book review the mystery of mrs christie

clock This article was published more than  3 years ago

Where did Agatha Christie go when she disappeared in 1926? Here’s one theory.

When Agatha Christie went missing in 1926, fans could not help but draw comparisons between her disappearance and her sensational mystery novels. Theories abounded about how and why this celebrated author vanished, with kidnapping, suicide, murder and memory loss among the most popular. Her disappearance without a clue, save for the discovery of her abandoned car, stymied the police and thousands of civilians who combed the British countryside in search of her. Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle brought in an occultist to help, and if Hercule Poirot, Christie’s most famous creation, were a real person, he too would have joined the hunt.

Although Christie was only missing 11 days (she was discovered at a Yorkshire spa), and nearly 100 years have passed without a credible explanation, a cottage industry of conjecture continues to grow. Books have been written and movies have been made including, most recently, the 2018 film, “ Agatha and the Truth of Murder ,” which speculates she spent those missing days solving a real homicide.

Agatha Christie’s life rivaled the immortal mysteries she created

One would think nothing more could be ascertained or imagined about Christie’s disappearance, yet novelist Marie Benedict has just published the intriguing “ The Mystery of Mrs. Christie ,” a fact-based, fiction-laced novel. It’s an empowering and wonderful tribute to the woman who has sold more than 2 billion books and whose stars, including Poirot and Miss Marple, are still and may always be at the forefront of the mystery genre.

Benedict tells Christie’s story through parallel constructs. In alternating chapters, she serves up “The Manuscript,” Christie’s painful first-person account of her marriage to Col. Archibald (Archie) Christie and the suffocating social norms of the day. Agatha spends her young life learning from her mother how to be subservient to men and to please them at all costs.

Her marriage to the charming Archie craters after a few years as he begins to show his true self: narcissistic, cruel, misogynistic and emotionally abusive. His gaslighting of Agatha, as well as her mother’s constant reminders that Agatha should make him the center of her universe, turns her into a simpering, pathetic woman. In Benedict’s imagination, Agatha wonders, “What had I done wrong this time?” whenever the manipulative Archie says something like, “Do you think I like being here with you? Listening to you drone on about culture, music, silly book ideas, your mother, and your . . . your desperation?” It strains credulity to accept she was reduced to this state, and some readers may strongly object to this portrayal.

Agatha Christie’s own words deepen mystery of the Queen of Crime

In the novel’s second and more intriguing thread, Benedict, in cinematic fashion, takes us inside one of the biggest hunts for a missing person in British history. It’s told, day by day, through the loathsome Archie, and in these chapters, Benedict alludes to secrets Archie is hiding from the police, including his engagement to another woman. Archie’s and Agatha’s stories intertwine as the novel winds down, and all the while, the power in their relationship, most satisfyingly, shifts to Agatha.

“The Mystery of Mrs. Christie” reads like a modern domestic thriller in the vein of “Gone Girl” and “The Girl on the Train.” It’s also a nod to classic whodunits that channels Christie’s talent for writing unsolvable mysteries packed with puzzles, red herrings and, most especially, unreliable narrators. Until the closing chapters, Benedict forces us to ask who is more credible: Agatha or Archie?

Benedict has written compelling biographical fiction about other famous women to great effect. “ Lady Clementine ” is the story of the ambitious and influential wife of Winston Churchill. “ The Only Woman in the Room ” is an account of film actress Hedy Lamarr, who few people knew was also a brilliant scientist.

“The Mystery of Mrs. Christie” is a stunning story of yet another woman who seems to have it all, but who, like many, must fight to hold on to what she refers to as her “authentic self.” The ending is ingenious, and it’s possible that Benedict has brought to life the most plausible explanation for why Christie disappeared for 11 days in 1926. We’ll never know.

Carol Memmott  is a writer in Austin.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

By Marie Benedict

Sourcebooks. 272 pp. $26.99

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Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE

by Marie Benedict ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 29, 2020

A compelling portrait of a marriage gone desperately sour.

In December 1926, mystery writer Agatha Christie really did disappear for 11 days. Was it a hoax? Or did her husband resort to foul play?

When Agatha meets Archie on a dance floor in 1912, the obscure yet handsome pilot quickly sweeps her off her feet with his daring. Archie seems smitten with her. Defying her family’s expectations, Agatha consents to marry Archie rather than her intended, the reliable yet boring Reggie Lucy. Although the war keeps them apart, straining their early marriage, Agatha finds meaningful work as a nurse and dispensary assistant, jobs that teach her a lot about poisons, knowledge that helps shape her early short stories and novels. While Agatha’s career flourishes after the war, Archie suffers setback after setback. Determined to keep her man happy, Agatha finds herself cooking elaborate meals, squelching her natural affections for their daughter (after all, Archie must always feel like the most important person in her life), and downplaying her own troubles, including her grief over her mother's death. Nonetheless, Archie grows increasingly morose. In fact, he is away from home the day Agatha disappears. By the time Detective Chief Constable Kenward arrives, Agatha has already been missing for a day. After discovering—and burning—a mysterious letter from Agatha, Archie is less than eager to help the police. His reluctance and arrogance work against him, and soon the police, the newspapers, the Christies’ staff, and even his daughter’s classmates suspect him of harming his wife. Benedict concocts a worthy mystery of her own, as chapters alternate between Archie’s negotiation of the investigation and Agatha’s recounting of their relationship. She keeps the reader guessing: Which narrator is reliable? Who is the real villain?

Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-4926-8272-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020

LITERARY FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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More by Marie Benedict

BOOK REVIEW

by Marie Benedict

by Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.

A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.

When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.

Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024

ISBN: 9781250178633

Page Count: 480

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023

FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP | GENERAL FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION

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by Kristin Hannah

More About This Book

PERSPECTIVES

BOOK TO SCREEN

by Percival Everett ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2024

One of the noblest characters in American literature gets a novel worthy of him.

