Member Reviews

This is the second of Wilson's mysteries starring Agatha Christie that I've read. It's a fun premise, that the skills that enabled her to write well would also enable her to solve mysteries herself. I enjoyed this one even more than the first I read because it hints at so many of Christie's own plots, which also initially led me astray from identifying who committed the murders in this book. Recommended for those who enjoy literary and historical tie-ins with their mysteries.
Review based on an ARC received through NetGalley.

Was this review helpful?

This is the first book I read by Mr. Wilson and I will certainly read more. It was a well-paced, interesting, closed-room story with compelling (if slightly cliche) characters. The book bogged down a bit with internal dialogue, but it was an otherwise fast-paced and well-written story. I also think that Mr. Wilson is one of the first male authors who can authentically write a female protagonist.

Highly recommend for a quick read.

Was this review helpful?

I Saw Him Die by Andrew Wilson is a wonderful book that places the queen of mystery herself, Agatha Christie, as the main character. The book is a great mystery with just the right amount of charm. I look forward to reading more of Andrew Wilson's books.

Was this review helpful?

Tell me the name Agatha Christie and I am there !!

I Saw Him Die is the 4th in the series (can be read in any order) by Andrew Wilson that stars Agatha Christie.

Andrew Wilson does an exceptional job portraying not only Agatha but the all the other characters.

In I Saw Him Die there is a list of suspects that could have and everyone seems to have a motive to kill the hotel owner former British agent.

I do love a closed room mystery and I Saw Him Die is a perfect example.

Agatha Christie would be proud to read and be a part of I Saw Him Die.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books, Washington Sqaure Press, for allowing me to spend some time with my favourite lady Agatha Christie .

Was this review helpful?

I have been a huge fan of Agatha Christie’s work since high school so the description of this book lured me in quickly. I was interested to see how this book would work with her as the detective.

Agatha is about to marry Max Mallowan and makes a side trip to help her friend Davison, of the British secret service, investigate some threatening letters sent to a fellow agent who lives in the Scottish Highlands. Of course, murder follows quickly and there is a manor house full of suspects which I felt at first was leading us to a Murder on the Orient Express plot line. But alas, keep reading!

Two things detracted from my enjoyment of the book. 1. Agatha is portrayed as sort of woolly headed and unsure of things when we know for certain this is not the case at all. Something in her personality in this book was off. 2. Many scenes were a bit too melodramatic for my taste. This could be my fault as I found myself comparing to Agatha’s writing the whole time. Some of the references seem very wrong for this book as well, you know- the kind of thing you would never have read in one of Agathas books (invisible ink!!!- you’ll see, not saying anymore).

But overall, it was a good whodunit and although I wondered about the murderer, I had no idea about the motive until the end (again, too much drama in the final scene). So overall let’s go with a 3.5. I would read another book in the series as I just realized that there are more. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

"In this classic whodunit filled with red herrings and double-crosses, the Queen of Crime returns in the role of sleuth as she investigates a mysterious death in the Scottish Highlands.

Bestselling novelist and part-time undercover sleuth Agatha Christie is looking forward to a bit of well-deserved rest and relaxation when her longtime friend John Davison pleads with her to help him protect a retired British agent turned hotelier who has been receiving threatening letters.

Together they travel to Dallach Lodge, a beautiful estate on Scotland’s picturesque Isle of Skye. There they insert themselves among the hotel’s illustrious guests, including members of the owner’s family, a leading lady of the theater, a brilliant botanist, a local doctor, and two sisters who coauthor romance novels. After a pleasant first evening, Agatha thinks it unlikely that any of them are capable of evil, much less murder. But early the next morning, the sound of a gunshot rings out and the hotel owner is found dead in the arms of his nephew. At first, it appears to be a simple hunting accident, but as Agatha digs deeper, she discovers that each and every one of the residents has a reason for wanting the late proprietor dead."

It's very timely that this book is coming out while I'm profiling Agatha Christie on my blog!

Was this review helpful?

