The disappearance of Agatha Christie seems to be a hot topic for several authors recently and this book adds a surprising explanation of Christie's disappearance. The story is told from the perspective of Nan O'Dea who was the mistress of Archie Christie. On the night before Agatha's disappearance Archie asks Agatha for a divorce so he can marry Nan. The author tells the story of Nan as a poor, young Irish girl who falls madly in love with an Irish farm lad who joins the army to fight in the Great War. While it appears the relationship doesn't survive the war, Nan becomes obsessed with the Christie family and determines to steal Archie away from Agatha. The book has lots of twists and turns, some imaginable and some beyond the imagination.
Recommended for mystery fans.

A novel that offers a highly speculative tale about what might have happened during the real life disappearance of Agatha Christie with a fictionalization of the POV of Archie Christie’s mistress.

Framed around the real life 11-day disappearance of mystery writer Agatha Christie in 1925, and told from the point of view of Nan O’Dea, Archie Christie’s mistress and eventual second wife, this intriguing and lyrical book was a joy to read. It spins an alternative version of the facts to reveal a different “why” to the well-documented events and a surprising yet logical motive behind the actions of all the principal players. The story dives into the past, to the rolling hills of Ireland, a handsome boy-next-door and a convent for out-of-wedlock mothers, to the present day where a double homicide has occurred at a fancy hotel at the same time police forces across England are engaged in a manhunt for the missing author. There are two touching love stories threaded through the narrative, as well as insights into the depth of a mother’s love. Bravo to Nina de Gramont’s story-telling as well as her intriguing and satisfying denouement.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

I have read other books about the disappearance of Agatha Christie for a number of days, but this story offers another explanation. It is mostly told from the viewpoint of Nan O'Dea, who was the mistress of Archie Christie. I felt like this story got better as it went along. At first I just though it was a love triangle story, but then the author threw in a mystery and I just wanted to read more to find out what was really going on. A good story with lots of twists and turns!

This book was sent to me by. Netgalley on Kindle for review…I love Agatha Christie books…the best mysteries to be reread…this is a quick read about what might have happened…what probably did not happen…but who knows???? Enjoy this one…

This was a unique take on Agatha Christie's disappearance for 11 days. I really enjoyed this fictional retelling and the author took a great approach. Most of the story is told from the perspective of her husband's mistress, and her emotional journey was very well told. Knowing how high profile of a writer Agatha Christie was AND knowing she was a real person, this was such a different spin making it fictional and a whole knew world. I think readers are really going to enjoy this book!

This novel has all the elements of a good mystery: intriguing characters, including villainous ones; vividly portrayed settings plot twists, more than one central problem, murder and a resolution that is a mixed bag of triumph and regret. Agatha Christie herself would find much to savor here, even though the author has chosen to play fast and loose with the facts surrounding Ms. Christie's family and personal life in the interest of creating a delicious set of circumstances to solve the still-unresolved real-life mystery of why Agatha disappeared for 11 days in 1926. I would highly recommend this novel to fans who enjoy mysteries.

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont is a historical fiction novel where Author Agatha Christie disappears for 11 days.

The storyline is told from point of view of Miss Nan O'Dea, who Agatha Christie ’s husband Archie is in love with.

This was a good book, perhaps a bit slow and dry in spots, but overall, very engaging, and entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley, Author Nina de Gramont, and St. Martin's Press for my advanced copy to read and review
3.5 Stars

#stmartinspres #ninadegramont

This book was amazing. The author writes in such a beautiful manner. I know about Agatha Christie’s disappearance. I know a little of her writing, but I’m not well read in her pieces. This book added such an interesting take on what could have happened those 12 days she was missing. It is a mystery within a mystery. One of the main characters Nan, you like from the beginning or at least I did even though she’s a mistress, but there is so so much more. She’s not the money hungry person I thought she would be.
An Catholic home for unwed mother’s is featured heavily and while this is fictional it is sad and horrible what happened to those poor girls and their babies.
This book was truly surprising and so very good.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

The Christie Affair concerns Agatha Christie and the eleven days of her disappearance in her twenties. It is not the first book on the subject. Ms. Christie went to her grave keeping the subject a secret so it is ripe ground for an author's imagination.

There are two basic storylines that slowly emerge as the book progresses. To this reader, one of them is far more interesting than the other. Archie Christie, Agatha's first husband, is having an affair, eventually leaves his wife and marries his mistress. The interesting story involved the back story of the mistress. While being fascinating, it brought in many of the trials of being a woman in Ireland at the turn of the last century and well into the first decades. It was not a good time for women.

Ms. Christie, I believe, always claimed she couldn't remember what happened to her. So Ms. de Gramont gives us a story that makes that claim plausible though a little far-fetched.

