This unique event celebrates Agatha Christie’s love of sea swimming, by taking participants on a one mile ‘sightseeing swim’ between two of her favourite beaches. Participants are encouraged not to race, but to enjoy the scenery, whilst raising money for Rowcroft Hospice.

This award-winning walking tour tells the story of Agatha’s extraordinary life. Guests will be enthralled to listen to her years growing up in Torquay, and visit some of the places from her life and work.

The Book Fairies are making a special visit to Torquay for the Agatha Christie Festival this year... and they don't come empty handed! The fairies have a whopping SEVENTY books to hide around the festival's planned events and wider Devon, with titles ranging from The ABC Murders to Evil Under the Sun...

Opening the Agatha Christie Festival 2023, we bring you the stellar crime-writing supergroup ‘The Fun-Lovin Crime Writers’. They’ll be killing it on stage at the Palace Theatre, Paignton.

The legendary detective Rufus Caper has been framed and needs your help to uncover the truth! PaddleBoat Theatre Company presents a thrilling family whodunnit with their distinctive fingerprints all over it! Expect music, puppetry, physical comedy and more. Come and help us catch the clues and spot the suspects before Rufus goes down for a crime he didn’t commit!

Suitable for families with children 8+

Join us for a boat trip around the Bay, passing beaches and locations loved by Agatha or featured in her works. Why not dress in your best detective outfits, as there will be a murder mystery to solve along the way, courtesy of Moonstone Theatre Company. There will also be period music, a fully stocked lounge bar and some fantastic views on this evening cruise. 



Join us for a unique dog walking murder mystery, courtesy of Moonstone Theatre Company

Due to popular demand, we are bringing back this favourite event, taking place in the stunning walled gardens at Torre Abbey. Meet the Head Gardener, learn about Agatha Christie’s potent and poisonous plants and her time as a pharmacist in Torquay and join us for afternoon tea – if you dare!

Our friends at Kents Cavern are hosting a unique underground film festival, with a double bill of two Agatha Christie classics. In February of this year, Cave Cinema won Gold for Devon’s Event of the Year, so we are delighted they will be celebrating the queen of crime in the caves that inspired Hampsly Cavern in The Man in the Brown Suit.

Following the huge success of last year’s event, we be bringing back our literary take on a bar crawl, visiting some quirky and unusual venues around Torquay harbour. Once again you can expect readings, poetry, music and unexpected happenings along the way. 



The Mousetrap turns 70 this year and ahead of the opening night performance we are delighted to welcome former festival director, Tony Medawar for a fascinating talk about the history of the world’s longest running play - from its origins as a 30-minute radio play and the premiere of the stage version in 1952 right up to the present day.

The Mousetrap turns 70 this year and we are thrilled that the touring production will be at the Princess Theatre in Torquay for the week of the festival (Monday 11 to Saturday 16 September).

This fun and informative evening combines sampling wine whilst solving a mystery. Can you decant the crime and catch the uncorked culprit, before there’s another vineyard victim.

Following the sell-out success of this event at last year’s festival, Caroline Hostein returns to chat about cocktails in Christie’s work and the stories behind the creation of our favourites. She’ll be joined by award-winning cocktail mixologist, Cosmo Boardman who will demonstrate how to make your own cocktails in this delicious Festival Fringe talk and demonstration.

Unleashed Theatre Company presents a brand new musical review at Torquay’s historic Royal Lyceum Theatre, telling the life of Agatha Christie through the songs of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Tom Lehrer and more.

We are delighted that festival attendees will be giving people the opportunity to sample two brand-new Agatha Christie video games for free at the festival. Hercule Poirot: the London Case has been developed by award-winning Blazin Griffin studio and published by Microids. The story sees the Belgian detective and his beloved sidekick Arthur Hastings in an original adventure involving a priceless piece of art.

Asked to describe an Agatha Christie story, you'll probably picture an affluent, rural and distinctively English setting... but her travels abroad and excavations at archaeological sites also provided the writer with intriguing settings and unusual plots. Local author Emma Seaman takes us on a tour of some of Mrs Christie's more unusual novels.

To open this year’s Festival, we are delighted to welcome Robert Thorogood, author and creator of the hit mystery television series Death in Paradise and Beyond Paradise, and Ruth Ware, author of The IT Girl , The Turn of the Key and other crime thrillers.

In this short film which he describes as a “labour of love”, high school drama teacher Brad Friedman shares how he took every opportunity to introduce his students and local community to his favourite author.

Moira Redmond is a journalist, writer, reviewer and author and the creator of the Clothes in Books blog, which has over 2000 entries and three million page views. For this talk she will be discussing Agatha Christie as social observer and clothes detective.

A panel discussion chaired by Kemper Donovan of the All About Agatha team, with Christie authorities, Dr John Curran, Dr Jamie Bernthal-Hooker, Mark Aldridge and Christie fan and author of the Smart Women crime mysteries, Victoria Dowd. 

In this panel debate, our Christie experts will challenge each other with their own pitches for Agatha’s Greatest Short Story.  

