I wanted to LOVE this book--really really. The writing is elegant. The pacing flows, carrying you seamlessly from one scene and one point of view to the next. The characters are complex, believable, and interesting. Each gets his/her time in the spotlight. The plot is dynamite--I mean, who doesn't want to speculate on AC's missing eleven days!
There will be no spoilers in this review. I will say only that a plot twist 2/3 of the way through was too much for me to swallow. It remains a beautifully-written novel, and others may feel differently. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

The other woman: Grr. That's the usual and understandable reaction, isn't it? In The Christie Affair, Nina de Gramont has Nan, the other woman competing for Agatha Christie's husband, act as the omniscient narrator. As the story continues, we learn why Nan is so keen on Archie Christie.

Archie is so keen on Nan that he adds to his wife's misery at just having lost her mother. He tells her he wants a divorce.

And Agatha Christie disappears. She was at the beginning of her career and, although successful, had not achieved the household name status we associate with her today. Despite a nationwide search, and pictures plastered in newspapers throughout the country, no one can find her.

Until someone does.

This book is a real page-turner, and just when you think things couldn't get stranger, two suspicious deaths pop up. Much of the book is fictional and it was fun to see what the search engines could prove or disprove. Nancy Neele has been renamed Nan O'Dea in The Christie Affair.

But Agatha, Archie, and Nancy were real people, caught in their own tragic love triangle. Archie did marry Nancy and they remained married until her death 30 years later.

Nina de Gramont has written a book that is hard to put down.

Absolutely loved this hist-fic mystery about the disappearance of Agatha Christie, as told by her husband’s lover. The deftly written tale grips with twists and turns that keep you pinned to the last page. Highly recommended for Christie fans and lovers of thrilling historical fiction!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 01 Feb 2022
#TheChristieAffair #NetGalley

Thanks to the author, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.