The Mystery of Mrs Christie

In December 1926 the author, Agatha Christie, went missing for eleven days resulting in a large police hunt. Much has been written about the disappearance but the author never discussed it. Amnesia was given as the reason but speculation still exists as to what really happened.

Marie Benedict has written a novel, The Mystery of Mrs Christie, based on the disappearance of Agatha Christie, providing a possible explanation that may, or may not, be true. The story is in two interleaving parts. 'The Manuscript'  purports to cover events between 1912 when Agatha first met Archie Christie and the day of her disappearance in 1926. This document was meant to be opened only if she never returned. The second section of the book describes events that occurred in the eleven days that Agatha was missing including her husband's reaction to his wife's disappearance.

By writing 'The Manuscript' the author introduces the idea of unreliable narrator also used by Agatha Christie in some of her novels. One theme of the book questions the notion, held at the time, that wives were expected to always put their husband's needs above the needs of other family members.

Whatever the reason for Agatha Christie's disappearance it did not harm the sales of her books making her one of the most popular crime novelists at the time.

When the world's most famous mystery writer vanished - New York Times 11 June 2019