Lori Rader-Day’s Death at Greenway shouldn’t be categorized as a murder mystery; its true nature is more akin to an historical novel focusing on the caretakers of a group of young children who have been evacuated from London during World War II. The murders are downplayed and the emphasis is placed on the lives of two nurses who have been hired to care for the “‘vacs.” The author researched her subject meticulously and included several characters who are based on real people.

Most of the story takes place at Greenway House in Devon, England, which had been one of the homes owned by Agatha Christie. The evacuees have been brought to Greenway from London to escape the German Blitz. Unfortunately, Christie’s home isn’t far from the English Channel, which means that the vacs and their caretakers haven’t totally eluded the bombings. The war isn’t the only problem as murders have started to occur in the village as well. One of the nurses hired to watch over the vacs, Bridget Kelly, decides to delve into the mysterious deaths and attempts to discover who is behind them.

While far from being an “Agatha Christie mystery,” the author has imbued this novel with a sense of Christie’s spirit. The author faithfully captures the quaint English village populated with townsfolk who distrust outsiders, and characters who repress their feelings while being dutiful citizens. Though much of the novel takes place at Christie’s estate, the "Duchess of Death" only makes a few cameo appearances. This isn’t about Christie, it’s about Bridget Kelly and how caring for her vacs and developing new friendships, has changed her life. It’s about a woman who has been so traumatized by war and death that she has closed off all feelings towards humanity. How she rediscovers how to love again against the backdrop of the horrors of war, is a journey that will reward most readers.

Impeccably researched, this book made Greenway and its land feel like a character. Lori Rader-Day did a great job staying true to historical details and characters. At times I felt the story was disjointed and wasn’t sure that the mystery was all that mysterious, however, I would definitely recommend this for historical mystery fans and lovers of Agatha Christie.

This novel takes you to WWII London and the home of Agatha Christie where the setting and murder takes center stage. The author knows how to tell a story that places you in the middle of all the action with visually descriptive narrative, engaging dialogue, and its suspenseful nature. Secrets abound within the house and the characters which led to the path to figuring out who was doing what to whom. Multiple plot twists enhanced how well this story was being told and kept me intrigued throughout. The writing shines through in this drama and I applaud the author for what was accomplished in the telling of this tale.

The evacuation of children from London during World War II, murder, espionage, and the lives of the characters who are staying at Agatha Christie's home in the country, this book is full of intrigue.

Greenway House was a place of refuge for children evacuated from London during the war., so some of the events are based on personal accounts.

This part mystery part historical fiction is a departure from Rader-Day's usual thrillers. While I've loved all of her books, this one has a different feel to it and reads almost like an Agatha Christie mystery of old. Two young women, hired as nurses, are evacuated to the countryside from London during WWII. Sent with 10 children and an older couple in charge, they settle into Greenway, the country estate of Agatha Christie. A murder soon occurs and suddenly there's no telling what is safe and who can be trusted.

Heartrending and well-crafted historical fiction with Agatha Christie's country home as a backdrop. Nurse in training Bridget finds herself assigned to escort and care for a group of child evacuees to the country. As she and her fellow nurse Gigi learn the routines of the household, they realize they are both keeping secrets - and soon find themselves enmeshed in mysteries as strange as any written by their host.

At the beginning, Bridget's character seems wooden and unlikable; Rader-Day reveals more and more about Bridget as the book goes on, and I found myself empathizing with her more and more, until things were revealed that made her strangely mute demeanor make sense. A brilliant use of showing, rather than telling, character development in fiction. So much historical fiction about the British home front during WWII espouses the stiff upper lip, keep calm and carry on ethos of that time period - this novels' acknowledgement of the danger and harm done to the folks at home is both refreshing and eye-opening. Rader-Day clearly did her research.

I stayed up late into the night to finish this mystery set in Agatha Christie's home on the English Coast during WWII. Although Christie herself only makes one brief appearance, her methods and processes hover over not-quite-nurse Bridget Kelly as she tries to untangle the happenings at the home where she cares for a group of under-5 evacuees from the bombardment of London. Rader-Day allows minor characters to shine without sacrificing the quality of her main characters--especially Willa, who gives a heartfelt send off to the young soldiers leaving for D-Day.

Judging by the cover art, I thought Greenway's famous resident, Agatha Christie, would be more of a presence in Death at Greenway. Instead, she is a very minor character in a mystery set in her home during the second world war. Children evacuated from the Blitz in London come to live in the country at the Greenway estate, but mistaken identities bring danger closer than they wanted. Based in part on the memories of one of the evacuees, Death at Greenway was a good mystery with the twist of having the most famous mystery writer of all's house as a setting.