"The Mystery of Mrs. Christie" by Marie Benedict

Fans of mystery writer Agatha Christie are no doubt familiar with the mystery in her own life:  her  disappearance in 1926 that created a sensation in the British press and led to massive manhunts in search of her.  She was discovered after eleven days in a spa registered under the name of her husband's mistress.   She claimed that she had suffered a bout of amnesia, but, really, she never did give a satisfactory explanation  to the whole affair.  In her own autobiography, Mrs. Christie mentioned not a single word about it.

Local Pittsburgh area author Marie Benedict (from Sewickley, to be precise) has taken a crack at it in  this story and posits her own theory as to how, what, and why this whole disappearing act took place.

The novel is told in alternating chapters and points of view.  One point is told in first person by Agatha herself and it traces from the time she met the dashing RAF pilot Archibald Christie at a fancy-schmancy upper crust English dance, how she was swept off her feet, proposed to, and ultimately married Christie.  It also tells the story of Archie Christie's domineering, narcissistic personalty which led to the unravelling of the marriage.

The alternating chapters are told in the third person and focus on Archie Christie as he becomes aware of his wife's disappearance, his dealing with the police, the press, and general public opinion, and becomes a suspect in the possible foul play disappearance of his wife.

Benedict ties the two points of view together over the last quarter of the book and presents her theory as to just what happened back in 1926.  It is a work of fiction, to be sure, but it's as plausible as any other theory that has ever been put out there.  Marie Benedict has specialized in writing historical fiction about real women.  Her subjects have included Albert Einstein's first wife, Andrew Carnegie's maid, Clementine Churchill, and Hedy Lamarr.  I have read the Lamarr book and found it most interesting (https://grandstander.blogspot.com/2019/07/what-have-i-read-lately.html).  I didn't find this one quite as good, but it held my interest nonetheless.  I finished it in less than three days.

It earns Two-and-One-Half Stars from The Grandstander and a recommendation to all fans of Agatha Christie to read it, if only to gain another perspective on the author who has sold more books than anyone in history, save William Shakespeare.