We are really pleased to welcome Torbay writer Rachel Trethewey, author of Mothers of the Mind, a new book in which she describes the remarkable women who shaped Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath.

Christie super-fan Jaclyn is no stranger to the festival, being one half of the international crime-fighting duo Lurker-Linane Investigations, who organise the annual golfing-themed murder mystery events on the nearby Pitch and Putt course. She will be flying across the pond to speak about Agatha Christie and her American connections, including her family, her travels and the portrayal of Americans in her novels.

David Morris, Editor and author of the authoritative website Collecting Christie will explore Agatha Christie’s stage plays – including her original plays, adapted plays, those adapted by others and even her unpublished plays. The talk will explore the world of playscripts, programmes and memorabilia - all through the lens of a collector.

Italian editor and translator Marco Amici discusses Christie in translation and the obstacles her works found in Italy in the 30’s and 40’s, as well as how Italy and its people are portrayed in her works.

Join Kate Jackson, writer, blogger and classic crime expert and she offers tips on how to survive should you find yourself unexpectedly caught within the pages of an Agatha Christie mystery. She will provide all of the tools you need to avoid being framed for a murder or to evade an untimely demise.

We’re delighted to team up with the National Trust at Agatha Christie’s former holiday home at Greenway House to host an exclusive and intimate dinner for just 20 guests. Arrive for drinks and canapes followed by a guided tour of the house. A four-course dinner is followed by an after-dinner talk by renowned expert on Agatha Christie on screen, Dr Mark Aldridge. Carriages to the door of the house at 10.30 pm.

The Festival Players present a rehearsed reading of Agatha Christie’s ‘lost play’ TOWARDS ZERO.

 This is our main event to mark the birthday of Agatha Christie.

For Agatha Christie, the vicar was a staple of everyday life, and this is reflected in her books. Whether she used a clergyman to bring dramatic suspense or comic relief into the mix, Christie always drew these characters from reality and they help us understand her philosophy of human nature.

Suitable for stage and screen, as well as novelists, Greg Mosse will share ten dynamic techniques for murder mystery writers, generating compelling scenes of conflict that reveal and develop character - plus clever ways to integrate these scenes into powerful broader storylines, full of red herrings and robust clues.

Sarah Martin discusses the significance of the female Flapper Girl in Agatha Christie's fiction. She’ll look at the historic importance of this feminine figure and identify some of Agatha's most wonderful, and downright scandalous, representations of the flapper girl as detective in her fiction. Be prepared for outrageous outfits, fantastic fashion, and daring dresses!

Ann Cleeves is the author behind ITV’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over thirty novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez and Matthew Venn who appears in the Two Rivers mysteries set in North Devon where Ann was raised. She was awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year Honours List “for services to Reading and Libraries.” Jake Kerridge is an author and journalist.

If any writer of the twentieth century could claim to have been by royal appointment, then it was Agatha Christie. In this coronation year, Dr Julius Green’s illustrated talk examines the many and varied royal connections to her work.

According to legend, the idea for Penguin Books came to Allen Lane after visiting Agatha Christie in 1934. Finding himself stranded on the platform at Exeter St David's he saw the need for good quality affordable paperbacks and would later form the company with his brothers Richard and John.

Brazil has the third biggest Agatha Christie fan club in the world and Tito and his guests explain why the author is so popular in the South American country, as well as sharing some items from his personal collection.

Hilary Macaskill chats about the homes that meant the most to Agatha Christie and the insights they offer into her life and work.

We’re delighted to team up with the National Trust at Agatha Christie’s former holiday home at Greenway House to host an exclusive and intimate dinner for just 20 guests. Arrive for drinks and canapes followed by a guided tour of the house. A four-course dinner is followed by an after-dinner talk by renowned expert and author of Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks, Dr John Curran. Carriages to the door of the house at 10.30pm.

Dr Mark Aldridge explores the behind-the-scenes story of the Miss Marple films starring Margaret Rutherford, before a screening of Murder at the Gallop.

Internationally recognised expert on Christie’s work, Dr John Curran, will looks at the books about Agatha Christie that every aficionado should have on their shelves. And a few they should shun.

Bring your team along to use your combined detecting skills in a sixty minute puzzle room challenge. Choose from a ‘Sherlock’-themed room in Torquay or an ‘Espionage’ themed room in Dartmouth. Can you crack the case before the timer?

Sophie Hannah discusses her upcoming fifth Poirot novel, in which the legendary sleuth puts his little grey cells to work solving a baffling Christmas mystery.

Lady Lettice Lovage is the world's leading romantic novelist, known for having a colourful private life of her own - she has had many secret affairs with top political and business dignitaries. International blackmailer known only as The King of Hearts has committed larceny and absconded with Lady Lettice's love letters.  However, he has left clues on the golf course as to the letters’ location.  A reward is offered for the first to recover the letters.

Join Karen Pierce for this bonus event that is replacing our original closing event. We have made it "pay what you can" and would really appreciate any donations to the Agatha Christie Festival Charity.