It is no secret I am a big Agatha Christie Fan, and her own mysterious 11 day disappearance in 1926 is a fascinating subject, especially as Christie herself refused to talk about it. So when the prospect of a Murder Mystery told from the perspective of the mistress that prompted Christie to abscond I leapt at the chance to read it early. Unfortunately I was left disappointed.

The first half of the book really drew me in. it was really interesting laying out the ground work of the fictional tale around the factual information of Christie’s life up to the day she disappeared. De Gramont managed to blur the line between fact and fiction really effectively and I did enjoy that there were a number of nods to Christies works, with side characters sharing names with well known characters from her books. What I did find strange was that this was acknowledged by the character of Nan as where Christie got the names for those characters, but the character of Christie did not actually meet half of these characters throughout this story. It was little details like this that occurred about 50% of t6he way through that really turned the tide of opinion for me on this one.

What was really disappointing for me was the mystery itself. It didn’t actually hold much influence on the story itself. We got a lot of background but when it came to the actual mystery it was almost skipped over, blink and you would miss it. It was bland and held nothing of the intrigue that you would expect being so closely linked to Christie. The Agatha Christie aspects could have been completely removed from the book and the same story with the same amount of emotional impact could have been told. Christie was more of a McGuffin to the story, just an pretty convivence to hang the story on and not really integral to the overall narrative.

The ending itself was also a real miss for me. Instead of Christie’s reappearance and following actual history, the book embraces its fiction and puts in a rather forced happy ending with a bizarre romance twist which I just didn’t get at all. Why twist what actually happened? Again it just didn’t leave me happy as a reader.

I picked this book up as a Christie fan, I wanted to a Christie worthy mystery and I feel I was miss sold what this book was about. I got an interesting emotional tale of the hardships of post war Ireland with a damp squib of a murder mystery slapped on the end. It just didn’t excite me as a reader.

Lucy Scott’s narration was clear and the characterization of Nan as narrator was fantastic.

Much has been made of the 11 day disappearance of mystery author Agatha Christie in 1926. Here, we have a fictionalised account of what could have happened. What would the queen of murder mysteries think of such a story? I expect she would be tickled pink to have her own personal mystery so ingeniously devised and executed.

The story is told from the view point of Nan O'Dea, Agatha's husband's piece on the side. A bold move but it works so well as she is frank and brutally honest in her own fashion, feeding much depth and emotion into the story. Maybe not wholly plausible but a number of fantastic twists along the way to keep the reader attentive.

I listened to the audio of this novel and am most pleased I did. The excellence of the narration and variety of voice stylings impressed me. Quite a bit of ground was covered, vocally, with the proper cut glass English accent of Agatha, the rough London accent of young Nan and a bit of Irish thrown in as well. A comfortable story to listen to and sink into, I feel it's an inspired bit of fiction with twists aplenty to please Ms. Christie and her many fans.

This novel exceeded my expectations. The diction of the narrator was clear and soothing. Although about the disappearance of Agatha Christie it was told from the POV of Nan, Archie's mistress and we learn her fictional back story. The book is well crafted with lots of surprises and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to friends.

I have throughly enjoyed listening to this wonderful story. It's clever, heart warming and sad at times.
The narrator Lucy did a stirling job with each of the characters. I particularly found a comfort and authentic her west indian accent for the character of the hotel manager Mrs Leach. The narrator Lucy held my attention throughout.

And now onto the story itself, what a delight of a read. A highly recommended read.

A tale of murder, mystery, revenge, love and loss. I have never read an Agatha Christie book yet the premise of the novel drew me in to request it, This one deals with a period of time when Agatha famously disappeared for 11 days and with no reason or explanation why. The cleverly novel centers around Christie, her husbands mistress Nan O'Dae. Without giving any more of the plot away, i just urge you to pick it up and be wisked away into the charm of this historical fiction title.

I will champion this novel. It deserves all the praise and success.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan for my ARC.

A creative and clever spin on Agatha Christie's infamous disappearance, told from the perspective of Archie's mistress, Nan. I read this anticipating that I could learn more about Agatha and her life - and in some ways this was true - but what really stood out was how powerful the romance between Nan and Finbarr, a man she met a long time before Archie, is and the subsequent tragedies that befall them. Nan's past is told so well and covers such important content that in some ways, I think this might have worked better if it was solely based on this and removed Agatha and Archie altogether. There are also some obvious ethical issues with casting a fictional history on people whose direct relatives are still alive. That said, I very much enjoyed this audiobook and thought it was well narrated.

Unfortunately I didn't connect with this book. The writing was beautiful but I had trouble connecting to the character and the backstory chapters of the mistress. I haven't reviewed this anywhere else as I don't believe in sharing negative reviews publicly and am only reviewing on here as it's a part of the process. This was my issue connecting. Other readers have obviously enjoyed this book and I suggest readers make their own decision.

As an avid Christie fan, something just didn’t sit right with me about her charactization, she sometimes came across dim, sometimes aristocratic and sometimes not.

