If you’re looking for a book about Agatha Christie’s disappearance, this is not the book for you. The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont really has little to do with Agatha. It centers on Mr. Christie’s mistress and her perspective. As such, she bears little responsibility for her actions and is a thoroughly unlikable main character. Had I known this was the book’s slant, I wouldn’t have requested it via NetGalley. I find it annoying when books are deceptively titled/blurbed in such a way as to mislead readers, and this book is a perfect example. Thanks go to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I love a good mystery mixed in with some historical facts!

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont is about a time that I didn't even know had happened. The story is narrated by Nan O'Dea, who was the mistress of Archie Christie, husband of Agatha Christie. I love a good Agatha Christie mystery, so right away I was intrigued to learn more about her life.

When Agatha learned about her husband's mistress, she ended up missing for eleven days, in which everyone assumed she had killed herself.

The story goes back and forth about Nan's childhood and how she ended up where she did, but it intertwines with Agatha's disappearance as an adult. I was "Team Agatha," of course, but I enjoyed how the author wrote the story.

If you enjoy some historical fiction (based loosely on facts), mixed in with a mystery, you will enjoy this book. I gave it four out of five stars.

I was given this book for my honest review.

Was able to complete this one after having it on my e-reader for way too long!

I have always been intrigued by Agatha Christie and her 11 day disappearance. I've read so many books about her and her life and her husband that I didn't really think I needed to read any more -- enter the mistress and her point of view!

Wow, twists, turns and pure craziness.

Pick it up for a great beach read.

I have read both recent books (this and Marie Benedict’s) about Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance. My book club chose to review this book and I led the discussion.. Being an AC fan, I had never heard of her disappearance and found the research fascinating. Our club had a lively discussion on AC’s motives for disappearing and why she never spoke of it. I found de Gramont’s novel rather far-fetched and unbelievable and didn’t care for the mistress all that much, even though this became a book about her. But overall, a good read that allowed for a great discussion.. i asked our members to offer a story at the end of the meeting stating: what would make you disappear, where would you go, how would you get there, and who would you tell.. we got some great answers.

The Christie Affair was an interesting blend of historical fiction, mystery, relationships (I hesitate to say romance) and maybe a bit of revenge. In 1925, Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie. In December of 1926, when Agatha finds this out, she slips away from a party and disappears for eleven days. Where did she go? What does she find out? Why did she leave? Her disappearance sparked a manhunt and when she is found, much is left as a mystery. This is speculation as to what might have happened.

The story is narrated by Nancy Neele, or Miss Nan O'Dea in the book, the mistress of Agatha's husband, Archie. I found that the story focused more on her story, than Agatha's, but it gave context as to what might have happened and what Agatha might have discovered. As we learn of Miss O'Dea's past, as much as I felt for her, I still did not like this devious woman. The descriptive writing gave me quite a picture of that time in 1919. We also meet the police doing the investigation in 1926 and the fact that Agatha Christie had not done anything wrong, so when she is initially discovered, her identity and location are not immediately revealed. Overall, this was an entertaining and descriptive story with a few twists. There were a lot of unlikable characters and imagining on the part of the author.

A reimagining of the events that surround the mysterious disappearance of the famous mystery writer Agatha Christie, which is still a mystery that the author never discussed. Great character development particularly of the mistress Nan--and it's a bit different that the Benedict book, which I also enjoyed reading. Fascinating story about the author's life; it makes me wonder if the "disappearance" wasn't her way of punishing her husband for his dalliance and her own humiliation by the affair.

Such an intriguing book, which is historical fiction and keeps you interested from start to end. It was a mystery and suspense and characters that I found myself fascinated by throughout the book.

The Christie Affair is historical fiction. It is told from the point of Nan O’Dea; she is a fictional character and is based on Archie Christies second wife.
The story is more about Nan than that of Agatha Christie, but it does speak of her life and disappearance, albeit fictional tales. Although there are several timelines, I did find it kept pace. This was an enjoyable murder mystery.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing an advanced reader copy.

