Marie Benedict once again takes a well-loved historical figure and creates a page-turning novel based on a part of their life. In The Mystery of Mrs. Christie she focuses on the 11-day period in 1926 in which Christie disappeared and emerged at the end with claims of amnesia. While in reality no one knows for sure what happened, Benedict creates a highly plausible story that is a wonderful explanation for the episode.

Thank you again to Sourcebooks Landmarks for giving me chances to review this ARC E-book, The Mystery of Mrs.Christie.

To be honest, the name of Mrs.Christie made me applied to review and I landed on it. I am so grateful how I had able to read this book. My emotions on this book is wildering. I was affected so much on Agatha's story of her mystery. I can't stop reading it because it's about Agatha Christie for God's sake. She's no strange to all readers in this world. Reader who loved her book so pick up this book so that you might have an idea of the mystery surrounding onto her. Even it is might be fiction but I really wanted to believe that this is happening to her. Period.

Swept away by romance and ended with mystery. Classy sassy Agatha. You're truly a QUEEN 💅. I love it ! I should start pick up her books in the future then ☕.

Prior to reading this I knew about the mysterious disappearance, so that was not a surprise. What I really enjoyed, however, was the story set within the story. Kudos to Ms. Benedict for that unique plot.

Who doesn't like Agatha Christie's novels? And as her books, her life was also really intriguing. Especially her misterious disappearance which was widely covered in newspapers and investigated by police. The disappearance and circumstances which Marie Benedict so meticulously described.

Everything began with love between Agatha and Archie, than their marriage and ended with his infidelity.
As Agatha said in the novel: "...I wanted desperately to be a good wife."
Unfortunately Archie wasn't the man she believed him to be. As he said short after Agatha's mother died: "I did tell you once that I hate it when people are ill or unhappy. It spoils everything for me. It spoiled us, Agatha." And even Rosalind, their young daughter, knew what the real relationship between her parents was: "After all, Papa likes me, but he doesn't much like you."

And so Agatha plotted her own disappearance and left Archie the letter with all the steps he needed to follow. Her husband got what he deserved, suspicions from others, anger and publicity. Everything he hated. As she said to him: "You killed the innocent woman I once was - just surely as if you comitted murder.

I've immensely enjoyed the book and Agatha's character; her wit, fantasy and excellence.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: 9/10 stars

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is a historical fiction novel - based on the real life of mystery novelist Agatha Christie - that is currently set to be released on December 29, 2020. This novel was written by best-selling fiction writer Marie Benedict, and is being published by Sourcebooks Landmark. The tagline reads, “Marie Benedict, the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room, uncovers the untold story of Agatha Christie’s mysterious eleven day disappearance.”

PLOT RUNDOWN/BASICS: Agatha Miller is surprised when she’s unexpectedly swept off her feet - literally - by airman Archie Christie on a dance floor in 1912. Breaking all the social conventions, and going against the polite society rules she’s observed her whole life, Agatha is surprised to find herself agreeing to a dance with this charming but uncouth young man. Her intended beau is off at war, and she plans to enjoy her life to the fullest while he’s away, as he himself instructed. After all, it’s just a dance, she thinks - nothing more.

Fourteen years later, the pair are married and have a daughter, Rosalind. They’re living at Styles, an estate charmingly named after Agatha’s first successfully published mystery novel. She’s written many published works since, and is in fact still enjoying the publicity of her most recent one, when something completely unexpected happens: Mrs. Christie disappears.

Her unexpected absence is an alarming fact that’s relayed to Mr. Christie by phone as he sits at a celebratory dinner with a young woman he’s unusually close to, for a married man. He returns home to find a hidden letter addressed to him - one that gives him incredibly strict instructions to follow. Any deviation from the writer’s rules, and he’ll be paying steeper consequences than he can even imagine. And then Agatha’s car is found, abandoned and crashed...and his life begins to spiral out of control.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie ricochets from the past - covering Archie and Agatha’s relationship, from day one until the day she disappears, through her eyes - to the future, where we see Archie’s life unspooling as the days tick by with no signs of Agatha. Why and how did she vanish, and what will happen once she’s found? And as we know from history, she WOULD be found...but have we finally figured out the answer to Christie’s only unsolved mystery?

MY THOUGHTS: This was my first novel by Marie Benedict - I know, I know, but as I’ve said before, historical fiction isn’t typically my go-to-genre. I’ve heard only wonderful things from her many fans, so I was excited to dive into one of her books on a topic much more up my traditional book-reading alley - a mysterious disappearance, not just of anyone, but of the celebrated queen of the twisty-mystery: Agatha Christie herself.