The main character - Nan was telling the story but spoke of events that she did not witness/ have no way of knowing the details. This just constantly left me wondering, is she making things up - conjecture ? Did she just kidnap Christie.

The other thing, one that I suppose I should have known I was letting myself in for (But hey I love Agatha Christie so I’ll read anything with/about or by her) was the characterisation of Agatha compared to Nan - I feel like there were times where the Author went out of their way to try and make us like Nan more than Agatha.

That being said the things I did like about this audiobook was -

The plot was super intriguing and told from a very original point of view. Nan was an amazing character and you could see her development as the story progressed. If I was able to connect with the characters more I would have been hooked !

The narrator did an amazing job bringing all the characters to live, it was thoroughly engrossing

Over all a solid read but maybe one that was just not for me

This was entertaining enough as a story, but this wasn't for me. While it's all very well filling in the blanks of the 11 days of absence, this shouldn't include a story that changes true facts. Agatha Christie's daughter isn't adopted as far as I can tell (I'm not an expert on these matters), but to alter facts like that to fit the story is a step too far. I also didn't like the implication that the narrator imagined Chilton was able to move his arm (that was immobile) at the end, as if removing his disability made it more romantic. Ableism if I ever heard it.

In 1926, author Agatha Christie went missing for 11 days. When questioned she claimed not to remember what happened. At the time the mystery became an international sensation. She has since gone on to become one of the best selling authors of all time and we still don’t know what happened during those 11 days.

In The Christie Affair, Nina de Gramont spins a gripping murder mystery based on some of the real people in Agatha’s life. The effects of world war and pandemic on the young people of the post-first world war years is shown in a story which delves into some of the darker aspects of recent history.

At the beginning of the book I wasn’t sure where the story was heading and whether I would enjoy one based on the effects of the illicit affair of Agatha’s husband, but as we see Nan O’Dea’s motivations and learn of her past in flash backs, you very much come to empathise with her.

Listening to this book has made me more interested in learning about Agatha Christie’s life as well as keen to read more of Nina’s books in the future.

I enjoyed the narration and felt the pacing and intonation fitted the story well.

Being an avid Agatha Christie reader I was keen to listen to this audiobook and I was not disappointed. The Christie Affair is a glorious piece of fiction giving us an insight into what happened around the eleven days Agatha Christie disappeared after she found out her husband was having an affair. And even more of a twist - the story is told from the angle of the Mistress who was having the affair with Agathas husband Archie. Nan O Dea is an interesting character in her own right (her real name was Nancy Neele) and was friends of Agatha and Archies before the affair began. The book is based on truths and I found it completely absorbing. Lucy Scott’s narration is excellent and her expertise in story telling drags you in. Surely there must be a movie made out of this book? Thank you to Netgalley and to Macmillan Audio for my gifted copy.

We all know Agatha Christie. She's the Queen of Crime. We all know or are aware of at least one of her creations and one of her mysteries. And we all know that, in 1926, the author vanished for 11 days and no one knows the truth about what happened to her as she never spoke of it. Even in her autobiography, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, she brushes those days and never speaks of it. The only thing she says about that time is the two books she wrote around that time - The Big Four & The Mystery of the Blue Train - are the two stories she had difficulty writing and most disliked.

And main people are curious over those missing days as, before she vanished, her husband told her he was leaving her for his mistress - Nancy Neele - and her beloved mother died months earlier. And the fact that Agatha never spoke about it has us still puzzled to this day. Did she have a nervous breakdown? Did she vanish to spite her husband, hoping he will leave his mistress and return to her? Did she vanish to frame him of her murder and start a new life?

And many authors/films/TV shows have tried to guess. We have Andrew Wilson's A Talent for Murder, suggesting Agatha was being blackmailed to commit murder. We have the movie, Agatha (starring Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave), that suggests that Agatha was planning to kill herself and frame her husband's mistress. We have TV movie, Agatha And The Truth of Murder, an alternative history, that suggests that she was solving the real life murder of Florence Nightingale's goddaughter, Florence Nightingale Shore. Hell, we even had a Doctor Who episode - The Unicorn and the Wasp - that suggested aliens were involved in her disappearance (it's a delightful episode, FYI). And, more recently, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict and now The Christie Affair.

Told from the point of view of Archie Christie's fictional mistress, Nan O'Dea (not Nancy Neele), we see what happened and we look into Nan's past and wonder...

Now, let me be honest: I can't help feeling as if I was missold this book. I was expecting mystery, twists, turns with an edge of heartbreak. I was expecting something very Christie in tone. Maybe this is my fault, but when you use Agatha Christie has a huge selling point, you expect a fiendish plot, right?

So, why do I feel as if I've been tricked somehow?

On the surface, this was a good story. Well-written, well-plotted (though slow in places), with fleshed out characters (Nan could have been so easily written as an unfeeling mistress, but that wasn't the case). Everything, on the surface, is good.

And yet... it isn't. This book has many issues that we simply can't get away from.


The first is who is telling the story? Nan, as this is first person narration. And yet, multiply times, she takes us away and talks about characters, situations, conversations, events that she has no idea about, but gets the general understanding of after the fact. So, at times, the reader goes "But she did she really know this? Is she making this up? How can we honestly know?"