Fans of Agatha Christie will surely enjoy this novel.  There are two reasons for this; first, it is a book written very much in the style of that beloved author; and, two. Agatha Christie is a character in the novel.


This is part of a series by Andrew Wilson.  The books can be read in any order.  In this title, Agatha is in Scotland where a murder occurs amidst a full party of hotel guests.  Who murdered the host?  The suspects are many:  among them, a botanist, a nephew, an actress, two sisters, the servants and more. 


In addition to telling the mystery story, the author includes some information about Agatha Christie who is planning her marriage to her second husband.  There is also information about her days as a VAD and her work in an apothecary. 


This book will provide an enjoyable respite from reality,  It is a new mystery written in a classic style.


Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review. By the way, I love the cover. It made me want to pick up this title.

Was this review helpful?

Agatha Christie is once again asked to help with a crime, one of the retired British agents is getting death threats and has asked Davison to investigate. Davison reaches out to Mrs. Christie for her help, even with her upcoming marriage to Max Mallowan she agrees to help.

While i don't want to give too much away, this mystery proves that Agatha Christie is just as great a detective as her own characters.

I gave this novel a ⭐⭐⭐⭐ review. The novel started out slower however by the end the mystery was captivating.

I Saw Him Die is to be released July 21, 2020

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a honest review!

Was this review helpful?

"I Saw Him Die" is a mystery set in 1913 in Scotland. This is the fourth book in a series, but it worked as a standalone. The murder was set up in a interesting way, but I had already solved the who and how of the mystery shortly after the nephew shot his uncle in the leg. Granted, it was a "ha, wouldn't it be funny if...", but all the real clues pointed to this being true.

I had great trouble accepting the heroine as the Agatha Christie that wrote clever sleuths who didn't get thrown off track by making assumptions. This Agatha Christie was constantly making assumptions, was easily misled, and wasn't very logical. For example, she carries poisons in her suitcase in case she needs to protect herself. Because, yes, poison is so helpful in self-defense when someone's holding a gun or such on you. She was inexplicably worried that someone would realize she (a mystery writer) was trying to solve the mystery. She was also constantly lying, and no one called her on it even when she contradicted her previous stories. It was very obvious when Agatha's actions were going to lead to someone dying, but she never saw it coming.

The story wasn't very well written, either. People were constantly fleeing the room or storming out or refusing to listen. When Agatha and Davison questioned a suspected murderer until he declared that he would tell them anything they wanted to know, we suddenly jumped to a scene where he's in on the scheme to try to flush out the murderer. It reads like they just stopped questioning him. No explanation was given as to why he's no longer a suspect, and it wasn't because his information (which we later learn he gave to them) was key to solving whodunit. Their traps for the murderer mainly consisted of vague hopes that whodunit would do something wrong.

In the end, rather than just telling the detective what they uncovered, Agatha had a big reveal scene where she gave a very lengthy recounting of every false lead and confusing turn. When revealing whodunit, she gave no evidence for murder, just supposition. Agatha made no effort to avoid being whodunits last target and even distracted the good guys from shooting whodunit when it would have saved another person's life. Also, too much of the murder scheme required everything to happen just so, and the motive wasn't a compelling reason for murder. Basically, I found it very unbelievable. There were no sex scenes. There was some bad language.

Was this review helpful?

In this classic whodunit filled with red herrings and double-crosses, the Queen of Crime returns in the role of sleuth as she investigates a mysterious death in the Scottish Highlands. This another in the Agatha Christie mystery series where she is the actual crime solving center of the story. A step above your average cozy mystery this brings in an interesting locale, complex characters and a mystery that will keep you guessing. Highly recommend! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

Was this review helpful?

This is another win in the absolutely fascinating series Wilson has devised based on the real life of Agatha Christie, the unrivaled queen of mysteries. Taking Christie's life story and how her experiences worked their way into her many stories, Wilson has cleverly developed a scenario in which Christie works tangentially with the secret service. In this new novel, Wilson gives Christie fans a treat by diving into her obsession with nursery rhymes - a motif present in quite a few of her best mysteries. And, as usual in these skillfully imagined stories, readers are given a view into Christie's inner life - her worries, her doubts, and her clever mind - as she works out the mysteries confronting her. In addition, this new story gives us a remote manor house where bodies pile up, another ingenious play with Christie settings.
Anyone who loves Agatha Christie must read this greatly entertaining and immensely clever series! And, actually, the series would be excellent for anyone not familar with Christie because the story, the characters, and the setting are all wonderfully perfect for any mystery fan. Bravo! I can't wait for more!

