The Christie Affair, published in 2022 (and just released in paperback!), is a novel by Nina de Gramont about Agatha Christie’s famous eleven-day disappearance. In December 1926, the beloved murder mystery author drove off in the middle of the night, abandoned her car, and seemingly vanished, leaving her husband and young daughter behind at home. The police searched far and wide for over a week, calling in considerable manpower and causing quite the sensation, and eventually discovered Mrs. Christie at a health spa in Harrogate. Her husband claimed she had amnesia and the case was put to rest, but Mrs. Christie mysteriously avoided discussion of her disappearance for the rest of her life. In The Christie Affair, de Gramont creates an utterly convincing explanation of what happened during those eleven days, spinning a fictionalized story out of real-life clues and characters. The novel is narrated by Nan O’Dea, a woman who has ingratiated herself to the Christie family through careful maneuvering; she’s a friend of Agatha’s, a frequent visitor to the family manor, and Archibald Christie’s secret mistress. As she parcels out Agatha’s story, leading the reader through the disappearance day by day, Nan also reveals her personal history and her own reasons for wanting the the eleven days to remain a mystery.

With all of its history, romance, drama, and murder, The Christie Affair is the embodiment of a page turner. It’s a mystery within a mystery, a story that tantalizingly builds in complexity until revealing all in a satisfying conclusion (I actually gasped out loud when all the pieces clicked in to place). Like the master herself, de Gramont effortlessly implements all the devices made classic by Christie; there’s a questionable narrator, a red herring or two tossed into the mix, and an endearing sleuth working to solve the case alongside the reader. She writes in a way that propels the story forward, and creates an underlying sense of foreboding that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. On top of all that, de Gramont takes care to craft dynamic characters with relationships as layered as the mystery itself (plus, how fun to meet a young, vibrant Agatha clacking away on her typewriter). The Christie Affair is an entertaining and elegant reimagining of history — I absolutely loved it.

I’d recommend this book to…

• Anyone who loves dark, propulsive novels steeped in history… it’s similar in tone to The Marriage Portraitby Maggie O’Farrell
• Anyone looking for a fast-paced, multilayered story that takes you on a ride… it’s similar in style to The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
• Anyone obsessed with classic murder mysteries set in 1920’s England… it’s similar in theme to Agatha Christie novels