For some writers appearing on a best-seller list is more than could ever be hoped for. For others, earning enough just to keep on writing is quite good enough. And then there is a great and grand group somewhere in between.

There is one author, however, who stands distinctly above the pack. And when the description at the top of her website reads: Outsold only by the Bible and William Shakespeare…, you know she’s got to be pretty good. Pretty good to the tune of an estimated 2-4 billion. Make that 2-4 billion plus one, since I don’t believe the estimate captured the copy I bought (and just finished reading) this past Tuesday at the Concord Book Shop.

Born just outside the town of Torquay in England in 1890, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. She wrote 80 crime novels, a number of short story collections, and 15 stage plays including the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap. The latter has been seen by more than 10 million people and involved more than 300 actors. As the English might understatedly pronounce, “Not bad, that.”

This being the 125th anniversary of Dame Agatha’s birth and feeling somewhat embarrassed that I had never read one of her novels, I thought I would give her a try and so picked up The Mysterious Affair at Styles. It was her first novel, published in 1920, although written a few years earlier during World War I. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, it is a little dated, but, then, so am I, so I guess that balances out. And I just loved the way she sets a scene and captures the quirkiness of her characters in a few sentences. She was not one to waste words.

So, yes, I will be buying a few more Christie novels in the months and years ahead, doing my part to keep her just ahead of Romance writers Barbara Cartland and Danielle Steel who trail far behind in the paltry high-hundred millions range. Come to think of it, though, those numbers aren’t too shabby either.  Maybe I’ll have to add Barbara and Danielle to my reading list as well.