Reviews

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

danapr's review against another edition

5.0

An interesting and extremely entertaining take on Agatha Christie’s 11-day disappearance! The story is told from the perspective of Nan O’Dea (AKA Nancy Neele) who is Agatha’s husband, Archie’s mistress. The book starts slowly at first but builds in intensity and soon draws the reader in. Nan often directly addresses the reader and just when it seems strange that she would know details about events that she has no first-hand knowledge of, the author covers this by having Nan explain that she obtained the information later directly from Agatha, Archie and Detective Chilton.
The book proceeds with a day to day accounting of Agatha’s disappearance interspersed with Nan’s tragic backstory. The author gives us a completely unbelievable account of the disappearance which actually did take place but since details were never released, imaginations can go anywhere. In this version of the story, Nan and Agatha end up in the same village and events unfold that make the book hard to put down.
Nan and Agatha do encounter one another in the village and both are involved in side stories involving murder, romance and revenge. Everything comes together in a satisfying conclusion with just a hint of continued mystery.
The story is certainly unbelievable but extremely entertaining and imaginative. I will look forward to reading more by this creative author. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the Advanced Reader Copy.

emilyexists's review against another edition

4.0

that was an interesting perspective, probably

elysahenegar's review against another edition

4.0

I enjoyed this book very much, but having read (and watched) a few theories about Agatha Christie's disappearance, I found that I had to set aside my expectations. This is not really a novel about Agatha Christie, but is actually more about the unreliable (completely fictional) narrator than Christie herself. I'm not a huge fan of unreliable narration, but the story, which is tangentially a mystery in its own right (not actually the mysterious circumstances around Christie's disappearance, but another mystery the author links to those events) is so well and carefully told that I still enjoyed it. The characters have wonderful depth, and the plot unfolds with strategic pacing. If you like historical tragedy and/or psychological thrillers, you'll enjoy this book.

kristensreadingnook's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars

This was such an interesting take on Agatha Christie’s 11 day disappearance. Nina de Gramont imagined a story full of the intrigue and mystery that Christie wrote into her novels.

There were multiple twists and turns that I didn’t see coming but made perfect sense one they were revealed.

I also loved the addition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy Sayers as minor characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for a digital and physical ARC in exchange for my honest review.

lindsaysmeldrum's review against another edition

3.0

3.5? It was fine. The way it was written seemed a little disjointed, but maybe that’s just me as my reading is frequently interrupted these days. I didn’t know anything about the real story so that could be part of it too. I enjoyed readings Nans past part best.

knitwgrace's review against another edition

4.0

Audiobook. 4.5 stars. Fun read about what the author imagined happened during Agatha Christie’s real disappearance. Thought the timeline hopping and the murder mystery in between was creative.

megancmahon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Spoilers!

I'm on a bit of a streak with books that should have been marketed much differently.

What I liked:

• the idea was really neat. I love murder mysteries, and the idea of one featuring Agatha Christie - the murder mystery queen herself! - was cool, especially as there was such an interesting mystery tied to her own life
• the inclusion of the homes for unwed mothers in Ireland, run by the church, was sensitively told and completely heartbreaking 
• The descriptions of Ireland were beautiful, and the imaginings of experiences in wartime England were vivid and interesting
• I may not have enjoyed the murder mystery, but I LOVED the revenge - the murder was deserved

What I didn't like:

• This book was kind of confusing - the multiple POVs, but all told from the actual same POV, really threw me off
• I wasn't expecting the murder mystery. When the characters who would eventually commit the crime are introduced, I spent a lot of time wondering why we were focusing on some random people in a hotel in Yorkshire, who seemed to have no relevance to the outside plot, because there was no evidence that a murder mystery would happen. The mystery didn't quite fit
• Because we don't learn Nan's motivations for a while, it's hard to make sense of her story and by the time I learned why she was pursuing Arthur, I was too frustrated with her to truly appreciate the twist
• I feel like this book tried to do a lot, though I do appreciate that she was trying to make it more like an Agatha Christie with the murder
• Finbarr deserved a happier ending. He was the character I liked most and I was devastated for him
• this book dragged quite a bit in the middle; pacing for the reveals was quite strange so I found myself wondering what the point was for a lot of the middle of the novel
• Nan was not a person I liked, even after I learned her story and understood what happened to her
• My main beef is that this book is not actually about Agatha Christie at all, really, nor is it historical fiction. It's a historical reimagining of a tiny section of AC's life explained by a fictional person to illustrate the horrors of the homes for unwed mothers - AC is more of a vehicle to a plot rather than part of it. Based on the marketing I was expecting a story more about Agatha Christie, and so I was disappointed. If this had just been about the homes for unwed mothers without adding her in I think I would have enjoyed it much more

Overall it was well written but a little bleak for my taste (though I'm not taking stars off for that). I wanted either more history or more AC, but the book tried to meld the fictional with the historical and it made things a tad confusing at times.

maddybaker27's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

pietan's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

ionag's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0