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as told from the perspective of a more resourceful and contemplative Jim than the one you remember.

This isn’t the first novel to reimagine Twain’s 1885 masterpiece, but the audacious and prolific Everett dives into the very heart of Twain’s epochal odyssey, shifting the central viewpoint from that of the unschooled, often credulous, but basically good-hearted Huck to the more enigmatic and heroic Jim, the Black slave with whom the boy escapes via raft on the Mississippi River. As in the original, the threat of Jim’s being sold “down the river” and separated from his wife and daughter compels him to run away while figuring out what to do next. He's soon joined by Huck, who has faked his own death to get away from an abusive father, ramping up Jim’s panic. “Huck was supposedly murdered and I’d just run away,” Jim thinks. “Who did I think they would suspect of the heinous crime?” That Jim can, as he puts it, “[do] the math” on his predicament suggests how different Everett’s version is from Twain’s. First and foremost, there's the matter of the Black dialect Twain used to depict the speech of Jim and other Black characters—which, for many contemporary readers, hinders their enjoyment of his novel. In Everett’s telling, the dialect is a put-on, a manner of concealment, and a tactic for survival. “White folks expect us to sound a certain way and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them,” Jim explains. He also discloses that, in violation of custom and law, he learned to read the books in Judge Thatcher’s library, including Voltaire and John Locke, both of whom, in dreams and delirium, Jim finds himself debating about human rights and his own humanity. With and without Huck, Jim undergoes dangerous tribulations and hairbreadth escapes in an antebellum wilderness that’s much grimmer and bloodier than Twain’s. There’s also a revelation toward the end that, however stunning to devoted readers of the original, makes perfect sense.

Pub Date: March 19, 2024

ISBN: 9780385550369

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024

LITERARY FICTION | HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL FICTION

More by Percival Everett

by Percival Everett

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Agatha, decoded, in “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie”

The bestselling mystery writer of all time had secrets of her own. A new historical novel imagines what happened during her 11-day disappearance.

• By Stefanie Milligan Correspondent

December 22, 2020

It’s quite remarkable that the third-bestselling author of all time – outdone only by Shakespeare and the Bible – wrote mystery novels and had no formal education. What’s even more incredible is that the “Queen of Crime” – Dame Agatha Christie (“And Then There Were None,” “Murder on the Orient Express”) – became the center of a fascinating missing person’s case herself on Dec. 3, 1926, when she kissed her 7-year-old daughter, Rosalind, goodnight, then vanished for 11 days. The police found her car parked near the gloomy Silent Pool, igniting an extensive hunt, and Agatha’s unfaithful husband, Colonel Archibald Christie, was suspected of murdering her. It was a case fit for Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple. 

Cue, instead, lawyer and bestselling novelist Marie Benedict (“The Only Woman in the Room,” “The Other Einstein,” “Carnegie's Maid,” “Lady Clementine”). Her brilliantly inspired historical fiction, “The Mystery of Mrs. Christie,” boldly speculates on what could have happened during those unexplained days. Several other books and movies have tried fictionalizing this stretch of time, with mixed results, for example the 1979 film “Agatha” with Vanessa Redgrave and Dustin Hoffman. But Benedict’s imagining stands out from the pack, cleverly positing that Agatha’s private tragedy was the genesis of the legendary author’s success. 

The novel opens moodily with a letter written by Agatha and left for Archie before her disappearance. “Freeing myself of the shackles of your judgment and your malfeasance will be a delightful result of your duplicity, a result you never intended,” she writes.

From there, a rich dual storyline unfolds. Alternating chapters portray both spouses’ perspectives; those titled “The Manuscript” illuminate Agatha’s voice and ebullient personality. Her story begins on the day she meets the debonair and mysterious Colonel, when she observes that she “could not have written a more perfect man.”

On the other hand, chapters titled “After the Disappearance” focus on an anxious Archie as he navigates the missing persons investigation in which he is the prime suspect: “Overnight, he is transformed from handsome war hero in an idyllic marriage to suspicious catalyst for his wife’s flight.”

The rhythms of their courtship ebb and flow through WWI, during which Archie was a pilot and Agatha was a war nurse. (In real life, she gleaned knowledge of poisons from the hospital dispensary that eventually enhanced the plots of her novels.) Agatha’s burgeoning career as a writer often took a back seat to societal norms and her mother’s bidding, which demanded that she always put her husband first, regardless of her own needs. 

Benedict shines as a suspense writer, paying excellent homage to Agatha’s novels with twisting motives and deftly described actions. Her vivid characterizations and sweeping prose transport the reader right back to the 1900s. News reports and event timelines from the era fit effortlessly into Agatha’s observations of the happiness and pain that fill her world.

The ending is a picture-perfect conclusion to the mystery of Agatha’s disappearance which reveals her uniquely intelligent soul. The real-life Agatha famously preferred privacy, never gave interviews, and dodged press inquiries. (Even her autobiography, published almost two years after her death, made no mention of the missing 11 days.) Yet Benedict convincingly zeroes in on that time, and even manages to create a healing message from it: One should be true to one’s self, cherish integrity, and always be ready for new adventures. 

After the Christies divorced in 1928, it’s comforting to know Agatha went on to marry Sir Max Mallowan, an archaeologist, to whom she was wedded for 46 years. She loved accompanying him to exotic locations that sometimes became backgrounds in her books. Mallowan wrote in his memoirs, “Few men know what it is to live in harmony beside an imaginative, creative mind which inspires life with zest.”

In Agatha’s 1940 novel “Sad Cypress,” Hercule Poirot may have best summed up the silver lining of his creator’s life with the line, “When one has walked in the valley of the shadow of death, and come out of it into the sunshine – then, mon cher, it is a new life that begins.” Touché, Poirot! 

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Submitting a book for review, write the editor, you are here:, the mystery of mrs. christie.

