Make a day out of 'The Mousetrap' in London

Enjoy a wickedly mysterious day out inspired by the greatest crime writer of all time: Agatha Christie.

Queen of Crime Agatha Christie is the bestselling novelist of all time and also one of the world’s most successful playwrights. Born in Torquay, Devon, in 1890, Christie’s first detective novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which featured a certain Hercule Poirot, was published in 1920.

The eagle-eyed Miss Jane Marple made her debut in the short story ‘The Tuesday Night Club’ in 1927, followed by Murder at the Vicarage in 1930. Christie published 66 novels in total and many volumes of short stories.

What is perhaps less well known is the fact that Christie is also a record-breaking playwright. The Mousetrap, which opened in the West End in 1952, is the world’s longest-running theatre production (Christie herself predicted that it would run eight months at most) and she is the only female playwright to date to have had three plays simultaneously playing in the West End.

Christie spent much of her time in Devon and Oxfordshire but London was also extremely important in both her professional and personal life. Enjoy a day out in London inspired by this multifaceted and endlessly intriguing writer and British icon.

British Museum

Death on the Nile is one of Christie’s best-loved titles and has been adapted several times for the big screen (most recently directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh). Christie was fascinated by Ancient Egypt and it was the setting for her only historical novel, Death Comes at the End. Her second husband was the archaeologist Max Mallowan, a Middle Eastern expert whom she accompanied on many expeditions. Christie remarked: “To see a dagger slowly appearing, with its gold glint, through the sand was romantic.”

Several of these digs were managed by the British Museum and the British School of Archaeology in Iraq. Mallowan is credited with the excavation of 7,574 objects in the British Museum’s collection. The museum’s fascinating Middle East galleries contain treasures from Mesopotamia (Iraq), Iran, the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Israel); Anatolia (Turkey and Armenia), Arabia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. And, of course, you can see the Rosetta Stone and the mummies in the Egyptian galleries. Best of all, it’s entirely free!

Address: Great Russell Street, London WC1B

Price: Free

Florin Court

If you’re a Poirot fan, you’re sure to recognise Florin Court, the Art Deco block of flats that serves as the great Belgian detective's London residence Whitehaven Mansions in the TV series that ran from 1989-2013, starring the incomparable David Suchet. The curved façade is instantly distinctive – we’d move in in a heartbeat!

It’s a private block of flats so there’s no admission, but while you’re in the area, do pay a visit to the London Charterhouse across the square. Embodying 600 years of history, the Charterhouse has been a monastery, a Tudor mansion, a school, and now a museum. Display items include the skeleton of a Black Death victim – Christie would surely have loved that.

Address: Charterhouse Square, London EC1M

Price: Free

The Cross Keys

Christie had several homes in the Chelsea, Notting Hill and Holland Park areas (some of the most attractive neighbourhoods in London) and was a regular at The Cross Keys, the oldest pub in Chelsea (established in 1708). A plaque honours former customers Dylan Thomas, J M W Turner, Christie, John Singer Sargent, James McNeill Whistler, and Bob Marley. A talented bunch of drinkers indeed.

Did you know: Christie was teetotal and her favourite drink was Devonshire cream, either mixed with milk or on its own. We’re not sure if that’s on the menu at The Cross Keys but it’s nevertheless a lovely spot to enjoy a relaxed drink in tranquil surroundings.

Address: 1 Lawrence Street, London SW3

Price: £

Brown’s Hotel

In At Bertram’s Hotel, Miss Marple comes to London (the primary object of her visit is to shop for linens rather than to go to the theatre or museums) and stays at a genteel hotel near Piccadilly that’s essentially an Edwardian timewarp with modern conveniences. Naturally, a murder is announced.

Brown’s Hotel, London’s oldest luxury hotel, has been mooted as a model for Bertram’s. These days, it remains traditional but far from stuffy. The hotel has long been a favourite with writers, including Evelyn Waugh, AA Milne and Stephen King, and the wood-panelled Drawing Room couldn’t be a more quintessentially English spot for afternoon tea.

Address: Ablemarle Street, London W1S

Price: £££

The Murdér Express

Fancy solving your own murder mystery? Head to East London for an immersive experience. Travel back to the Roaring Twenties and take your place on The Murdér Express. This all-enveloping theatrical performance is paired with a three-course fine dining experience and a glamorous cocktail bar.

During an evening of decadence, a scandalous murder plot unfurls – there's nothing quite like a luxury train for a murder setting. Who will get to the bottom of it first? 1920s-style outfits aren’t required but can add to the fun!

Address: 63 Pedley Road, London E1

Price: £££

Witness for the Prosecution

Originally conceived as the 1925 short story ‘Traitors Hands’, courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution was first performed in the West End in 1953 and was adapted as a film in 1957 starring Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. Lucy Bailey’s 2017 revival is very special indeed – it’s a site-specific production that takes place in the octagonal Council Chamber in the historic London County Hall, the former headquarters of the London County Council.

It’s up to you, the audience as the jury, to decide whether defendant Leonard Vole will walk free or face the hangman’s noose. Can his wife’s testimony be trusted? You can opt for special Jury seats, which place you right at the centre of the action.

Book Witness for the Prosecution tickets on London Theatre.

The Mousetrap

Before the show, be sure to pay homage to Dame Agatha at her statue near the theatre. The statue, designed by Ben Twiston-Davies, was unveiled on 25 November 2012, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Mousetrap in the West End. The debut performance actually took place in Nottingham, though its very first incarnation was in the form of a short radio play called Three Blind Mice, written as a birthday present for Queen Mary in 1947.

For the first 22 years of its run, The Mousetrap played at the Ambassadors Theatre before it moved next door to the larger St Martin’s Theatre. Now in its 74th year, The Mousetrap continues to enthral audiences from all over the world. Whodunnit? You’ll just have to wait and see! And don’t spoil the twist ending for anyone – tradition dictates that it isn’t spoken about outside the theatre.

Book The Mousetrap tickets on London Theatre.