This book starts in December 1926 when Agatha Christie goes missing after a fight with her husband Archie. Her car is found near a chalk quarry with a coat left inside and the headlights are still on.
In flashbacks throughout the book, we get to know young Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller who is engaged to Reginald (Reggie) Lucy but when she meets the handsome Archibald (Archie) Christie, she breaks off their engagement. Agatha’s mother is not enamoured by this Archie but nonetheless Archie and Agatha marry.
In the early years of their marriage, Agatha writes her first book and Archie encourages her to send it off to publishers. However, none of them seem interested. It isn’t until after their daughter Rosalind is born that Agatha is approached by a publisher about her book The Mysterious Affair at Styles that introduces Hercule Poirot to the world. Archie spends more and more time away from home after Rosalind was born and when Agatha’s mother dies, he doesn’t come home at all.
The book switches between the past and Agatha’s disappearance. The police discover that Archie has been having an affair with Nancy Neele and suspect him of having murdered his wife. When the press find out about Archie’s affair with Nancy, they villify him.
When Agatha is found alive and well in Harrogate, using the name Mrs Teresa Neele, she claims not to remember what happened to her.
Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance has been a mystery for almost a century. Did she really have amnesia? Did she leave in a fugue state? We will never know! However, Marie Benedict has come up with a plausible reason in this book. I really enjoyed this and do recommend it for it is full of intrigue, just like Agatha’s own novels.
Read for The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2026
Prompt 45: Biographical fiction
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️