Best known for her powerful stories of history’s forgotten and ignored women, bestselling author Marie Benedict takes on her most famous protagonist yet in THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE.

Although she died in 1976, mystery writer Agatha Christie remains one of the genre’s greatest authors, beloved worldwide for her Hercule Poirot books. But few readers today know that Christie was once the subject of her own mystery: an 11-day disappearance in the middle of December 1926. Grieving the sudden and heartbreaking loss of her mother and reeling from her husband’s equally shocking request for a divorce, Christie packed an overnight bag and left home for a weekend away. But come morning, all that was found of the rising author was her crashed car with her license and clothing inside. Given Christie’s burgeoning career as a mystery writer, her disappearance had all the marks of a publicity stunt, but her recent tragedies forced the public to wonder if something else had happened to her, such as a mental breakdown or foul play on the part of her husband or his mistress.

In THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE, Benedict turns her keen eye upon a young Agatha Christie, employing both research into Christie’s life and her own prowess as an author to explore what might have happened during those 11 days. Alternating chapters between “The Manuscript,” a breakdown of Christie's love affair with the enigmatic Archie Christie, and “present-day” chapters focused on the unprecedented manhunt for the missing writer, she pens a mystery every bit as compelling as a new Agatha Christie novel.

"...an unputdownable mystery with a strong backbone in fact and just enough flair of fiction to let Benedict’s creativity fly.... Endlessly compelling, perfectly suspenseful and beautifully imagined, THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE is one of Benedict’s best novels yet."

Beginning in 1912, Benedict chronicles the courtship of Agatha and Archie, a love affair burdened by socioeconomic politics, war and patriarchal rules and notions about a woman’s place --- both in the world and in her own home. The Agatha we meet is wry, funny and ambitious, a lover of the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a quick study of both the written word and medicine, a skill she puts to use as a wartime nurse. Though Archie falls for her quick wit and spontaneity and encourages her to eschew her safe betrothal to a family friend, his time as a pilot in the war slowly changes him, first by afflicting him with terrible, mood-changing migraines and later by chaining him to a desk, causing him to feel like a failure.

By 1926, when we meet Archie again, he and Agatha are practically estranged and prone to arguing during meals, the only time they truly spend together anymore. Though they both love their young daughter, Rosalind, Agatha has spent so much time putting Archie and his needs first that she has inadvertently placed her daughter second --- allowing Archie to take the lead as Rosalind’s preferred parent. Combined with the necessary time and focus demanded by her writing career, Agatha’s distance from Rosalind makes her seem cold and indifferent, when in fact she longs to recreate the strong bond she had with her own mother. So when Archie announces that he is leaving her for another woman, Agatha knows that it is her name, and her reputation, that will be drawn through the mud...and she won’t back down so easily.

As the manhunt for Agatha forges on, Benedict focuses on Archie: a lover of order and stability who loathes dramatic displays of emotion or whimsy. With each clue that the local police force uncovers, Archie looks more and more like the villain from one of his wife’s novels. But as alternating chapters chronicle the development of Agatha’s skills as a mystery writer and her deepest desire to write an unsolvable mystery, the haze deepens and facts weave into fiction, turning the book into its own tale of suspense that asks readers to consider who is really telling the story --- and if they can be trusted.

THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE is an unputdownable mystery with a strong backbone in fact and just enough flair of fiction to let Benedict’s creativity fly. Dual storylines (and timelines) are a difficult feat for any author, but she reminds us how perfectly two plots can complement one another when one is used to propel the other forward, and when one voice acts as the foil to another. By writing alternating chapters from Archie’s perspective (a stylistic choice that I was not prepared for), Benedict gives us a full, unabashed view of Agatha --- and the small but cunning ways she wields power. Though I’ll admit that I found the male voice jarring at first, Benedict soon put me in my place as she manipulated Archie in perfectly controlled and skillful ways. The use of unreliable narrators and the constant reminder of the importance of storytelling turn this novel into an almost meta experience, and a true testament to the power of voice and perspective.

Agatha Christie is an interesting choice for Benedict, as she is already famous in her own right. But I love that she focused on a truly mysterious portion of her life --- one that Christie herself refused to ever explain, even in her memoir. A mystery writer living in a mystery is a compelling premise indeed, and though we may never know the truth about Christie’s disappearance, there is no author I’d rather see unpack this particular moment in history than Marie Benedict. As always, she writes with a sharp but tender understanding of what it means to be a woman out of place in her own time, but readers are gifted with the pleasure of watching her explore the call of the pen, and how it feels to grow and develop as a writer --- even when the world is hesitant to give you a chance.

Endlessly compelling, perfectly suspenseful and beautifully imagined, THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE is one of Benedict’s best novels yet.

Reviewed by Rebecca Munro on January 8, 2021

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

• Publication Date: October 5, 2021
• Genres: Fiction , Historical Fiction , Historical Mystery , Mystery
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
• ISBN-10: 1728234301
• ISBN-13: 9781728234304

• Recent Reviews

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

“A rare talent and an elusive one.”

In December of 1926, Agatha Christie, well on her way to becoming the world’s bestselling novelist, disappeared for 11 days, an episode so thick with oddity and misdirection, it seems nearly a tale spun by the author herself. A sensation in England at the time (yet left unmentioned by Christie in her autobiography), the incident has long prompted speculation, particularly given its bizarre dénouement: Christie turned up safe and sound at a luxury hotel registered under the name of her husband’s lover. Was it a publicity stunt, an attempt at shaming her straying husband, an authentic emotional breakdown, or something else entirely? Marie Benedict’s neatly arranged, earnestly imagined The Mystery of Mrs. Christie offers an interpretation Dame Agatha might have endorsed, a page-turning hybrid of historical fiction and literary thriller.  

