‘Crime queen’ Agatha Christie remembered 40 years after her death

Agatha Christie is one of the greatest crime novelists of all time. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, January 11, 2016.January 12 marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Agatha Christie, one of the all-time greatest crime novelists.

Here's a round-up of the movies, exhibitions, books and sights to check out in honour of "The Queen of Crime".

"Death on the Nile" (1978), directed by John Guillermin ("King Kong"), and "Murder on the Orient Express," directed by Sidney Lumet ("Gloria"), are the two most accomplished big-screen adaptations of Agatha Christie's work.

The first sees detective Hercule Poirot, played by Peter Ustinov ("Animal Farm"), investigating a murder on a paddle steamer on the River Nile in Egypt.

This murder mystery has an all-star cast, with performances from Mia Farrow ("Rosemary's Baby"), Angela Lansbury ("Murder, She Wrote"), Bette Davis ("What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"), Maggie Smith ("Downton Abbey") and Jane Birkin ("I Love You, I Don't"), who went on to star in 1982's "Evil Under the Sun", another Christie adaptation with Peter Ustinov.

A similarly star-studded cast can be seen in "Murder on the Orient Express", directed by Sidney Lumet ("12 Angry Men"), with Albert Finney ("Big Fish"), Ingrid Bergman ("Notorious") and Lauren Bacall ("The Big Sleep") – not to mention Sean Connery ("James Bond") and Anthony Perkins ("Psycho").

These two films are a great taste of what's to come from the Kenneth Branagh ("Cinderella") remake of "Murder on the Orient Express," due out in November 2017.

Adventurous Christie fans can head to the legendary Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul. Built at the end of the 19th century, this hotel has had its share of famous guests, including actress Greta Garbo and authors Ernest Hemingway, Pierre Loti and Agatha Christie.

In fact, the room she stayed in now bears her name, as it's here where she is believed to have written "Murder on the Orient Express".

In Canada, Montreal's Museum of Archeology and History is holding an exhibition entitled "Investigating Agatha Christie."

It looks at Agatha Christie's life and work, as well as her passion for archeology. The 320 items on show include evocative personal effects such as her typewriter, her dictaphone and her chairs, plus letters, manuscripts and first editions of her books.

Finally, author and research chemist Kathryn Harkup takes a look at the use of poison in Christie's books.

Each chapter of "A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie", from Bloomsbury Publishing, looks at the poisons used in a specific Christie novel. – AFP/Relaxnews, January 11, 2016.