If you are an Agatha Christie fan, who isn't?, you'll find this enjoyable. It's not a great story or great writing but it is full of imaginative possibilities and makes Ms. Christie oh so human!!!

This book has it all and I loved it! Set against the backdrop of Agatha Christie’s missing days in 1926, we see the story unfold through Nan…the real life mistress to Agatha’s first husband. Agatha is missing and everyone is searching for her, but Nan has also vanished and no one even noticed. Meanwhile, at a hotel there is a group of individuals gathering for relaxation and just like a Christie novel, something goes awry. As much as this is a story with mystery and intrigue, it is also one of love. Before Nan entered Agatha’s life, she had a very complex one of her own. Through flashbacks of Nan’s younger years, we experience first love, war, and trauma.

While fans of Agatha Christie will notice and appreciate the use of her mystery components, I think historical fiction fans will also enjoy this book.

(Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy.)

A beautifully written literate novel about the eleven days in 1925 that Agatha Christie went missing. Betrayal, revenge,
heartbreak, mystery and love all come together in this story told from Christie’s
husband mistress. Lots of twists and turns just like a Christie mystery.

THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR by Nina de Gramont is yet another excursion into the 1926 eleven day disappearance of Agatha Christie.

This version is reimagined from the perspective of her husband’s mistress Nan O’Dea, and much like the novels produced by Ms. Christie herself, has all the elements necessary to keep the reader turning the pages. While the narrative does delve into the life of Ms. Christie and her mysterious vanishing it focuses more on the “in depth” dive into the life of the narrator complete with plot twists and turns and even a murder that could have come from the pen of Ms. Christie herself.

Filled with interesting and unusual characters, this engaging and thought provoking fictional narrative is part domestic thriller, part love story, part tragedy, part survival tale and part intricate murder mystery all blended together into a deliciously satisfying confection sure to satisfy the reading palate of Agatha fans.

“ A mystery should end with a killer revealed, and so it has. A quest should end with a treasure restored. And so it has. A tragic love story must end with its lovers dead or parted. But a romance. That should end with lovers reunited”

So the author Nina de Gramont sums up this perfect gem of a novel, which imagines what happened when author Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days in 1926.

Told from the perspective of Nan O’Dea, the mistress of Agatha’s husband, it weaves a fascinating tale of love and loss, of the unbreakable bond of mother and child, and of the unspeakable crimes committed by nuns and priests in homes where young pregnant women were sent to have their babies.

I very much enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I enjoyed this historical fiction account related to the disappearance of Agatha Christie. It was a well thought out story with an imaginative spin on what might have happened. The story is told from the POV of Nan, the mistress of Christie’s husband. As the book progresses, other POVs are also brought in. At times this was confusing but it also made the mystery rather interesting. This is one I imagine Agatha Christie would be happy to be part of, It is a very interesting historical fiction mystery with fascinating characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks for the early copy. I’m having a hard time sorting out my feelings about that novel. Disappointed, maybe. I thought it was an interesting take on Agatha Christie’s notorious disappearance, but I didn’t like it, overall. Because of the mistress, maybe, I’m really not quite sure.

Entertaining, mystery and romantic, the Christie Affair gives a historical fiction look into the disappearance of Agatha Christie as told by her husband’s mistress. Though Nan’s backstory was often a little difficult to keep account of, I did enjoy this book and the mystery. Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m grateful for the review copy.

I found The Christie Affair an enjoyable read but not very engaging overall.
I couldn’t get used to the authors writing style and the mistress was annoying.

This book was all over the place! I appreciated the insight into Agatha Christie but the point of view changes were sometimes dizzying to follow. Well researched and at times heart breaking, the story took many twists and turns. Engaging and compelling.

The Christie Affair, while it has an interesting premise for what happened when Agatha Christie disappeared without a trace, comes off as way too convoluted. The story is told by Nan O'Dea, who is having an affair with Agatha's husband Archie. But it goes back and forth between Christie's disappearance and her own time as a young woman in Ireland. Then it goes further in making a mess by telling the story from multiple points of view, but sometimes as presupposes by Nan. And because the story is (kind of) about Agatha Christie, there has to be a mysterious death or two in the hotel Nan is laying low at while everyone in England is looking for Agatha. The only problem is that the detective on the case, figures out the motive with information that I don't ever remember being disclosed to him or that he would have gone digging for. It provides an aha moment for the reader, but doesn't for within what the characters should know. While any person could know what ends up happening with Christie, de Gramont discloses what happens with Nan at the end multiple times throughout the story, which leaves the ending both uninteresting and unsatisfying. Finally, at least in the ARC that I read for review, there are no historical notes that provide any context for a plot so ridiculous it's hard to believe anything but the flimsiest of details provided the basis for this story.