Why would the world's most famous mystery writer disappear for eleven days? What makes a woman desperate enough to destroy another woman's marriage? How deeply can a person crave revenge?
In 1925, Miss Nan O'Dea infiltrated the wealthy, rarefied world of author Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie. In every way, she became a part of their life - first, both Christies. Then, just Archie. Soon, Nan became Archie's mistress, luring him away from his devoted wife, desperate to marry him. Nan's plot didn't begin the day she met Archie and Agatha.
It began decades before, in Ireland, when Nan was a young girl. She and the man she loved were a star-crossed couple who were destined to be together - until the Great War, a pandemic, and shameful secrets tore them apart. Then acts of unspeakable cruelty kept them separated.
What drives someone to murder? What will someone do in the name of love? What kind of crime can someone never forgive? Nina de Gramont's brilliant, unforgettable novel explores these questions and more.
"The Christie Affair is an ingenious new psychological suspense novel... richly imagined; inventive and, occasionally, poignant; and about as true-to-life as Christie's own tales." - The Washington Post
"Historical kinda-fiction, a thriller wrapped in romance, mystery, and some fascinating conjecture." - Goodreads
"Ingeniously plotted...gorgeously written." - Shelf Awareness
"A reimagining of Agatha Christie's famous 11-day disappearance, adding a murder mystery worthy of the dame herself... The story unfolds in a series of carefully placed vignettes you may find yourself reading and rereading, partly to get the details straight, partly to fully savor the well-turned phrases and the dry humor, partly so the book won't have to end, damn it. Devilishly clever, elegantly composed and structured--simply splendid." - Kirkus
"The author weaves a clever, highly original, mesmerizing tale filled with strange and unexpected turns and concludes it in an unexpected but wholly satisfying manner. With its superb writing, strong characterizations, and wonderfully imaginative plot, this is a must-read." - Booklist
"A superior thriller...gripping." - Publisher's Weekly
"A meta delight for fans of crime writing, The Christie Affair is a fictional murder mystery woven around the real-life disappearance of Agatha Christie. This enduring conundrum from 1926 is not so much fictionalized as creatively reimagined. Whether you know much about what happened then or not, you'll find this delicious whodunit totally irresistible." - Crime Reads
"Blending fact and fiction, The Christie Affair is a wonderfully clever take on Agatha Christie's mysterious real-life disappearance in 1926. The novel's narrator is Nan O'Dea--Agatha's husband's mistress--and over the course of 11 days, Nan and Agatha become entwined in each other's lives in ways neither expected. The story unfolds as if it were one of Christie's mysteries, rewarding the reader with the thrill of discovery over and over as de Gramont adds one silken thread at a time to her intricate web of love and revenge, agency and betrayal, murder and justice. And in true Agatha Christie fashion, when all is finally revealed and the full picture comes into focus, the result is unexpected, exhilarating, and enormously satisfying." - Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor
"An accomplished author, de Gramont takes a page from the great mystery writer herself and makes swift work of tying up loose ends as the story reaches its boiling point, leaving readers marvelously entertained and breathlessly connecting the dots." - Shelf Awareness
"The Christie Affair is a genuine marvel. An astonishingly clever novel that manages to be both a deeply satisfying mystery and a profoundly moving story about lost love and the many ways in which grief can shape one's character. Full of unexpected twists and written in beautiful prose, The Christie Affair brilliantly answers a question that has haunted readers for years: What happened to Agatha Christie in the days she was missing? Nina de Gramont takes this thread of a story and weaves it into a rich and vibrant tapestry." - Kristin Hannah, author of The Four Winds
"The Christie Affair is a pitch-perfect hat trick of a novel, delivering a fascinating glimpse into history, with the sensational and unexplained disappearance of Agatha Christie, a layered and completely satisfying murder mystery, and a moving, emotional rendering of love, loss, revenge and redemption--all with effortlessly stunning prose. I loved every page, and will be recommending this to everyone I know!" -
Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and When the Stars Go Dark
This novel about the 11-day disappearance of Agatha Christie, told from the point of view of Christie's husband's mistress, is such a delight: intriguing, fast-paced, and elegantly written. Nina de Gramont takes you on an adventure through the English countryside with as many twists and turns as, well, an Agatha Christie novel. The unlikely alliances, complex motivations, and jaw-dropping surprises will keep you riveted until the very last page." -- Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train and The Exiles