. She had also achieved unprecedented popularity.

Today she would have attracted the kind of attention reserved only for JK Rowling; back then the fame game hadn't begun and even if it had, Christie was an unlikely player.

"When I was growing up in the early 1950s the world was a very different place," says Mathew. "The cult of celebrity simply didn't exist. If you were an author, even one who sold as many books as my grandmother, the press weren't particularly interested in the rest of your life.

"She never did signings and promotional book tours weren't on any publisher's radar. I do remember when her plays went to the West End there was a good deal of publicity, but fame wasn't so obvious and I think that suited my grandmother."

If Christie preferred her time in the spotlight to be both brief and occasional, she had good reason. In 1926, her first husband Archie confessed that he was in love with another woman. The admission came shortly after the death of Christie's mother and after Archie left to be with his mistress, she too needed to get away from the reminders of their broken marriage. Her disappearance from the couple's Devon home started a huge police manhunt amid fears she had taken her own life.

However, when 11 days later she was discovered staying at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, the media turned. Some accused her of staging a publicity stunt, while others speculated it had been an attempt to frame Archie for her murder. The more likely explanation was that Christie, who was prone to depression, had simply been overcome by her husband's revelations.

Christie never spoke about those lost days and, while she did later find happiness in her second marriage to archaeologist Max Mallowan, those close to her knew how hurt she had been.

"She never talked about what happened, even when I was young it was a long time ago," says Mathew. "But I think she did feel badly treated by the press. I've learnt enough from my own life to know that in periods of great unhappiness you do things you never would under normal circumstances.

"My grandmother suffered from a fairly unpredictable illness and sometimes it led her to behave in an unpredictable way. Also I know Harrogate a little and if someone was looking to escape, to go somewhere peaceful, then I think it's probably a pretty good choice."

Christie's connection with Harrogate is part of the reason why her 14th detective novel Murder on the Orient Express has been chosen as the Big Read in the lead up to this summer's Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. There's also the county's historic link to the railways, the fact it is the 120th anniversary of Christie's birth, but more important than any of those, it's because the novel is the very definition of a page-turner.

"There is something about her books which crosses the generations," says Mathew. "I don't think it's any surprise that they are often used to help those teaching English as a foreign language. The world she wrote about where people still sat down to afternoon tea and tended roses in their gardens may have disappeared, but I do think there's something comforting about occasionally dipping into something so quintessentially English.

"Murder on the Orient Express is a rattling good read, much like a three-act tragedy. I hadn't read it for a long time and when I went back to it recently, it reminded me again what my grandmother thought about books.

"She had no delusions of grandeur, she knew what people wanted most of all was to be entertained. Compared to a lot of novels then and now, hers were comparatively short. She gave readers a puzzle, the fun was trying to solve it before the detective did, and the pace at which the plots unravel do keep people gripped.

"She never set out with an attempt to educate her readers, that wasn't something that interested her."

While Christie novels continue to sell in their millions, in more recent years whodunits have been overshadowed by a new, much grittier kind of crime writing. The country homes of Christie's world have been replaced with urban streets and the simple motives for murder replaced with complex psychological games of cat and mouse.

Under the Big Read event, free copies of Murder on the Orient Express will be given out and those who take part will then come together to deliver their verdict on Christie's novel.

"Last year we chose Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep and there was a feeling that this year we should go for a completely different type of crime book," says the festival's writer-in- residence Martyn Waites.

"People often come to well-known novels with preconceived ideas of what they will find and whether they will like it.

"The Big Read may confirm a few prejudices, but we hope it will challenge many more."

For Mathew, events like the one in Harrogate are all part of keeping the Agatha Christie legacy alive. After graduating from Oxford, he got a job as a sales rep for Penguin Books. The publishing house had pioneered the paperback format and new versions of Christie's novels were among the first batch to emerge from the printers.

Working for Penguin taught Mathew much about the business of books and, when his grandmother's health began to deteriorate, it was decided he should help to take charge of her affairs and he is now chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd.

"Eventually my grandmother was less able to deal with all the requests she received from TV companies and theatres," he says

"The family thought it would be nice if one of us carried on her work and it fell to me.

"I guess my job is what you'd call brand management, it's about trying to ensure that anything Christie-related which appears before the public, whether it be a computer game, graphic novel or television series, is true to the spirit of the original and relevant to her image."

Mathew admits good fortune has played its part in the ongoing popularity of his grandmother's work. While the plays, particularly The Mousetrap, which has enjoyed a 58-year continuous run in the West End, have taken on a life of their own, it's the small screen adaptations which have become one of the fixtures and fittings of Sunday night television.

"We have been very lucky," he says. "David Suchet made

Hercule Poirot his own and Joan Hickson was just the perfect

Miss Marple.

"However, I do believe the books stand on their own merit. Often people come to them after watching an episode of Poirot, but they always find something new in them. Tastes and fashions may change, but people still enjoy a good read."

Given his family connections and a career spent promoting his grandmother's novels, you wonder whether Mathew has ever been tempted to give crime writing a go.

"I can probably write reasonably over about two sheets of A4, but that's my limit," he says. "To expect two people from the same family to be as talented and as prolific as my grandmother, I think is probably a little too much to ask."

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n Anyone wanting to take part in this year's Big Read of Murder on the Orient Express should contact their local library.