Agatha Christie is more usually associated with murder mystery ‘dispatches’ rather than ‘hatches’, but a blue plaque commemorating the life of the Queen of Crime has been unveiled at the church in Torquay where she was baptised.

The commemoration took place during this year’s Agatha Christie Festival, following the morning church service at All Saints in Torre on Sunday September 14.

The Victorian church was designed by John Pearson and built with money from Agatha Christie's family.

It still houses the marble font where Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was baptised on Thursday November 20 1890.

The family pew is also still there, and All Saints church is remembered fondly in Christie’s autobiography.

The Vicar, Fr. Peter March, said “It is as intriguing as one of Agatha's own plot lines to think of her being baptised here and attending worship as a child and a young woman. 

“To imagine how her early life experiences in Torquay formed her into the world-renowned writer that she has become.  It's a great privilege for the Church to have this link and to be able to share it with others."

Agatha Christie’s novels feature a number of fictional members of clergy, including bishops, archdeacons, canons and at least one dean.

The real Dean of Exeter Cathedral, the Very Rev’d Jonathan Greener, was preaching at the service.

Matt Newbury, the Creative Director of the Agatha Christie festival, said: “We are so fortunate, when sharing the Agatha Christie story, to have venues with a real connection to her and her family, alongside her wonderful autobiography which vividly describes her Torbay upbringing.

“This is especially true of All Saints Church in Torre, where Agatha was baptised and lovingly recalls Sunday visits with her father, Frederick Miller.

“She paints a touching picture of him, and of the joy she found in worshipping at the church.”

All Saints church, Torre, is open at various times and people are warmly invited to visit it to experience for themselves the place where Agatha Christie worshipped as a child.