All right, who do you think is the number one best-selling author in human history?

It's the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie.

She has sold well over 2 billion copies of her stories, and they continue to sell.

But in 1926, she actually became an international mystery herself.

I'm Patty Steele.

Agatha Christie's Vanishing Act,

the world's obsession with finding her

and figuring out where she's gone.

That's next on the backstory.

This is an I-Heart podcast.

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The backstory is back. If you're a fan of classic mysteries,

you know Agatha Christie. Maybe you love the movie Murder on the Orient Express or the TV show Murder She Wrote, which was based on her stories. Agatha Christie is the Queen of Mystery,

the architect of perfect crime puzzles,

and the best-selling novelist in human history. But in December of 1926, she didn't just write a mystery, she became one. For 11 days, it seemed the entire world was searching for her,

as the police looked for clues, newspaper

headlines screamed about every lead, and fans wondered, how could the most famous mystery

writer on earth simply disappear? Okay, it's the evening of December 3, 1926. Agatha kisses her

little girl goodnight. She then walks out of her home in Berkshire, England,

and simply vanishes into the cold night air. Hours later, her abandoned car is found near a chalk pit

and a small lake. Inside the car is her fur coat, a suitcase, and her expired driver's license.

But Agatha is nowhere to be found.

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