Ms. de Gramont has written a clever tale to explain the disappearance of Agatha Christie for 11 days in 1926. After her husband, Archie, asks Agatha for a divorce so he can marry his lover, Nan, Agatha is distraught. That is all we know until Agatha is found 11 days later. This twist on the story is interesting.
Nan and Archie become involved. However, Nan's true love is Finbarr, and she was pregnant by him at age 19. She goes to see Fin but he is sick with influenza, and his father takes her to an Irish convent where she can have her child. The nun takes her baby, Genevieve, for adoption against Nan's will.
Agatha wants to stop the divorce, and runs off. She meets up with Insp. Chilton in a manor house when he comes to investigate her disappearance. Nan is at the same location. Two deaths occur at the hotel in the town, and people believe the wife died of a broken heart after her husband died.
Seems the story of all the characters is intertwined. This is a neat little mystery with an interesting theory of what actually happened to Agatha Christie. Enjoyable.

Delightful twist on the well known Christie mystery; well-developed. I'd love to see a screen adaption of this work.

I enjoyed the audio book as it was very well done. I would liked to hear more of Nan’s story but overall it had good plot development interesting characters that were multi dimensional. The timeline shifts kept the story moving forward but gave the background necessary to understand the characters motivation and history.

I feel like this could have been a better novel if not hinged on Agatha Christie's name. I guess I built it up too much in my head, but I struggled to finish this as it wasn't at all what I thought it would be.

THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR by Nina De Gramont started quite interesting. I quickly disliked Nan—the other woman set on breaking up the Christies’ marriage. However, as a mother, I could not help but empathize with her plight regarding her past—which is heartbreaking.

Where the narrative skewed for me was in the repetition and the ongoing scenes specific to Agatha’s disappearance—the reader learns the truth early on, so everything that follows feels too drawn out and anti-climatic, resulting in a DNF for me at 82%.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with an ebook of THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR at the request of an honest review.

While I was reading this book, I really enjoyed the beginning. I feel like the author had a really good concept that could have been executed a lot different. I lost interest while reading about 30% into the book and had to pick up the audiobook when it was released. Unfortunately, listening to the audiobook did not keep my attention and I felt like the characters fell really flat. It really confused me with the plot line and I felt like it really didn't make a whole lot of sense.

This was a nice break from some other reading I've done recently. I don't know who exactly I could recommend this book to. I don't like an unresolved ending, and this left too many holes for me.

An interesting premise but ultimately very meh for me. Everything felt a little far fetched, unbelievable and nicely tied up. Not a difficult read and perhaps one that would be great at an airport for a pleasant read on the plane but just not really for me. I don't think I really cared about Nan, the mistress, and would have preferred to hear Agatha's story more. No matter the back story, Nan just wasn't that much of a sympathetic character for me.

Absolutely loved this well-researched take on Agatha Chrstie's life and enigmatic missing period. This was an unexpected take and I loved the way the author imagined things and portrayed the time period and gave a lot of facts about the author's life.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

I have to be totally honest; I knew absolutely nothing about Agatha Christie prior to reading this book. I take that back; I knew she was a well-renowned author, but that was about it. Her disappearance was news to me. I think it would have definitely helped to have had knowledge of this event and what occurred going in. I found myself searching the internet for articles and information on it as well as Christie's life so that I could follow the story along better.

I liked the mix of historical fiction with mystery. I'm always a fan of reading books during this time period, and the story of the disappearing of Christie is incredibly interesting. Of course, the cover is gorgeous.

I will definitely read more from de Gramont in the future!!

VERDICT: 4 STARS

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book is outside of my usual reading comfort zone - I am not much for historical fiction. But throw in murder, mystery, and Agatha Christie, and I'm totally in. This was an interesting imagining of what might have occurred in the 11 days that Agatha Christie went missing, and I really enjoyed it. I would likely read other titles from this author. If you are an Agatha Christie fan, this is a must-read.

I have read, I think, all of the books dealing with Agatha Christie's disappearance, studied all the theories, and even watched movies about it. I must admit, this is one of the strangest ideas yet. However, it is fascinating and told from a completely different point of view--that of Archie Christie's mistress. The book goes back and forth between the two women (Nan and Agatha) and back and forth through time, which sometimes can get a little confusing, but if the reader sticks with it, he/she will be rewarded with a novel theory of those missing days. Hopefully at some time, like the mystery of Anastasia and Amelia Earhart, someone will crack the mystery of the missing days of Agatha Christie...