Through brief, alternating chapters, we get a first-person account of Christie’s life from the evening in 1912 when her eventual husband, war-pilot Archie, falls hard for her at a dance, all the way through to the inscrutable 11 days. Christie fans will know the particulars well: the hasty marriage, the literary rivalry with an older sister, her work as a nurse during WWI (where, helpfully for a budding mystery writer, she became familiar with the operations of various poisons), and an interest in detective novels that led her to attempt one herself.

When she finally landed a book contract in 1920 and began churning out the novels that would bring her worldwide fame, her marriage was in decline. By late-1926, despite Christie’s arduous—perhaps too arduous—efforts to bolster her husband’s fragile ego, Archie was demanding a divorce so that he might marry another woman.

The intervening sequence of chapters, told essentially from Archie’s vantage point, walks the reader through the days after Christie went missing. Agatha, in a quasi-clue dropped at story’s outset, has left a letter for Archie he finds confounding; that it exists also lets the reader know Agatha has arranged her own disappearance, though to what end is impossible to say. Archie finds himself in something of a mousetrap, constrained by the “instructions” Agatha has left him. He resorts to dissembling throughout the ensuing investigation, an ongoing scramble that makes him appear guiltier by the day and compounds his own sense that Agatha has arranged matters as punishment for his straying.

The chapters that center on Archie and the unfolding investigation are surprisingly devoid of traditional suspense; it’s clear that Agatha has constructed a game, and so we know that the “clues” found by the investigators, such as they are, are mostly inconsequential.

The deeper mystery, and the one Bennett has her eye on, resides with Agatha’s motivations. We see Archie’s career stall and Agatha’s ascend, and we watch Agatha gamely and then pathetically sacrifice elements of herself—including her relationship with her daughter—to appease Archie. When Archie falls out of love with her, the narrative Agatha shapes takes on the shadings of a quiet, domestic thriller. Her own heart and the puzzle-making leanings of her craft take center stage. “I was an unreliable narrator of my own life,” she tells us, “with only the vaguest sense of myself.”  

Christie emerges as a deeply conflicted personality in Bennett’s rendering. Even after countless humiliations at Archie’s hands—and even while weaving a web for him—she remains apparently preoccupied with not distressing him, with soothing his self-image. It’s a difficult balancing act for Bennett: depicting actual events, foremost Agatha’s disappearance, while imagining the entire context as a sort of living work of fiction arranged by Christie herself. It gives Agatha a strained dual aspect: aggrieved yet doting wife paired with shrewd, even conniving, manipulator.

We are to believe that much of what Christie revealed of herself publicly was but another well-constructed fiction, a collection of clues and details compellingly ordered. “(W)e are all unreliable narrators of our own lives, crafting stories about ourselves that omit unsavory truths and highlight our invented identities.” Fair enough, and almost certainly true. What is harder to see, though, through the prism of Christie’s machinations in The Mystery of Mrs. Christie , is the source of the novelist’s literary gift. If her bizarre disappearance is intended in some measure as offering impetus or explanation for her tremendous appeal as a writer, we grasp for the connection and are dismayed to find little beyond clever scheming. “I am gifted in the complex plotting of mysteries,” Agatha informs us at one point. A rare talent and an elusive one.

Ben Guterson is a 2019 Agatha and Edgar Awards nominee.

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Review: The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

Editorial note: I received a copy of this novel in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict is an engaging historical fiction novel about Agatha Christie’s mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926.

I’m a huge historical fiction fan. Some of my favorite ones are based on real people. I usually spend plenty of time Googling them after I finish the book!

When I read the premise for The Mystery of Mrs. Christie , I knew instantly it was a must-read. I had no idea that beloved writer Agatha Christie disappeared for 11 days back in 1926. And it was never confirmed what exactly happened—the mystery writer kept her greatest mystery close to her chest. So this is where historical fiction comes in. Marie Benedict takes a fictional look at what happened during those 11 days. And it’s an entertaining ride!

The synopsis

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 World War I veteran husband and her 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 historical fiction exploration into the shadows of the past, 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 murky historical mysteries. 

What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators? 

Agatha Christie novels have withstood the test of time, due in no small part to Christie’s masterful storytelling and clever mind that may never be matched, but Agatha Christie’s untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.

The story is told in dual timelines—one follows Agatha’s husband, Archie, on the day it’s found out she has disappeared. The other timeline starts when Agatha and Archie first meet and documents their rocky relationship. Eventually, the two timelines will come together.

Let’s first talk about Archie’s storyline. It’s not a spoiler to say that Archie is the worst. He shows no interest in Agatha and is annoyed that his weekend away with his mistress is interrupted. It’s clear the police believe he’s the number one suspect. But what they don’t know is that Agatha left behind a letter to Archie advising him on what he must do and act. So we quickly learn that Agatha’s disappearance is all of her own doing but she has a very valid reason.

Archie is selfish, mean and just all around a big jerk. So it was interesting being in his perspective for half the novel—it reminded me a bit of Nick in Gone Girl .

Agatha’s storyline starts off with so much hope as she falls for Archie. She was even engaged to another man but gave him up for Archie. But it becomes clear that Archie isn’t who she expects him to be and he’s emotionally abusive to her. He wants all the attention, even after the birth of their daughter, but nothing is ever good enough for him.

But where Agatha does find her biggest joy is her writing. And I enjoyed reading about her process to craft together her famous novels. But unfortunately, her toxic relationship does get in the way of her happiness—until she decides to take back her own narrative.

I really enjoyed The Mystery of Mrs. Christie . It’s part mystery, a portrait of a failed marriage and a look at a famous historical figure. There’s so much to discuss for book clubs with this one. Check out my book club questions here .

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Gail Pebworth

Sunday 18th of April 2021

Interesting book!

Very intersting book

Very interesting book. I am eager for the QUESTIONS you have.

Very interesting book--I am eager for the QUESTIONS you have.

I could not find the QUESTIONS for Book Club discussion of The Mystery of Mrs. Christie. Could you send these to me?

Heather Caliendo

Hi Gail! Here you go: https://bookclubchat.com/books/book-club-questions-for-the-mystery-of-mrs-christie-by-marie-benedict/

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The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

Marie Benedict Sourcebooks Landmark ( Dec 29, 2020 ) Hardcover $26.99 ( 288pp ) 978-1-4926-8272-1

With a blend of truth and fiction, Marie Benedict’s novel The Mystery of Mrs. Christie tackles the revered mystery writer’s most unsolvable mystery.

In early December of 1926, a massive search was underway for Agatha Christie. Her car was found abandoned near the ruin of a chalk pit, at the edge of a dark, deep pond that was thought to be haunted. Though the weather was cold, her fur coat was found in the car. Foul play was suspected, though there were no signs of a struggle, no clues as to her whereabouts, and, aside from her troubled marriage, no obvious reason for the acclaimed writer to take her own life.

The narrative alternates between the events and circumstances surrounding Christie’s disappearance and flashbacks to her early life, including the fateful day she met her husband and the poignant story of her unhappy marriage. Adding to the turmoil is Christie’s struggle to reconcile her longing to write with her mother’s teaching, and society’s expectation, that a good wife must indulge her husband “no matter her own situation.”

Suspicions that Archibald Christie is responsible for his wife’s disappearance grow with the revelation of his adultery, request for a divorce, and hidden engagement to his mistress. Reporters, lusting for details about the beautiful missing novelist and her handsome war hero husband, swarm the couple’s home. The suspense grows as repeated police interrogations add to Archibald’s growing desperation to escape the labyrinth of secrets and lies in which he is trapped.

With elements of a classic mystery novel, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is gripping, making it possible to believe that, with her real-life disappearance, Agatha Christie surpassed herself and pulled off the perfect, unsolvable mystery.

Reviewed by Kristine Morris January / February 2021

Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

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The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

by Marie Benedict

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A work of historical fiction based on the true story of Agatha Christie's mysterious disappearance and her turbulent first marriage.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict, notable author of previous historical fiction such as The Other Einstein and Lady Clementine , earned an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars from our First Impressions reviewers. What the book is about: This cleverly structured, well-researched, fast-paced, skillfully written fictionalized account focuses on a famous 11-day period in Christie's life, when the already well-known author disappeared without a trace, after a shouting match over a Friday breakfast with her husband, Archie Christie. Benedict's novel covering this disappearance twists like a double helix: Chapters narrated by Agatha covering her life in flashbacks from October, 1912, when she first met Archie, to December 14, 1926, when she reappeared after her 11-day hiatus, intertwine with chapters narrated by Archie, which cover his day-to-day experience from Saturday, December 4, when her car was found by a cliff, to her being discovered over a week later, safe and well at an upscale seaside hotel (Julia E). Readers enjoyed the dual-timeline approach and how the story alternated between Agatha and Archie. The two voices alternating in the novel are well done, and held a bit of surprise for me in the second part. My detective skills were not ahead of the author's (Theresa P)! The circumstances, attitudes and emotions which motivate the actions of the characters are well-developed in the chapters dealing with the earlier time frame and the novelist's imagination fills in the gaps in what is known about the real-life events. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and I think the dual-timeline approach works well for the most part (Rebecca H). Many pointed out that Benedict adopts a style similar to that of Christie's own novels, making the story a treat for dedicated fans of the author. Blending events from Agatha's life with a writing style familiar to fans of Christie's novels, Marie Benedict pays homage to Christie's detective fiction (Shawna). The mystery of Agatha Christie's 11-day disappearance in December, 1926 has persisted to this day. Marie Benedict presents a wonderfully engaging and thrilling answer to that mystery with twists and turns worthy of any Christie whodunit (Barbara E). Some found the book slow-paced and occasionally challenging, but this didn't discourage them from recommending it. The formal English dialogue of the time period unfortunately dragged my interest away and I found myself skimming along to find the plot points more quickly than my reading eyes allowed. My attention just did not stay focused enough on the carefully designed narrative. I honestly believe if I had found this book at a different time in my personal schedule, my opinion would have improved as I have thoroughly enjoyed other selections by this talented novelist, so I'll still recommend this creative telling to readers, especially if they are Agatha Christie fans (Juli B). I enjoyed this book. I found it to be a bit of a slow burn but I think I liked it because it was (Marybeth T). Reviewers commented that The Mystery of Mrs. Christie will interest fans of historical fiction, Christie aficionados and mystery lovers in general. This is a must-read for fans of British mysteries, and a sound choice for those who enjoy sharply written, soundly researched historical fiction (Julia E). If you have read any of Agatha Christie's novels, love historical fiction or love a good mystery, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK (Celia P). I recommend this to all who enjoy historical fiction (Dianne S). Perhaps most importantly, readers found Benedict's fictional explanation for Christie's disappearance satisfying. The how and why of this disappearance are shocking but logical and deeply satisfying. I highly recommend this book (Barbara E)! I was captivated by The Mystery of Mrs. Christie . I was completely unaware of the episode in her life that this story is based on, and loved Marie Benedict's telling of the way it might have been (Theresa P). The ending and explanation of the events was entirely satisfying; indeed, I hope it was true (Joan V).

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#BookReview The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict @RaincoastBooks @Sourcebooks #TheMysteryofMrsChristie #MarieBenedict

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.

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?

A master storyteller whose clever mind may never be matched, Agatha Christie’s untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.

Immersive, mysterious, and intriguing!

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is a captivating, colourful interpretation that sweeps you away to England in the early 1900s and into the life of Agatha Christie, from her courtship by Lieutenant Christie to wifehood, motherhood, authorship, and the subsequent investigation into the unaccountable eleven days in 1926 that she was missing.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are well-drawn, complex, and authentic. And the plot, alternating between a Chrisite manuscript detailing her life and her husband’s actions and motivations following her disappearance, is an absorbing tale of life, loss, loneliness, loyalty, aspirations, heartache, retribution, and infidelity.