Was this review helpful?

Agatha Christie returns as a sleuth in Andrew Wilson's charming I SAW HIM DIE. A clever, twisty homage to the world's most famous mystery writer, which sparkles with Wilson's knowledge of and affection for Christie.

Was this review helpful?

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Atria Books/Washington Square Press, in return for an honest review. Agatha Christie fans, rejoice! This is a great addition to those who pay homage to the Queen of Crime. In this book, Mrs. Christie is actually the protagonist, just before her second marriage to Max Mallowan. Set in August 1930, Mrs. Christie is asked to join an old friend, John Davison, in a visit to the Isle of Skye, Scotland, to help prevent a murder. John is in the British Foreign Office and a member of the Secret Intelligence Service. The person being threatened is a former member of the SIS and the owner of Dallach Lodge which is now open for paying guests who enjoy remote luxury vacations. They hope to identify which of his guests sent the threatening letters. Unfortunately, their host is murdered, and everyone is a suspect. Agatha and John struggle to identify the red herrings while the body count continues to rise.
Mr. Wilson has written an excellent mystery that provides a wonderful tribute to Mrs. Christie’s work. He sprinkles it with things from her writing style such as the different poisons she researched for her books, unique ways of poisoning someone, relationships that continually shift, nursery rhymes, and lots of misdirection. I commend him for taking on a most difficult task and doing an superb job of providing an effective ‘whodunnit’.
While the fourth book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone.

Was this review helpful?

I have read everything Agatha Christie has written and she's one of my favorite authors and I love the cozy mystery genre. This book has Agatha as one of the main characters. She's about to marry her second husband Max Mallowan and she has planned to spend the weeks before her wedding in Scotland relaxing with her daughter and a few friends. This all changes when shes asked to go with John Davison, a friend of hers in the Foreign Office to prevent a former agent from being killed after he recieved threatening letters. The two arrive at Dallach Lodge, an isolated manor house turned into a hotel on the Isle of Skye.

The first evening and meeting all the other guests goes without incident. The next morning, not so much. Gunshots are heard and tragedy has struck. The man Agatha and Davison were sent to protect has been murdered, apparently shot by his nephew and heir. As anyone that has read Agatha Christie books knows, it's not always the most likely suspect that ends up being the killer, at the same time, sometimes it really is the most likely suspect. Agatha keeps you guessing and lays red herrings in with the clues. This book admirably pays homage to that strategy with a number of twists and lays a trail of some smelly red herrings before the murderer is finally revealed. Another fun aspect of this book is all the references to plots that the real Agatha Christie used in several books. This book is fourth in a series, I'll have to go back and read them, but this book is also fine as a stand alone.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

This is the fourth book in Andrew Wilson's fictionalized Agathat Christie series. I had not read the previous books in the series and I felt this book worked well as a stand alone (though after enjoying this book I will be reading the first three). Agatha Christie forgoes some much needed R & R before her wedding to help her friend Agent Davison protect a former agent, now running his estate in Scotland as a hotel, who has received death threats. Unfortunately, the man is murdered on their first morning there and naturally, more deaths follow,
This book kept me reading far past my bedtime. I thought the plot was solid with plenty of twists and turns and many references to mysteries written by Agatha Christie. This is a must read for fans of Christie and mystery enthusiasts.

Was this review helpful?

I think these mysteries are so much fun, and so grand. Andrew Wilson is so clever, and the pages fly, making for an entertaining read. The homage to the whodunit, sparkles on every page, and I love the idea of Agatha Christy as a detective. I've been a fan from the start, and totally chat these up-- looking forward to the next one!

Was this review helpful?