New Agatha Christie Stamps Feature Clues

Agatha Christie collectors will need to make room on Thursday for a delightful set of new stamps issued by the Royal Mail in celebration of the author's 126th birthday.  

Each of the six new stamps commemorate a classic Agatha Christie mystery, including "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd," "Murder on the Orient Express," "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," "And Then There Were None," "A Murder is Announced," and "The Body in the Library."

The stamps, designed by Jim Sutherland and Neil Webb, have a great aesthetic to them, with an appealing retro-meets-modern look. But here's the real kicker: each stamp features clues to help attentive viewers solve the mystery. The stamps include microtext, UV ink, and thermochromic ink, requiring a viewer to utilize a magnifying glass, UV light, and body heat to find the clues.

It's an ingenious design, sure to delight Christie fans around the world.  The stamps, which are incidentally valid within the UK for first class postage, are available for sale in the Royal Mail online shop.

"I am delighted that, 100 years after she wrote her first detective novel, my grandmother's works are being celebrated in such a unique way by Royal Mail," said Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard in a statement. "The ingenuity of her mysteries is cleverly represented in these distinctive designs, with the use of cutting edge technology - a welcome alliance of the traditional and the modern - adding to the delight. I am certain that ... mystery lovers will relish the puzzles that each stamp presents."