Novelist Sophie Kinsella is now the owner of a three-stone diamond ring once owned by Agatha Christie.
The ring was found hidden in a locked box in Dorset in an old trunk that had belonged to Agatha Christie’s mother.
The ring sold by Bonhams on Wednesday for £21,875 to Ms Kinsella’s husband Henry Wickham, and he gave it to her as a present.
She said: “Agatha Christie is the hugest inspiration and source of pleasure to me.
“I’'ve read all her books, many times over, and I feel very moved at the idea of having a piece of jewellery that was once hers.”
Agatha Christie, the best-selling author of Miss Marple and Poirot detective novels, lived at Winterbrook House in Cholsey from 1934 to 1976, and at the time was married to second husband Max Mallowan.
Last month Wallingford Museum staged a special weekend of events focusing on the author.
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