This is my 3rd novel by Marie Benedict and I have really enjoyed the previous two. Her books tend to focus on women in history that don't get a lot of love from other authors and gives us a window into what their lives were like. In this book, the story of Agatha Christie unfolds from her days as a young woman about to debut, to falling in love with her husband Archibald Christie to the beginnings of her phenomenal writing career. The book focuses on the 12 days Agatha disappeared and cleverly hypothesizes what could have happened by laying the entire story out just like one of her beloved mystery novels. There were a few bits I thought were a bit dramatic and my feminist sensibilities were grating against her singular focus on her cad of a husband. I did enjoy this book though. Admittedly I did not know much about Agatha Christie other than I like her books and she wrote a whole lot of them. It was fun and the plot twist was smart.

I like the way Marie Benedict balances the truth with the fiction -entirely believable. In December of 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Her prized car is found near a gloomy pond and her fur coat has been left inside the vehicle. For eleven days, Britain undertakes a massive search for the missing mystery author - it is like a plotline from one of her well read books!
The story begins with a unnamed recipient reading a mysterious letter - on a dark and stormy night. The next is a chapter in "The manuscript" which details how Agatha Miller met her future husband - Archibald Christie. The book then alternates between each day of the disappearance, and another chapter in the story of Agatha and Archie. I found myself gritting my teeth at the admonishments of Agatha's mother on how to be a "good wife" - but they were an essential part of the story on how Agatha got to her desperate position later on. You learn a lot about the upbringing, and family situation of Agatha.
Another winner by Marie Benedict - I highly recommend! I received an Advanced Reader Copy from Netgalley.

Marie Benedict's The Mystery of Mrs Christie was a decent read. I am giving it three and a half stars and recommend it for readers who enjoy historical fiction.

A very interesting take on the life of Agatha Christie. I was very intrigued how the author told the story of how Agatha fell in love and the ensuing course of her marriage. Her love for her daughter was endearing. And how she came to start writing was so interesting. Highly recommend

Part historical fiction, part psychological thriller, Marie Benedict’s new novel is an engrossing re-imagining of Agatha Christie’s disappearance in 1926. For 11 days the world wondered and worried about where Christie was. She had disappeared from her home after an argument with her husband Archie. She was discovered at a hotel registered under the name of Archie’s mistress, and claimed amnesia.

This well imagined tale is told in a dual narrative. In the present is Archie’s viewpoint as he comes under suspicion of murder. The other parts are the history of Agatha and Archie’s romance and marriage, told by Agatha.

This is a compelling read and one that will be enjoyed by fans of historical fiction and mysteries (especially Christie fans). A mystery worthy of Agatha Christie herself.

I am an Agatha Christie fan and couldn't wait to read this book. I have read other books by Marie Benedict and know that she is an excellent writer, so I was doubly intrigued. I loved the alternating chapters and couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see what would happen next. Ms. Benedict did a lot of research and it shows in her writing of this story. The book starts with Agatha meeting Archie at a dance in 1912 and goes through their relationship up to 1926, including her disappearance and subsequently when she is found. I found the story to be a plausible explanation of what may have happened during those 11 days, since no one knows for sure. I enjoyed this book immensely.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Agatha Christie, the queen of mysteries herself, disappeared for 11 days 1926 and her disappearance remains one of her most fascinating mysteries that the world hasn’t solved. In this historical novel, Benedict theorizes what may have happened, in an imaginative tale told in two perspectives and timelines: Agatha’s first person account of falling in love with her husband, and the subsequent dissolution of their marriage as he has an affair, and that of her husband himself during the 11 days of her disappearance. While the mystery itself is a fun read, I felt that the characterization fell flat and it lacked the strength needed for a novel with an unreliable narrator. Works as an additional purchase in libraries where YA mysteries are a big hit.

I love Marie Benedict's writing. I was not aware of this moment in Agatha Christie's life, but I have come to learn that there is still a lot of mystery surrounding her short disappearance. I very much enjoyed this telling of the circumstances, and the way that Benedict modeled it after a Christie novel, herself. It is always interesting to hear how women, during these eras, were able to become successes and I did enjoy that her sister was a big part in egging her on. I hope that her confidence came from more than just an unhappy marriage, but it was a compelling story, nonetheless.