I went into this novel without having read any existing information about Christie’s real-life disappearance, so as not to sway my opinions on the book itself. (Side note: If you needed to know just ONE thing about me to understand my reviews, you should know that I’m an Enneagram 1 - a.k.a., I need things to be done correctly, and when I walk into a room [or read a book], the first thing I’m going to notice is what’s wrong and needs to be fixed.) Writing a fiction book that’s centered around events that truly happened is a tricky thing; it requires an author to strike a careful balance between what actually happened in real life, and what the author’s conjectures are regarding the people’s motives, thoughts, and feelings.

Because of how well Benedict walks this line, I honestly had to give her nine stars for this book. She took all of the basic facts regarding what we actually know happened to Christie before, during, and after her 11-day disappearance, and she examined what we know about Christie herself, and made magic. Benedict weaves within this story an arc of redemption and maturity; Christie begins as a carefree and polite young woman, then falls head over heels in love, arguably - from the first chapter on - with someone she should never have met. Their relationship has its magical moments - oh, don’t they all? - but it’s never truly a fairy tale, and as the years pass by, even following her dear mother’s marital advice to the letter doesn’t keep the pair from drifting apart.

The chapters of this novel flip backwards and forwards in time with each chapter; one part is told through ‘The Manuscript,’ which recounts Agatha and Archie’s relationship (from her perspective) from the day they met until the day of her disappearance. The other chapters take place in the days immediately following her disappearance in 1926, told from Archie’s point of view. The conclusion happens when both histories converge on the same “present” day, eleven days after her disappearance, and we reach the dramatic and revelatory finale.

Benedict delivers a satisfying tale with a heroine who comes into her own. Christie is witty, hard-working, and eager to please...a tricky combination that can lead to a person’s greatest success or utter ruin, when skewed out of balance. This is exactly what her relationship with Archie does to her; it causes her to question her priorities, her loyalties, and even her own dreams and goals. You may (read: I did) want to reach through the book and shake some sense into her at some points, but by the end, you’ll be proud of what she accomplished and how she stood up for herself when she had no one else to do it for her.

As to whether or not Benedict’s own take regarding why Christie disappeared, and what this departure actually accomplished, could be true and comes across as realistic? Well, based on what I’ve read afterward regarding Christie herself, and the facts of the case...consider me convinced.

I loved this book! I devoured Agatha Christie books when I was younger (and still regularly revisit them) so I was pretty excited going into it and it didn't disappoint.

I don’t care if it’s written by her, inspired by her or her most famous characters, with her as the main character in the story (see Andrew Wilson’s series) or it’s just her name on the title. I will read anything Agatha Christie. It’s not for nothing that she’s my favorite writer ever.

The mystery the title of this books refers to is her much talked about disappearance during 11 days in December 1926, which unleashed an unprecedented manhunt to find her. When she reappeared she claimed amnesia, providing no explanations for her time away. As some other books did before, “The mystery of Mrs. Christie” imagines what could have been behind her sudden disappearance, mixing real facts and fiction.

As a die-hard fan of Mrs. Christie I’ve read multiple accounts about this episode in her life, both fact and fiction, but in spite of knowing the “ending” I enjoyed it tremendously.

The chapters about the police investigation into her disappearance alternate with chapters about her life since 1912, when she meets her husband for the first time, till 1926, days prior to going missing. I liked this chapters even better as they offered a glimpse not only into her personal life but also into her writing career (beware if you haven’t read “The murder of Roger Ackroyd” as the villain is revealed here) and how her career affected her marriage in some ways. These chapters left me wanting so much more so maybe now it’s a good time to re-read her autobiography.

Very well written story that using some real facts about Agatha Christie’s life weaves a tale comparable to one of her unsolvable puzzles.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This year is the 100th Anniversary of Agatha Christie's Debut.

Once I read the preview of this upcoming book, I knew I had to read. What an experience!
The beginning hooked me, and I had to keep reading to know this story.
I loved behind the scenes of Agatha's writing her books, working on Poirot,
and says, "I was bursting to write"
people around her inspiring character material.
Background into Christie's books was interesting.

I thank the publisher for granting me an ARC, which leads me to
completely recommending this book.

I have read all the Agatha Christie novels and always enjoyed anything relating to her so this book was always going to interest me. In December 1926, Agatha Christie went missing, causing a real life mystery. Investigators found an empty car on the edge of a pond with tire marks close by and her fur coat left in the car. Her disappearance a mystery and her husband and daughter were clueless to her whereabouts. A manhunt was launched only for Agatha Christie to reappear eleven days later claiming claiming amnesia and offering no explanation for her disappearance.
Author Marie Benedict tells her story of a possible explanation in a very enjoyable read that got better the more I read. 

