Agatha Christie (1890 - 1976) : The most popular crime writer of all time. In December 1926, Agatha Christie discovered that her husband, Archibald, had been having an affair with a young woman named Nancy Neele. In a mystery worthy of one of her novels, she disappeared. Archibald was suspected of murdering her and various newspapers offered rewards to anyone who could find her. She was found, ten days later, at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, where she had booked in as Teresa Neele. Agatha divorced Archibald two years later and, in 1930, married and archaeologist, Max Mallowan.

As she said at the time, 'An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets, the more interested he is in her.'
She became a Dame in 1971.