By: Marie Benedict
ISBN: 1492682721
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: 12/29/20
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR
"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 Rose Code
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
Praise
"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
"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
"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
"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
"[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
About the Author
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 MYSTERY OF MRS. CHRISTIE, will be published in January of 2021, and her first co-written book, THE PERSONAL LIBRARIAN, with the talented Victoria Christopher Murray, will be released in June of 2021. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie also published the historical novels The Chrysalis, The Map Thief, and Brigid of Kildare. Website
