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There are currently 23 member reviews
for The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
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Juliana (Falls Church, VA)
A Fresh Take
It is the first novel by Marie Benedict that I read and the first time I learn about the incident inspiring this story. If you are anything like me, you go about trying to learn some of the facts behind this true event, read about other explorations of the topic, are surprised at the coverage it has had and then ask yourself what could be a new take on it. (But you don't have to, of course, the novel stands on its own as is.) Then, Marie Benedict's proves to be a commendable, valiant one which does not disappoint.
Marie Benedict chooses the intriguing event of the real-life disappearance of the Dame of detective fiction, Agatha Christie, and undertakes to recreate the circumstances, players and motivations that may explain it, putting Christie's first marriage front and center.
The novelist builds an ingenious narrative structure in which two stories with different chronologies alternate up to the point where they catch up with each other, which coincides with the climax of the story. Very much in the style of Agatha Christie's writings and well justified by the construction of her narrative and the mystery elements it incorporates, Marie Benedict's ends up with a surprising revelation.
Although the revelation seems to spell out the characters' motivations too explicitly, it is true, under the pretext that the characters they were disclosed to were not capable of connecting the dots, and although some points of characterization seem to be drilled ad nauseum, attempted as they were at underlining the source of conflict and the narrators' unreliability, Marie Benedict pulls together a convincing, enticing narrative. All the while she pens a coherent vision of the times, in this case of the British upper middle class of the 1920s with its social conventions and expectations, which is always an essential part of what any reader of historical fiction hopes for.
Once you realize you have to read through to untangle the very cryptic beginning and position the multitude of characters introduced in the first two chapters, the read becomes captivating and it is hard to put down. The characters flesh out vividly, intriguingly, and just before it is too late to save Agatha from a rather conventional, boring portrait, she emerges … well, differently, and the narrative techniques chosen by the author are instrumental in achieving that.
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is an enjoyable, fast read, satisfying the craving for the unexpected, which anything related to the name of Agatha Christie inevitably stirs. Recommended to lovers of the genres and anyone with a few good hours to spend on an engaging read.
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Juli B. (Prosper, TX)
Formal Dialogue Proved to be a Distraction.
Even well-written books fail to catch the interest of readers for various reasons: busy daily schedules, the wrong season for the setting, complicated dialogue, or the distraction of a worldwide pandemic! The latter seemed to overwhelm my ability to stay attentive to this otherwise interesting premise of a novel by respected author Marie Benedict. Despite years of consistent reading and participation in multiple book clubs, I've only recently read my first Agatha Christie novel: "And Then There Were None". Having enjoyed that selection and learned more information about the author herself, I was especially appreciative to receive an advanced copy of "The Mystery of Mrs. Christie" from BookBrowse for review. Kudos to Mrs. Benedict for crafting a believable tale to explain a truly mysterious episode from the life of such a famous fixture in literary circles. The formal English dialogue of the time period unfortunately dragged my interest away and I found myself skimming along to find the plot points more quickly than my reading eyes allowed. The alternating chapters did provide relief from the oft presented unhappiness of the Christie's marriage raising the obvious suspicion of possible malicious behavior by the central characters. My attention just did not stay focused enough on the carefully designed narrative. I honestly believe if I had found this book at a different time in my personal schedule, my opinion would have improved as I have thoroughly enjoyed other selections by this talented novelist, so I'll still recommend this creative telling to readers, especially if they are Agatha Christie fans. I dare say Dame Christie herself would approve!
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