Amy Laughinghouse Hits the Road

Christie Country: Agatha Christie’s Legacy Lives on in Coastal England

Get Devious in Devon with a Visit to These Top Agatha Christie Attractions

Greenway ©NTPL-Mark Passmore

On an isolated promontory above the River Dart, a Georgian mansion hunkers down amid dense, tangled woods and gardens.

Tucked well away from any major road, it seems like the perfect place for a murder. In fact, it’s been the scene of several.

One man perished of hemlock poisoning in the garden. A girl was strangled in the boathouse, and a body was once concealed in a studded chest that dominates the hallway.

Agatha Christie © Agatha Christie Ltd.

Fortunately, those dark deeds took place only in the fertile imagination of Agatha Christie, who featured her holiday home, Greenway, in Five Little Pigs, Dead Man’s Folly, and Ordeal by Innocence. The trunk was also a key element in her short story The Mystery of the Spanish Chest.

Located half an hour south of Torquay, the English Riviera town where “the Queen of Crime” was born on September 15, 1890, Greenway will look familiar to fans of the Hercule Poirot mysteries.

David Suchet, who played the brilliant, mustachioed Belgian detective for 13 seasons,  filmed one of his last episodes, “Dead Man’s Folly,” here in 2013.

David Suchet as Hercule Poirot, filming at Agatha Christie’s home, Greenway. ©NationalTrust

But beyond the macabre thrill of finding yourself at a fictional murder scene, visitors to the home have a rare opportunity to read between the lines and ferret out fascinating clues about the famous—and famously shy—Dame Agatha. (more…)