Book Reviews—The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict

In December of 1926, author Agatha Christie was missing for eleven days. There was a huge manhunt for her that involved police and thousands of volunteers. It was a huge news story at the time in England and the United States. I recently read two historical fiction novels that depict this event.

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont was published in February of this year. There was a lot of buzz about this book, and the cover is stunning. Ms. de Gramont chose to make her narrator Nan O’Dea, (who is loosely based on Nancy Neele, Archie Christie’s mistress while he was married to Agatha.) This book becomes an “Agatha Christie-type” mystery that focuses on Nan’s backstory, how she came to know Archie and Agatha Christie, with alternating chapters on the disappearance. It is quite fanciful, but an enjoyable read.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict was published in December, 2020. This novel is more of Agatha’s backstory, how she met Archie, etc., with alternating chapters on her disappearance. This book is well-researched and definitely fits the historical fiction genre. Ms. Benedict writes of strong women in her novels, especially ones that have made contributions, but are not well-known. Agatha Christie is obviously more well-known as a famous author, but maybe not as the woman and mother she was. The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is definitely Agatha’s story during a challenging time in her life.