Overall, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie  is a vivid, compelling, pensive novel by Benedict that does an exceptional job of highlighting her considerable knowledge and impressive research into this renowned literature figures life as well as a dramatic, somewhat plausible explanation for her still unexplainable disappearance all those years ago.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

Thank you to Raincoast Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

About Marie Benedict

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator at two of the country's premier law firms and Fortune 500 companies. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Boston College with a focus on history and a cum laude graduate of the Boston University School of Law. She is the author of New York Times bestseller The Only Woman in the Room, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and Lady Clementine. She lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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2 Comments on #BookReview The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict @RaincoastBooks @Sourcebooks #TheMysteryofMrsChristie #MarieBenedict

Great review, Zoe! I am reading this now.

Thanks, Avonna. I hope you’re enjoying it ?

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The mystery of mrs christie by marie benedict (arc review).

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review. 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?

⤖ My Review ⬻

The Mystery of Mrs Christie was one of my most anticipated releases for late 2020! Ever since I watched the episode on Doctor Who that focused on Agatha Christie and her mysterious disappearance (The Unicorn and the Wasp, Season 4, Episode 7…yes. I used to be a very big fan), I’ve always been curious about what might have actually happened.

So, when I heard that a book focused on said disappearance would be coming out, I just knew  that I had to get my hands and read it. I was so happy when Raincoast Books was able to send me an ARC of  The Mystery of Mrs Christie for review purposes, and I couldn’t wait to read it–I was prepared for a thrill ride.

I will say that my expectations were partially to blame for my experience with  The Mystery of Mrs Christie . I expected a high-stakes thriller with a good amount of action…and while I can’t go into detail about what I was actually delivered through this book because  spoilers  (hehe, another Doctor Who reference for my fellow fans). But anyway, I think that I can say that I didn’t get what I expected.

That being said, the book had me feeling curious and wanting to find out more while reading it.  The Mystery of Mrs Christie also had me feeling a lot of things, with the primary emotion being pure rage at the patriarchy and what was expected and not expected of women (especially in Agatha Christie’s time).

Also, I forgot to mention that the ARC came with a tube or “Red Herring” lipstick that was designed by the brand Finding Ferdinand and the author to accompany  The Mystery of Mrs Christie ! It’s a beautiful shade of red and smells like Cabernet! You can see the shade and product design in my Instagram post here .

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a commercial litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms. While practicing as a NYC lawyer, Marie dreamed of a fantastical job unearthing the hidden historical stories of women — and finally found it when she tried her hand at writing. She embarked on a new, thematically connected series of historical fiction excavating the stories of important, complex and fascinating women from the past with THE OTHER EINSTEIN, which tells the tale of Albert Einstein’s first wife, a physicist herself, and the role she might have played in his theories. She then released CARNEGIE’S MAID, the story of a brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie toward philanthropy, followed by the NYTimes bestseller THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, the tale of the Golden Age of Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr who made a world-changing invention, and LADY CLEMENTINE about Winston Churchill’s wife. Her latest book — THE MYSTERY OF MRS CHRISTIE — focuses on the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie and the role it played in shaping her into the world’s most successful novelist.

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⤖ Let’s Chat ⬻

Thank you for reading my review have you read this book what did you think and if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to let me know in the comments.

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2 thoughts on “ the mystery of mrs christie by marie benedict (arc review) ”.

I became interested in her disappearance because of that Doctor Who ep as well! It’s very interesting, in real life, that still nobody knows what happens (at least that I’m aware of). Not sure if I’ll pick this up because I would prefer a little more thriller … however, the author’s book about Hedy Lamarr seems interesting. Great review 🙂

Oh yay! Always love meeting others who watch or used to watch Doctor Who! I find it interesting as well and also frustrating because I don’t believe there’s anyone left alive who could actually give us an answer about what really happened. Thank you for your kind words and for reading my review! 😀

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The mystery of mrs. christie by marie benedict.

by Elyse · Jan 30, 2021 at 4:00 am · View all 12 comments

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie

by Marie Benedict

December 29, 2020 · Sourcebooks Landmark

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Genre: Historical: European , Literary Fiction , Mystery/Thriller

There’s a theme to The Mystery of Mrs. Christie and it’s, “Maybe don’t fuck with your wife when she invents unsolveable ways to murder people for a living.” In a lot of ways this book is a historical Gone Girl , which normally would be my jam, but I found the suspense disrupted by the fact that this is based on a real event and I already knew what happened. Add to that, we spend a lot of time in her husband Archie Christie’s point of view, and frankly that’s a place no one would want to be.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is based on a real, widely publicized event. Agatha Christie disappeared for eleven days in 1926. She was planning on going to Yorkshire for the weekend, but never arrived at her destination. Her car was found abandoned on the side of the road, her luggage inside, as well as a winter coat it was assumed she would have been wearing due to the temperature outside.

Her disappearance was widely covered by the press, and

If you don’t know what happened to Agatha Christie, this book will work much, much better as a mystery. If, like me, you are familiar with the story then the suspense comes not from the “what happened” but rather the “why.” I wish I had entered into the book with no knowledge of the case because I think I would have enjoyed it so much more.

The novel is split between two parts, Agatha’s POV in the past and Archie’s POV during her disappearance.

Agatha Christie came from a poor, upper class family when she met Archibald Christie, a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps who fought in WWI. Archie was charming and dynamic and sparks flew, leading Agatha to leave another man to marry him. From there, things went downhill.

Agatha’s sections of the novel are largely about a marriage that is doomed from the start. Almost immediately Archie’s true personality emerges, one of a whiney, petulant, entitled man who feels he is constantly the victim. It doesn’t help that Agatha’s mother, whom she is extremely close to, gives her the shit advice that she should appease Archie rather than pushing him out a window like he deserves. For example, when Agatha becomes pregnant, Archie worries that the baby will take her attention away from him and she promises to put the child second to all his needs.

Like I said, right out a window.

Archie’s sections of the book take place during Agatha’s disappearance. We know from a letter she’s left him that She’s Had Enough. Beyond that Archie has no idea where she is or what happened to her. Working on the “husband usually did it” theory, the police look into Archie and he’s so incredibly bad and dumb at pretending to be The Real Victim Here that I cannot even. Here he’s talking to his mom after he did an interview with the press:

“Did you think that telling people that you and your wife routinely spend the weekend apart would paint a pretty picture of your marriage, Archie?” She doesn’t wait for him to answer before continuing. “And did you think that announcing you didn’t want to bother with the press and all the–I quote–’relentless’ phone calls you receive would endear you to readers?” “Yes?” he answers quizzically. Hopefully. “Can’t you see that makes you sound heartless and unfeeling? A man who cares about the whereabouts of his missing wife would take every phone call and every tip and be grateful for it. Don’t you understand?” He hears his mother inhale deeply, as if forestalling tears. “And to raise the newspaper gossip about possible arguments between you and Agatha is damnably foolish. It gives credence to the rumors about the state of your marriage where no credence should be due. If you weren’t worried about that gossip, you wouldn’t have mentioned it.” Has he ever heard his mother swear before? He doesn’t know what to do–apologize, rationalize his behavior, yell–so he says, “That wasn’t what I intended.” She is quiet, an unnatural state for a woman brimming with opinions. After a long, silent pause she says, “If anyone was considering whether or not you were guilty of your wife’s disappearance and unsure, Archie, you went and convinced them in the Daily Mail.”

So while Archie bumbles around drawing attention to himself because he’s so narcissistic he cannot possibly understand how other people would see him as anything other than a victim, we get Agatha’s chapters from the past detailing the death of her marriage.

It’s a death by a thousand cuts, a thousand criticisms from Archie–about her weight, her cooking, the fact that her successful mystery writing career overshadows his own. The only thing that saves these chapters from being unbearable is we also get insight into how her mind works as she is plotting her mysteries. We see how her work during WWI helps inform her early writing. She explains her first story to Archie:

“Yes, it’s a story about a rich, elderly woman who’s been poisoned at her home, a manor house, while several possible culprits are staying with her as guests. One of the houseguests, a soldier by the name of Arthur Hastings recovering from the war, enlists the help of his friend, a Belgian refugee by the name of Hercule Poirot.” I explained to him how the story and characters unfolded for me during the slow hours at the apothecary, in particular how my detective evolved from my experience helping the group of Belgian refugees who’d settled in the parish of Tor after a harrowing escape from the Germans. But, I explained, once I’d conceived of Hercule Poirot, he’d grown on the page of his own accord, as if he were a real person.

Part of the reason I had a lackluster response to this book is that those segments about Agatha becoming a writer were fewer than the ones about Archie being an ass and her bending over backwards to accommodate him. It’s unquestionable emotional abuse and it was painful to see her endure it as the price of her marriage.

Added to that, the chapters inside Archie’s head made me want to push him out the aforementioned window even more. As I stated before, he’s a narcissist. He whines. He has little tantrums. He’s entirely unsympathetic and I can’t say I enjoyed reading from his POV, with the exception of the moments when the police or his family are explaining to him how incredibly dumb he’s being.

I also knew what really happened to Agatha, so the suspense was narrowed down to the “why” she disappeared and

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie isn’t a bad book by any means. It just lacked an element of suspense for me because I was already familiar with the case and I wasn’t in the mood to read about Archie Christie being an awful, entitled dude. I will admit that the ending is entirely satisfying though, if you have the fortitude to endure the Archie sections. I think readers unfamiliar with the case will ultimately enjoy it more.

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Didn’t Doctor Who explain the absence of Agatha Christie? Something to do with Wasp aliens I think

Christie’s case reminded me of a somewhat similar story of a disappearance attributed to amnesia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Robins , though Robins’ case (I used to visit his former home in Florida) seems somewhat more genuine. I wonder whether amnesia was something of a shorthand for a mental breakdown in the early 20th Century.

Can you recommend a good biography of Christie? Since I’m interested more in her actual story though this does sound like a good read.

I loved Agatha Christie’s books when I was younger, and have recently been listening to some of the audiobooks. I love the irony that the real life mystery of what happened will probably never be known.

BTW, I saw the movie Agatha in the theater with my mother 40+ (!) years ago and really enjoyed it. It presents as good a guess as any and still holds up.

I’m imagining an editor’s comment in the margin. “Story needs more defenestration.”

It’s always a challenge when books have real people ad characters, and the more recent and better we know them, the harder it is. I sort of liked the Biden/Obama mystery action book, but it made me uncomfortable that the author used these real living people as fictional characters. It seems intrusive.

Thank you for the review Elyse! It’s been a while since I read Agatha Christie. Instead, I’ve been watching and enjoying some movies in the ongoing Quarantimes crocheting Session. Since I’m rather particular about whom I let into my head I will skip this one.

Kate KF, I’d suggest reading her autobiography. It’s fascinating, and I loved getting glimpses of some of the things and people that informed her books, told with her own voice.

The two Christie bios I’d recommend would be by Laura Thompson, she’s good on Christie’s Westmacott books, and Janet Morgan. Both excellent although the Morgan is a bit dry. John Curran’s Secret Notebooks are fascinating for seeing how Christie worked.

After shedding Archie (she dumped him, kept the name), she married an archaeologist. She said it was wonderful – the older she got the more interesting she was to him.

Not really a bio of Christie, but excellent, is “A is for Arsenic” by Katherine Harkup. Harkup knows both her poisons and her Agatha Christie novels. (Spoilers are warned well before-hand, btw. Mostly she avoids them in the first place.)