I would like to thank both Net Galley and Sourcebook Landmarks for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I give this historical fiction mystery novel a 4.5 stars. I really liked this book. Having grown up a huge Agatha Christie fan, it was fun and intriguing to learn about her personal life. I had heard about the mystery around her disappearance, and that she never spoke much about it. I think a really good historical fiction novel makes you want to go research and learn more about the time period or event, and that is true for this book! Agatha meets Archie Christie as a young girl. We could see the warning signs through her family’s eyes, but alas Agatha couldn’t. She makes the mistake of marrying good for nothing Archie and thus begins a marriage of misery. The novel time travels between “modern day” 1926 in the story and ten-12 years earlier as she meets Archie, marries, and has a daughter Rosalind with him. Marie Benedict does a great job with the character of Archie. Lord, I really hated him. I love the person Agatha becomes by the end of the novel. Read this book- you will enjoy this intelligent mystery about a wonderfully compelling woman. Now l’m off to research the real story!

Thank you, Sourcebooks and Netgalley, for approving my request to read this.
I really love a good historical fiction that pulls you into painfully human emotions but this book wasn't able to do that. This is a retelling of the disappearance of author Agatha Christie and although the writing in this book takes me back to Christie's style, I wasn't engaged at any point. I love the method of using dual timelines to give the reader some background and pieces of the puzzle, but everything was predictable.

Everything that happens also remains very descriptive and didn't offer me room to become emotionally invested. The characters were flat in their personality and I missed depth.

Quick read, beautiful writing, AMAZING cover. Execution of plot wasn't what I was looking for.

A fascinating take on the disappearance of Agatha Christie for 10 days in the 1920’s.
Meticulously plotted out just like one of Christie’s books it makes for a great and fun read.

A great and quick read about Agatha' Christie's personal mysterious disappearance. As a fan, I previously heard that she had gone missing but never found out more information about the incident.

I’ve only read a few books by Agatha Christie and I had read about her actual disappearance. This book was clever and well thought out. I really enjoyed it and loved the ending.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting my wish to read this book

This book was received as an ARC from SOURCEBOOKS Landmark in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Being a fan of Agatha Christie not only for her work but the hardships she took to become one of the greatest mystery writers of all time then, reading The Mystery of Mrs. Christie was a breath of fresh air. I love the approach Marie Benedict took is compiling the plot of the story. Starting out as a young woman and getting married to Archibald Christie to uncovering unexpected truth that lead to her death. My jaw was wide open throughout the whole book and at the edge of my seat from beginning to end. When our Adult Book Club is back up and running, I know this will be one of the contenders that will spark interesting conversations.

We will consider adding this title to our Mystery collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I could not put this book down. The author has crafted an account of Agatha Christie's 11 day disapoearance worthy of the grand same herself. Alternating chapters detail the search as well as her life leading up to her disappearance.

I have a confession to make; I have never read any of Christie's books despite loving murder mysteries. However, I have been interested in her disappearance since that episode of Doctor Who. I really enjoyed this take on her disappearance and the intertwining timelines. It was smart to focus only on her husband during her disappearance to keep the mystery going despite knowing that she is still alive during this ordeal. I loved the little twist at the end as well! Now off to read some Agatha Christie!

As a die-hard fan of Agatha Christie, this historical mystery about the author herself going missing and reappearing with amnesia was a total hit for me. Realistic, well-written and absolutely thrilling.

I'm afraid to drop any hints beyond this general picture because I'm afraid of killing it for everyone with spoilers, but let's just say that Agatha's husband WAS KEY to the plot! I can't say anything more. But this story had me totally hooked, and I did not expect any of the twists in the slightest.

Overall, even though I rarely read (and enjoy) historical fiction, this book is certainly an exception as I can't help but give it a 5-star rating. And while I haven't read anything else by Marie Benedict, I actually own a copy of her most famous novel "The Other Einstein" on my Kindle, so I'm excited to get to it soon.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Marie Benedict is one of my favorite writers! Every real person she has written about- her stories have made me want to know more! In this story I was so invested that I’m sure to have a huge book hang over. This will be one of the best books of 2021

I was absolutely engaged by this book. It is well written and retells the story of the disappearance of Agatha Christie that became infamous and forever connected with her name.

I understood her motives for plotting this disappearance after learning that her husband was abandoning her for another woman. Every woman who reads this will understand her rage at both his perfidy and insistence at protecting his mistress, at the risk of Agatha ruining her own reputation.

His lack of respect for her genius and skill led her to her actions. Women’s book groups will LOVE this and certainly spend hours debating the justness of her plan.

Thank you Netgalley for this excellent and exciting book.