The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
Before I begin my review of this book, I must admit a dirty little secret first…I’ve never read an Agatha Christie murder mystery before…I know!! It is all together shocking! But, I can tell you after reading the Mystery of Mrs. Christie I’ve become a huge fan, already ordered several of her novels, and I cannot wait to dive into them after reading about her in this historical fiction take on her mysterious disappearance.
In December 1926, Agatha Christie goes missing. Investigators find her empty car on the edge of a deep, gloomy pond, the only clues some tire tracks nearby and a fur coat left in the car—strange for a frigid night. Her husband and daughter have no knowledge of her whereabouts, and England unleashes an unprecedented manhunt to find the up-and-coming mystery author. Eleven days later, she reappears, just as mysteriously as she disappeared, claiming amnesia and providing no explanations for her time away.
The puzzle of those missing eleven days has persisted. With her trademark exploration into the shadows of history, acclaimed author Marie Benedict brings us into the world of Agatha Christie, imagining why such a brilliant woman would find herself at the center of such a murky story.
What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?
“As I reread if for a final time, it occurred to me that we are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities.”
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie was a wonderful psychological thriller that had me hooked from the beginning as I flew through the pages. Not only was this story gripping, it was very eye opening. I went into the story believing that Mrs. Christie had to of been a woman ahead of her time, strong, smart and independent. Well, I was right about a few things and very wrong about others. Agatha Christie was a woman who was held captive by the time period and very suppressed by her husband, society and own mother at times.
Benedict takes the reader back and forth through a dual timeline that explores the past relationship between the Christies, from how it began, evolved, and fell apart; to the present story timeline in late 1926 and Agatha Christies disappearance.
Not only was there a dual timeline, there were also dual points of view. As the chapters rotate between past and present so do our points of view. In the past and leading up to the present, the reader gets to view things through the eyes of Agatha Christie. In the present the reader gets to see things through Archibald Christie’s warped point of view. This readers is where we must remember that there are “unreliable narrators” crafting their own stories. The dual timelines and points of view are well written and well crafted. I was easily able to get a strong foothold and not become muddled between them.
This story tackles a very popular unsolved mystery in a dynamic fashion. There are many theories out there as to what “happened” to Agatha Christie and why she went missing for 10 days, but no one knows the real truth…well, Mrs. Christie does. For me, I would like to think Marie Benedict hit the nail on the head, and brought Agatha’s true character and what really happened forth!
Overall, this is a story that pulled me in and had me talking out loud to the characters, and then wishing I was in the story so I could give many of them a piece of my mind. You know a story is great when you are right there in the grips of it all. I even kept saying to myself as I read, “Oh Mrs. Christie, you go girl,” as the mystery continued to unfold.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.
