The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance for 11 days in December of 1926 rivals the best of her books. The world may never know what really occurred, but it is fascinating to imagine what did. This historical novel weaves the story of Mrs. Christie's disappearance from the point of view of her husband with the story of their life together. We follow Agatha's journey from a romantic encounter at a dance with the dashingly handsome military man to her life as a wife, mother, and successful author. The disappearance occurred as the marriage was coming apart. Did Agatha create her own real life mystery? This is a must read for all Christie fans!

An abandoned car brings the police to Styles, the famous residence of Agatha and Archibald Christie. The famous writer has gone missing after a fierce quarrel between the couple during breakfast. Archie does not seem concerned at all and he is astonishingly reluctant to cooperate with the investigators. For the detectives, his behaviour is highly suspicious and even more so when they uncover an affair he has had for quite some time and because of which he asked his wife for a divorce. Yet, all this information is not really helpful in determining the whereabouts of the grand dame of crime. This is one way the story can be told, but maybe there is also a completely different version.

“Then the phone rang, shattering my lonely vigil. When I picked it up, I nearly cried in relief to hear a familiar voice. But then the voice spoke. And in that moment, I knew that everything had changed.”

Agatha Christie’s disappearance in December 1926 is, due to broad media coverage, a well known fact. However, the mystery has never been really solved and the crime writer herself did not comment on what actually happened during the ten days of her absence. Marie Benedict, by whom I already totally adored the portrait of Hedy Lamarr in “The Only Woman in the Room”, fills this gap with a very clever story which especially enthused my due to the tone which perfectly copies the crime writer’s style.

The narration tells the events of two points in time alternatingly. The first recounts how Agatha and Archie met, their first years during WW1 and their quick marriage which is immediately followed by darker years stemming from Archie’s depressive and dark moods. The second point of time follows the events after her disappearance. The first is shown from Agatha’s point of view, the later gives more insight in Archie’s state of mind thus revealing a lot to the reader but at the same time, omitting very relevant pieces of information which keeps suspense at a high level.

Even though it is a mystery, it is also the story of a woman who wants her marriage to succeed, who is willing to put herself and her daughter second after her husband’s needs and who fights even though there is nothing to win anymore. However, she does not breakdown but emerges stronger and wiser since she used her cleverness and capacity of plotting to free herself of her marital chains

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 ☕.

I just finished reading The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict. Reading her books is delightful I have discovered since she does a great job bringing famous individuals back to life. In this case it was Agatha Christie. During the famous British mystery author's life she does disappear for about two weeks and Marie Benedict spins this into a mystery of itself.
Another reason I enjoyed the book was because it occurred almost 100 years ago and it was interesting to learn about the roaring twenties. I also enjoyed the snippets of information of how Mrs. Christie developed some of her mystery novels as well as characters.
Finally I enjoyed learning about the life of Agatha Christie. In so many ways women today can relate to the life struggles and disappointments Agatha Christie had to overcome.

I am a huge fan of everything related to Agatha Christie, she is one of my favorite authors ever, so when I saw this title I could not restrain myself to apply for it. It did not disappoint. Very clever plot and the characters feel so real. One of my best reads this year.

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.

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

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.

I have been binge-watching Agatha Christie mysteries so I was very intrigued by this book. I knew very little about the famous author going into this novel and I found the whole business of her disappearance and the relationship with her husband quite interesting and heartbreaking. I enjoyed the format of this novel which alternates between Agatha's viewpoint in the past to her husband in the present dealing with her disappearance. I will be seeking out Marie Benedict's other novels to read. I really enjoy her writing and I know many of my library patrons will as well!