The International Agatha Christie Festival brings magic to seaside town Torquay

The magic of this town is no mystery!

As well as being part of the English Riviera, Torquay is also the birthplace of the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie.

Since the release of her first novel in 1920, millions of readers have come under Christie’s spell and fallen in love with her tales of devilish murders taking place in seemingly quaint locations.

The prolific author, who wrote 80 novels in her 85 years, used locations in Torquay and the South Devon area as inspiration for many of her stories.

The Agatha Christie Mile along Torquay’s seafront includes many landmarks close to the Poirot creator’s personal life as well as her fiction, such as the Imperial Hotel, which provided the inspiration for the Majestic Hotel in two of Christie’s novels Peril at End House and The Body in the Library. In Sleeping Murder, Miss Marple’s final case, the Imperial Hotel appears as itself.

So if you’re a Christie reader and fancy a trip to the English Riviera, there is no better time to visit than during the annual International Agatha Christie Festival.

From September 14 to 21, there will be talks, tours and of course tea (hopefully not poisoned) on offer in the seaside town.

A major event on the English Riviera since 2004, until now it has consisted of a variety of separate events over a series of individual venues.

This year the main hub of events will take place at the town’s Torre Abbey, with a series of fringe events taking place at various locations including Burgh Island, inspiration for the world’s greatest-selling crime novel, And Then There Were None, and Greenway.

Given that over half of Christie’s fictional victims were poisoned, one of the most intriguing parts of the festival is the Potent Plants Garden tour at the abbey, where head gardener Ali Marshall points out many of the horticultural nasties on show.

Other highlights include a vintage fair, murder mystery dinner, author talks, a children’s detective trail and tea parties.

For more information, go to agathachristiefestival.com.