The second is this book can't seem to make up its mind what it wants to be. Is this a book about Agatha Christie's disappearance? Is this a book about Nan and her past in Ireland? Is this a murder mystery (a murder that happens a good 60-odd way through the book)? These, at times, felt like three very separate plots that are pulling the reader away and come together near the end (90%) and then, we don't get to see the fallout as one or two details/plotholes are brushed aside.

I keep coming back to the idea that this was missold and, instead of this book being sold of "What happened to Agatha Christie?" and make readers think this is a mystery (it's a little lacking for my tastes), this book should be sold as "This is about two women - the wife and the mistress".

This is a hugely enjoyable book and I devoured the audiobook over the Christmas period, but I can't get away from the fact that I feel a little conned over what I promised and what was delivered...

A really engaging and enthralling take on the missing days that Agatha Christie never talked about in her lifetime.

I found the book really well narrated and the narrator brought the story to life.

The author took a period of time no one really knows about and puts a new spin on it that could be plausible and turns it on It’s head with interconnected character and a mystery within a mystery.

Sometimes this book was a little slow, but if you like atmospheric reads with lots going on, this would be a good recommendation.

The Christie Affair is a stunning novel which reimagines the unexplained eleven-day disappearance of Agatha Christie in 1926 that captivated the world.

The narration has good pace and flow,and the narrators voices seemed right for the characters they were portraying. I listened to this as an audio book and felt the narrators really helped bring the story to life.

The mystery of Agatha Christie’s disappearance for some days is one that has caused intrigue and speculation for decades. The Christie Affair attempts to meld fact and fiction and create an explanation. It sounds intriguing but this story hasn’t worked at all for me. There are conflicts throughout which grate. The Christie’s are described as upper class when in reality they were middle class. Agatha’s characteristics in terms of temperament and attitudes don’t gel and she comes across as rather stupid at times, which I don’t think is an accurate depiction.

Nan, the first person narrator has a whole backstory based on her Irish background and that feels like a different book and story. Her affair with Agathas husband is a fiction and it’s piggy backed into the Christie story. I had little sympathy for Nan and found her story intrusive and irrelevant to what ought to have been the central event. I rarely give up on audio titles, but I can’t maintain any interest in this title and I’ve given up at 35%. The narration is good, but the story is confused.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley

I'm afraid that this feels like a rather cynical attempt to gather readers/listeners by using the Christie name and the hook of the famous missing eleven days, whereas most of the book is focused on the fictional character Nan, who replaces the real-life Nancy Neele, the woman for whom Archie Christie left Agatha.

Firstly, there are ethical issues, I felt, in appropriating a story featuring real characters and then replacing one of them with a fictional stand-in. Secondly, the 'Agatha' of the book bears little relationship to the woman we know from her books, her autobiography and biographies. There is a misunderstanding that the Christies were upper class/aristocratic whereas they were solidly middle-class. And the characterisation falls apart all too easily: one minute 'Agatha', we're told, has been brought up to be stiff-upper-lipped, the next she's screaming hysterically at her husband.

The other part of Nan's story feels like a standalone novel artificially attached to the Christie one: a long, slow and rather clichéd backstory of romantic tragedy in Ireland. Every so often, it's like the Christie story gets remembered but even then there are all kinds of technical issues around how a first person narrator, especially 'the other woman' can know what's going through Christie's mind and what happens in scenes where she herself is not present.

So sorry, I though this would be fun but I actually found it slow, messy and just not very well thought through or put together.

Oh dear, this was sadly not at all my cup of tea. I think the main issue was for me that the way I imagined the characters was way different from the way the author portrayed them. Sadly not for me.

However, I will say that the audiobook production and the narrator were excellent. I don’t think I would have finished the book otherwise.

The Christie Affair is a brilliant mystery, well-written, fascinating and compelling. It’s important to remember that it is a work of fiction and doesn’t claim to be a historically accurate account of the disappearance of Agatha Christie. Actually, it is much more than that. This book is a gripping drama, with several complex intertwined story lines, written in a powerful and effective writing style. It is loosely based on some real characters and true events, which adds some authenticity in places. As well as reading the story, I listened to the audio version in some parts and the narration was excellent.

**Listened to audio version**

This book has had so much hype, I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately though this book didn't live up to the hype and I found it very misleading. I thought it would be about Agatha Christie's 'missing days' - but the focus wasn't really on Christie, but on Mr Christie's mistress - Nan.
I didn't want to hear from her, I also really disliked her from the beginning. The book promises to reveal (all being fictional) what happened during Agatha Christie's missing days, yet it is told through the perspective of Nan. Really confusing, and not what it said 'on the tin' so to speak.

The narrator was OK, but because the character of Nan was so unlikeable, I found the narrator of the audiobook slightly annoying - but I think this is only because of the perspective of the narrative.

Overall, I found this really disappointing. The pacing was slow, and I struggled to 'get into it'. I didn't enjoy Gramont's writing style.