A fun whodunnit written in tribute to the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie. Fans of AC will find many references and clues to her work and life within the story (so many!). As a reader and collector of AC's books, i loved this aspect of the story!

The story centres around Agatha Dorn who works as an archivist in a library of rare manuscripts and first editions. She comes across an unpublished manuscript of Gladden Green, a writer whose novels featured a foreign detective named Pere Flambeau. Agatha becomes famous for discovering the manuscript but before you know it, it's suddenly renounced as a fake! The plot becomes quite complicated at that point with Agatha becomes embroiled with a number of shady people (including co-workers, ex-lovers and family) who will stop at nothing, including killing those who get in their way, to get what they want. There are of course a few red herrings and twists along the way, as one would expect, although I found the storyline a little confusing at times.

Agatha is a fabulous and funny character you can't help both love as well as dislike a little (you just can't hate her). She's sassy, outrageously honest and determined to get to the truth: the story is really enjoyable and the references to AC are great fun.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide a review.

I love the premise of this book! But when it came to actually reading it, it came up short for me. I found Agatha's character hard to like and the story built up rather slowly. The solution to the story was surprising, and not at all what I was expecting.

This book is definitely not for everyone.

The Mystery of the Crooked Man by Tom Spencer is a nod to Golden Age mysteries, my wheelhouse. Reading this novel gave me slivers of the era I was hoping for. Murder? Got it. Red herrings? Yes, of course. Whodunit? Read it to find out! The writing is witty, quick and intelligent and flowed easily from character to character, thought to thought.

Agatha Dorn, an expert in all things cozy mystery, is also an archivist who gets passed over for a work promotion. But her discovery of a lost manuscript written by the illustrious Gretna Green propels her into much-craved limelight as a minicelebrity. She feels a certain grandiose entitlement to treat workers as "help" much to their annoyance. But the manuscript is a hoax which throws a spanner into the works. An old friend dies and she reflects on their relationship and what could have been. She does some sleuthing and uncovers surprising secrets.

The premise is exciting and the story is beautifully original, full of eccentricities and mayhem. Agatha's character infuriated me at times with her drinking and treatment of others. I love to hate characters as much as the next reader but in this case, she had no endearing or other redemptive qualities. Though this was a fun read, it did not whack me on the head as I had hoped. But clearly this would be unmissable for the right person who enjoys cozies with a hint of more than coziness.

My sincere thank you to Steerforth Press and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this quirky novel.

I wanted to love this book! The plot is interesting but the execution is tough. Agatha is difficult to warm to, as the description promises, but I began to find her frustratingly inept. I think callousness in a character works best when they’re also clever or smart. Agatha is neither. Her drunken behavior became annoying and by the time the eyepatch came out I was losing interesting. The manuscript mystery had so much potential, unfortunately the other mysteries and the lack of direction or progress hindered it all. I genuinely think I would’ve liked this book so much more if they’d not named a character Murgatroyd.

Very different. Very entertaining. The main character is Ignatius O’Reilly meets an acidic Miss Marple.. The plotting verges on absurdist with twists galore. The solution surprised me. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I enjoyed it a lot.