Agatha Christie fans are going to enjoy this book. The premise of this book is a fascinating one.
Christie, the renowned mystery writer, disappears for 11 days, which provides the fodder for this story. The author creates a story determining what occurred during that stretch of time..
Benedict must have had fun conjuring up the events surrounding this mystery. She also provides the background of how Christie met her husband and how she kowtows to him as a wife and mother. The subservience to her husband seemed to be a bit too exaggerated and repetitious, as did her relinquishing of her maternal duties.
It's an enjoyable read and makes me want to go back and read her novels.

Fans of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy learning more about how missing persons investigations were conducted long ago. Fans of Agatha Christie will love learning more about her life and how she was able to mysteriously disappear. A good book club selection, many topics to discuss.

I have always loved Agatha Christie and have been intrigued by the time period she went missing. Marie Benedict's latest provides one possible explanation for what happened and it was enjoyable watching it unfold. The novel itself is quite like a Christie novel with twists and turns. The ending was quite interesting and overall I found it a plausible explanation. This was a fairly fast read and I enjoyed it!

If you are a fan of Agatha Christie, this book is one you will definitely want to read. Marie Benedict has captured the essence of Agatha Christie mysteries with this book.
Agatha Christie has disappeared! Colonel Archibald Christie learns that his wife has gone missing, and an investigation into her whereabouts is imminent. When the police and investigators come up empty handed, questions surrounding the colonel’s involvement come into question. Where has Mrs. Christie gone and how much does her husband know?
Agatha Christie proved she was one who could be a successful author while still maintaining a home and caring for her family. She met Archibald Christie and, after seeing each other for some time, married and had a child. Husband Christie wanted a traditional wife and he wanted to keep on with his own life. Agatha Christie discovered she knew how to write mysteries, so well-crafted some were not easily solved. She said, “I am the unreliable narrator of my own life.” Marie Benedict tapped into this and crafted her own mystery, based on the very real disappearance of Mrs. Christie. Readers will never know for sure what really happened to Mrs. Christie, other than she was found and went on to become a prolific author. We now have a very plausible solution to the disappearance, courtesy of Benedict.

An intriguing take on Agatha Christie's missing days. I loved how Marie Benedict took Agatha's own abilities to concoct this wonderful plot twist. For all mystery lovers, especially those who enjoy Dame Agatha, as well as historical fiction readers.

Full disclosure: I've probably read every Agatha Christie bio, historical, para-fiction, and continuation novel there is. Really enjoyed this smart and sly take and the way it brings the icon and her mysterious motives to life. It took a while to get used to the time-shifting dual timelines and voice but was worth getting into the groove for. Delicious.
Happy to feature this title in January’s Read & Recommended roundup column for Zoomer magazine’s Books section. The entire review feature is at the link below.

In 1926, Agatha Christie, then an up-and-coming writer still on the cusp of true fame, disappeared. For eleven days, the police, the media, and the nation engaged in a massive hunt for the missing novelist, only to discover her at last in a spa where she seemed to be struggling with amnesia. Though no one really knows the full truth of what happened, Marie Benedict has constructed one version, a mystery surrounding the mystery writer herself...

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is trying to do something clever, and it comes close to succeeding. That it fails is due to its laborious, often insipid prose, its tendency to heavy-handedly show the work (“look at the historical research I did!”), and an ultimately unsatisfying, flimsy, melodramatic resolution. That ending is predictable, despite the dramatic, flowery metaphors of unreliable narrators and the True Mystery and all that, and despite the relative brevity of the book, which clocks in at under 300 pages, it still manages to be repetitive and drawn out. “Show, don’t tell” is overused and problematic advice, but it could have stood the author in good stead here, as the Christies' years of wartime courtship and failing marriage are described in passages just shy of the banality of “I was good at being a nurse, and it made me proud. Archie was mean, and that made me sad.” This timeline (we go back and forth between the eleven days of 1926, and the 14 years preceding it) is told in Agatha’s voice and is theoretically her own writing; now, Dame Agatha Christie wrote some real clunkers in her time, but the woman who was at this time completing The Murder of Roger Ackroyd wouldn’t have penned this. (By the way, this novel contains MASSIVE spoilers for Roger Ackroyd, The Murder on the Orient Express, and a few others; I guess it’s fair to expect readers of a book about Christie to be Christie fans, but still, watch out.)

