the mystery of mrs. christie by Marie Benedict

78th book of 2021

Reading period: Sept 25th 2021

Summary

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 centre 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? 

Trigger warning

Cheating

Rating

DNF @53%

Review

Sadly, this book wasn’t for me, so I decided to DNF it.

First, I was surprised by the dual pov and timeline. I thought it was a great idea to have an overview of the relationship between Agatha and her first husband, Archie, and those elements helped a lot to discover that. However, as I was reading, I couldn’t connect to the story as at every chapter, we switch from time and person, which usually is okay with me, but here the chapters are so short that I was bothered by it.

Second, I didn’t like the characters. First, you have Agatha, who spends her time whining about her capacity to correctly take care of her husband. The second is Archie, her husband, who participate in the research but in his way. I was fed up by his questioning not toward his wife but about himself and his mistress. The problem is that a lot of chapters are from his pov, and I just could.

Lastly, I was kind of lost as it’s fiction based on an actual event. However, it’s a very slow book like non-fiction which is sometimes strange to read. Before DNF the book, I went to see the review to know when the story would take off and when I saw in the last pages of the book, it was at that moment that I decided to stop here.

Also, just a thing: if you didn’t read the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, read it before this one as the author spoils the murderer.

Liz.