Agatha Christie's relatives made £20m last year thanks to TV rights, book deals... and even jigsaws

See more This is Money on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Updated: 09:58 EDT, 28 July 2026 Dame Agatha Christie's children and grandchildren made £20million in profits last year as new audiences gravitate to the author's mystery novels. Agatha Christie Limited, which was set up to manage Christie's publishing rights and brand deals, raked in an annual pre-tax profit of £20million in 2025, its accounts reveal, up from £13.7million in 2024.Its revenue rose to £33million, up from £22.7million the previous year. The company boosted its takings thanks to lucrative TV distribution, publishing and licensing agreements. The new Miss Marple continuation novel written by Lucy Foley is set to be published in September, for which publisher HarperCollins paid ACL an undisclosed sum for the rights.New TV shows including Seven Dials on Netflix, Towards Zero on the BBC and Britbox and the upcoming Tommy & Tuppence on Britbox also helped ACL's financials. The company said it had more TV shows in the pipeline. Big hit: David Suchet starred in the popular TV show Poirot until 2013 Themed puzzle books and jigsaws also sold well last year, ACL added. It said the popularity of Witness For the Prosecution, a play at London's County Hall, continued 'unabated'. A British Library exhibition of Christie's life and works will begin in September this year. ACL said the Poirot and Marple TV shows produced by LWT and ITV Studios between 1989 and 2013 also continued to sell well globally, adding that there was 'consistent customer appetite for evergreen Agatha Christie adaptations' as well as for newer content. Business-minded: Agatha Christie set up a business to manage her media and literacy rights in 1955The business paid out a dividend of £9.25million, an increase of £3.95million from a year ago. It said it was on the look-out for more opportunities for growth in TV, publishing, film and stage. The business part-funds some TV productions to ensure it can profit from the shows. Not immune from wider pressures facing the media industry, ACL also noted that copyright could become a bigger problem for the business as AI develops. Christie set up ACL in 1955 so she could manage her media and literary rights. ACL has nine active directors and is chaired by Christie’s great-grandson James Prichard. The company's ownership is divided between Christie's relatives and US film business RLJ Entertainment (RJL). US firm AMC Networks has an 83 per cent stake in RJL. The latter has a 64 per cent stake in ACL. Born in Torquay in 1890, Christie became, and remains, the best-selling novelist of all time.She wrote 66 detective novels, including Murder on The Orient Express, and 14 short story collections, as well as a play called The Mousetrap. Two billion copies of her books have been sold. Christie died in 1976 aged 85. Jon Wood, managing director of Butterfly Financial Planning, said: 'Financially, Agatha Christie Limited has become an excellent example of how valuable literary rights can be when they're managed carefully. 'Rather than flooding the market, the company has steadily expanded into new books, television, film and licensing while protecting the strength of the brand. 'Fifty years after Agatha Christie's death, the business is proving that high-quality storytelling can remain commercially valuable for decades when it's invested in consistently and adapted thoughtfully for modern audiences.'DIY INVESTING PLATFORMSAJ BellAJ BellEasy investing and ready-made portfoliosHargreaves LansdownHargreaves LansdownFree fund dealing and investment ideasinteractive investorinteractive investorFlat-fee investing from £4.99 per monthFreetradeFreetradeInvesting Isa now free on basic planTrading 212Trading 212Free share dealing and no account feeAffiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.Compare the best investing account for you