A Talent for Murder by Andrew Wilson

My Chronicle Book Box Review:

By the winter of 1926, Agatha Christie was a household name as a crime writer. Her disappearance was well publicised and yet, the events of those ten days have never been fully explained; except to say that Mrs Christie suffered a temporary mental breakdown and amnesia. Andrew Wilson has utilised both in-depth historical research and his imagination to create an intricate and ingenious storyline to explain this mysterious disappearance in December 1926. While this is an homage to Mrs Christie, Wilson has not simply tried to replicate her writing style and it is a little more graphic than a Christie work, as befits a 21^st century writer.

The book is written from four points of view which allows us to see not only Mrs Christie’s experience but also to view the police investigation with Superintendent William Kenward and portrays the point of view of the public and the level of concern her disappearance engendered. Mrs Christie’s is the predominant and in my opinion the most successful, voice.

The use of the preface to set up a feeling of suspense and dread from the first page was masterful. It had me seriously contemplating whether our beloved Mrs Christie could indeed, not just plot, but commit a murder if leveraged sufficiently. This was a time of personal emotional turmoil for Agatha Christie and the whole book was very emotive.

The microscopic detail of the historically accurate facts included is not fully apparent until they are spelt out at the back of the book and the story just becomes even more credible. I would never have imagined that Agatha dancing to ‘Oh! We have no bananas!’ was historical fact, but Andrew Wilson has unearthed witness testimony to this effect.

I am not sure my review does it justice as I have tried hard not to give too much away, but this an extraordinary novel due to both the subject matter and the way it has been handled and written by Andrew Wilson. I highly recommend it.

Hi, I'm Louise the founder of My Chronicle Book Box and I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog post.

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