But presumably, since all the insights into both Agatha and Archie are imaginary, it doesn’t so much give a view of how she came up with plots so much as how the author of the book imagined she came up with plots? Is this part based on real biographical detail

Popping up unhelpfully to recommend a song about Agatha Christie’s vanishing, “A Mysterious Disappearance” by Grasscut (British electronica/ambient), if you…for some reason like a soundtrack to your books.

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The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

• Publication Date: October 5, 2021
• Genres: Fiction , Historical Fiction , Historical Mystery , Mystery
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
• ISBN-10: 1728234301
• ISBN-13: 9781728234304
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The Mystery of Mrs. Christie: A Novel Kindle Edition

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

"A stunning story... The ending is ingenious, and it's possible that Benedict has brought to life the most plausible explanation for why Christie disappeared for 11 days in 1926."— The Washington Post

The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room returns with a thrilling reconstruction of one of the most notorious events in literary history: Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926.

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 World War I veteran husband and her 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 historical fiction exploration into the shadows of the past, 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 murky historical mysteries.

What is real, and what is mystery? What role did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?

Agatha Christie novels have withstood the test of time, due in no small part to Christie's masterful storytelling and clever mind that may never be matched, but Agatha Christie's untold history offers perhaps her greatest mystery of all.

Fans of The Secrets We Kept , The Lions of Fifth Avenue , and The Alice Network will enjoy this riveting saga of literary history, suspense, and love gone wrong.

Also By Marie Benedict: The Other Einstein Carnegie's Maid The Only Woman in the Room Lady Clementine

• Print length 319 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publisher Sourcebooks Landmark
• Publication date December 29, 2020
• File size 3352 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

"It's not a whodunit or even a whydunit, but a sort of how-the-hell-did-he-do-it? As Christie's first and best-known detective, Hercule Poirot, might say: Patience. All will be revealed." - The Los Angeles Times

"[A] gripping historical fiction tale of true mystery." - Good Morning America

"Benedict shines as a suspense writer." - Christian Science Monitor

"[Marie Benedict] keeps the reader guessing: Which narrator is reliable? Who is the real villain? A compelling portrait of a marriage gone desperately sour." - Kirkus Reviews

"The clever premise here is that Christie vanished deliberately so as to ensnare Archie in a trap as payback for his infidelities... the story makes for good fun." - Publishers Weekly

"Mystery lovers, especially fans of Christie's works, as well as those who enjoy period pieces, will find this an engrossing fictional answer to a real historical mystery." - Library Journal

"Girl power advocates will find satisfaction in the solution she crafts to her man problem." - Booklist

"If you're an ardent Agatha Christie fan, don't miss The Mystery of Mrs. Christie ." - HuffPost

"[A] clever reconstruction of Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926." - E! News

"With elements of a classic mystery novel, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is gripping, making it possible to believe that, with her real-life disappearance, Agatha Christie surpassed herself and pulled off the perfect, unsolvable mystery." - Foreword Reviews

"A winning whodunit from the thrilling life story of the mistress of whodunits, Agatha Christie herself, THE MYSTERY OF MRS CHRISTIE is a deft, fascinating page-turner replete with richly drawn characters and plot twists that would stump Hercule Poirot." - Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network, The Huntress, and the upcoming The Rose Code

"With twists, surprises, and an ending that packs a punch in more ways than one, THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE is a whodunit infinitely worthy of its famous heroine. Benedict's exploration of Agatha Christie's life and mysterious disappearance will have book club discussions running overtime. Quite simply, I loved it!" - Lisa Wingate, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours and The Book of Lost Friends

"Brilliantly constructed and richly detailed, THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE is both a twisty mystery and immersive portrait of the domestic and professional life of the legendary Agatha Christie. This is a must-read for fans of Agatha Christie." - Chanel Cleeton, New York Times & USA Today bestselling Author of The Last Train to Key West and Next Year in Havana

"THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE is part domestic thriller, part Golden Age mystery—and all Marie Benedict! An absorbing and immersive plunge into the disturbed private life of one of the world's most beloved authors, who confounded police, journalists, and generations of biographers when she disappeared from her home, like something out of one of her own novels. But you just might find a solution to the puzzle here.... (No Belgian detectives required. Knitting spinsters sold separately.)" - Lauren Willig, New York Times bestselling author

"What a read! Agatha Christie is so beautifully drawn, you could easily believe Benedict knew her intimately. Each page uncovers fresh layers of pain, rage, genius and suffering, culminating with a firecracker of an ending. I loved it." - Stuart Turton, bestselling author of The Devil and the Dark Water and The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

About the Author

Product details.

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08BJDPV3H
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sourcebooks Landmark (December 29, 2020)
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 29, 2020
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 3352 KB
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 319 pages
• Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1728234301
• #14 in World War I Historical Fiction (Books)
• #35 in Biographical Fiction (Kindle Store)
• #214 in Historical Literary Fiction

About the author

Marie benedict.

​Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years' experience as a litigator at two of the country's premier law firms, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern day issues. She embarked on a new, thematically connected series of historical novels with THE OTHER EINSTEIN, which tells the tale of Albert Einstein's first wife, a physicist herself, and the role she might have played in his theories. The next novel in this series is the USA Today bestselling CARNEGIE'S MAID -- which released in January of 2018 -- and the book that followed is the New York Times bestseller and Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, the story of the brilliant inventor Hedy Lamarr, which published in January of 2019. In January of 2020, LADY CLEMENTINE, the story of the incredible Clementine Churchill, was released, and became an international bestseller. Her next novel, the Instant NYTimes and USAToday bestselling THE MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE, was published on December 29, 2020, and her first co-written book, THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN, with the talented Victoria Christopher Murray, will be released on June 29, 2021. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also published the historical novels The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare.

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