A collection of previously unheard recordings of crime writer Agatha Christie talking about her life and work has surfaced in Devon after lying undiscovered for 40 years.

The reels of tape, over 13 hours long, were discovered by the author's grandson in a cardboard box during a spring clean-out at Christie's former home in Torquay.

They date back to the 1960s and are working notes for her autobiography which was published posthumously in 1977.

But the recordings go into far greater detail about some aspects of Christie's life than the finished book, with descriptions of what life was like in wartime Britain, her honeymoon with her second husband and the reason why she would never let her legendary sleuths Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple meet...

Unfortunately, the tapes give no insight into one of the most intriguing parts of her life [her mysterious 12-day disappearance in 1926]...