One of my biggest pet peeves in historical fiction is fully on display in this one: when characters from a given era, in this case 1926 England, explain details of their lives like they know they’re being read by someone from a later century. “As you know, divorce laws dictate that...” yeah, he knows, why are you explaining it to him? “It wasn’t proper for girls to be alone with gentlemen....” okay thanks, history lesson. Plus, for a book so painfully self-conscious about its historicity, there were a handful of jarring anachronisms (like the misuse of the word “hyped”). I can forgive some slips, but forgiveness is earned, and the book is otherwise just too banal and bland to make up for it.

I'm still giving it two stars, because it managed to hold my attention and interest for all 288 pages, as I flipped through eager to learn what all the cryptic allusions and mysterious revelations really meant. That they didn't end up meaning anything I hadn't worked out for myself was a disappointment, but the suspense is there, if nothing else. But it's no Agatha Christie.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance review copy.

Agatha Christie is renowned across the world for her mystery novels but, after her death, she left one unsolved that have haunted readers and biographers across the decades. This mystery is not a fictional creation, but one of her very own. Agatha disappeared for eleven days, leaving her husband and young daughter in anguish over her whereabouts, and when she reappeared she did so with no explanation. Here, Benedict has constructed a fictional account of what occurred both before and after this trying time for the Christie household.

I adore Christie's writing and have long been intrigued over the mysteries present in her own life. I was initially immersed in this retelling, which conjured both the feel of Christie's writing and the historical period she resided in. It did, however, come to feel like a biographical account of her life and I wished more internal monologue and emotional outpourings had been included.

Agatha's husband, Archie, is provided his own perspective, which allow the reader to become privy to some unsavoury facets about his character. It was quite clear the direction the novel was going to take, through early mentions included in his insights, but I did highly enjoy the calculated conclusion that demonstrated the clever workings of Agatha's brain.

4 stars. While I don’t think I’ve read an Agatha Christie book, after reading The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict, I may. I really enjoyed this book. I loved the format of the book especially. The first part of the book is told in alternating chapters of Mrs. Christie’s manuscript that details her marriage to Archie Christie and chapters describing the investigation into Mrs. Christie’s disappearance. Yes, apparently Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926.

This story is of a marriage, and of a woman walking the line between traditional and innovative views especially of women after WWI. There’s a little bit of her life as an upcoming author but if you’re a fan of Agatha Christie the mystery writer, you may be disappointed with that aspect.

Overall, another solid story of the making of a woman in history by Marie Benedict.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher #sourcebookslandmark for the advanced e-copy of #themysteryofmrschristie .

#book #bookreview #mariebenedict #historicalfiction

I love this idea that Marie Benedict has for the 11 days, that Agatha Christie disappeared for in 1926. Mrs. Christie claimed she had amnesia, when she reappeared as quickly as she had disappeared. Read on everyone! Your in for some fun. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this novel. Agatha Christie is one of my favourite mystery writers. I think she would like this take on her disappearance, written by Marie Benedict.

Agatha Christie disappeared for almost two weeks in 1926. When she came back, she said she had amnesia and couldn’t tell anyone where she had been. So what really happened? Well, Marie Benedict has a theory.
Agatha and her husband Archie met many years before and fell in love and got married against her mother’s wishes. Agatha’s point of view will tell readers about the whirlwind romance she fell into, and how her marriage turned out afterwards. Archie’s point of view shows readers about what he was doing during her disappearance.
Told in dueling timelines and points of view, Benedict will take readers on a sweeping journey over the course of many years, and finally piece together what could’ve happened during those two weeks. This unique blend of historical fiction, mystery, and a touch of thriller will have readers on the edge of their seats to figure out what happens next.

Wow!
I have a book hangover from this one.
On one level, it’s an imagining of the 11 days in December 1926 when Agatha Christie went missing. Ms. Christie never revealed what happened so it’s also a mystery.
Then there is the romance and family life.
And still more ... it has details on how Ms. Christie was inspired to write her books and how she came up with plots.
I already loved Marie Benedict’s writing (The Only Woman In the Room). Now, she’s an automatic buy!
THIS IS MARVELLOUS!!!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review.