3.54 AVERAGE

slow-paced
mysterious medium-paced
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A fictious retelling of Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance. Told from Agatha's perspective of past events eventually catching up with the present perspective of Archie Christie, we learn more about their relationship and what events may have contributed to the fallout of their marriage. An easy read that may you hate Archie Christie more and more as the book progresses and sympathize more with Agatha. Long story short, guys suck 

Before I had read The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, I actually didn't know that much about famed mystery author Agatha Christie's personal life or that she had disappeared for eleven days causing a widespread manhunt for the missing lady. Marie Benedict takes on the mystery of her disappearance and re-imagines a possible explanation for it.
Spoiler Turning it into a Gone Girl style disappearance.


It definitely took me a couple of attempts to get into the story simply because it begins rather slowly, 1912 where Agatha Miller meets a young naval officer, Archibald Christie, and accepts a dance from him despite his rather impertinent attitude. Then it flashes forward to 1926, where Archibald is interrupted at a social gathering with his friends and is informed that his wife had disappeared. The story continues in this manner and I actually found it to be a rather distracting plot device, as it takes away the urgency of the "present day" mystery to ruminate on the Christies' past relationship. It might've worked better if the past was segmented in Part I while the current events are Part II, as the pacing might've felt a little less awkward.

Setting that aside, I actually did find the plot to be quite engaging, especially since Archibald is clearly hiding something. Agatha seems to have left behind a mysterious letter that he reads and burns, instead of turning it over to the police. He has to constantly remind himself of how a devoted, worried husband should behave in this scenario. He has also gone to great lengths to prevent the police from digging too much into his family's affairs. And it is also clear that their marriage has not been a happy one, despite Agatha's professional success and the money that it has brought to their family.

The Mystery of Mrs Christie isn't exactly unpredictable, especially since the blurb already mentions that her husband has been unfaithful to her.
Spoiler It didn't feel like that big of a surprise that she had plotted her disappearance and re-appearance and contrived to appear that she had been suffering from amnesia, all part of the psychological warfare that she was waging on her husband.
However, where the story succeeds is in its unreliable narration.
Spoiler It was interesting to learn that Agatha had written the "manuscript" that we were reading about her past - about their so-called halcyon past when she had felt so much more ambivalent about it than she had portrayed, especially about her daughter. Now this was an interesting take on Agatha Christie that I didn't think of.
adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Entertaining read on what may have happened to Agatha Christie when she disappeared for 11 days.

Even if you're not a fan of Agatha Christie's mystery books, you will be after reading this book.

Marie Benedict gives the historical background of Agatha's life with her family and how she was swept off her feet with Lt. Archie Christie. She followed her mummy's guidance: "A wife's duty is to be with her husband, because her husband must come first, even before her children. If a wife leaves her husband alone for too long, she will lose him." However, the war changed Archie. How then could she reclaim her husband? From start to finish, it's all about Agatha Christie's missing days.

It's not a mystery as we already know what happens. However, it shows how one woman carefully calculated her decisions to her advantage.

A book about a strong, independent woman, Agatha Christie, by a noted author? Of course it will be a best seller.
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Nobody has ever known for sure what happened when Agatha Christie went missing for a week in 1926. Benedict posits a creative solution to the mystery. The story is laid out in a dual timeline, one that begins when she meets Archie - told in first person. The other starts the day after she disappears, with an omniscient narrator largely focused on Archie. 
emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated