Published By: Bedford Square
Pages: 224
Released On: 27/08/2026
In December of 1926, Agatha Christie vanished. Eleven days later, after frenzied media speculation, she was discovered alive and well. A century on, there are questions that have never been answered.
Now Christie biographer Laura Thompson seeks to penetrate the story of the greatest mystery ever created by the greatest ever mystery writer. In a new approach, Thompson undertakes a re-enactment of Christie’s movements: from the moment of driving away from her marital home, to the abandonment of her car and her arrival the following night at a Harrogate hotel. Based on conversations with people close to Christie – including her interviews with Christie’s only child, Rosalind – Eleven Days includes entirely new information about Christie’s first marriage.
Eleven episodes examine every aspect of the famous disappearance, seeking – as far as is possible – to penetrate the blank space in Agatha Christie’s long and brilliant life, which leaves her ever more emblematic of the genre that she defines.
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Bedford Square for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I’m going to make one point first that will be contradictory, I accept that. On the positive side, I thought I knew a lot of about Agatha’s life and her disappearance but Laura has provided me with so much more information. But on the other hand, it does feel ever so slightly like you’re just reading a list of facts and newspaper articles. And I argue with myself because what was I expecting? She couldn’t investigate herself and come up with ideas, it happened 100 years ago. So I really enjoyed what she had discovered but I wonder if there was a more fluid and natural way of putting it all together.
I’d have also liked a bit more of personality. Agatha Christie is clearly a passionate interest for Laura, that’s clear in the research done, but I would have liked to have read her personal thoughts on it more, rather than just rewriting what others had said.
There are a few photos, generally at the end of chapters. I’d have liked a bit more because they help add some background to the text.
It’s a shortish book which made it quick and easy to read and I’d finished it within one afternoon. It sounds bizarre considering I read it in the height of summer, but it felt more like a wintery book. Whether that’s because Agatha went missing in December, I don’t know, but it feels like it would really hit the mark if you read it whilst curled up in the cold under a fluffy blanket.
Whether you know much about Agatha Christie’s life or disappearance, or you don’t, I would still recommend it. Also to fans of crime novels, classic detective stories, of human nature, or unexplained mysteries.
I did enjoy it, I really did. I will never not be endlessly fascinated by this period of Agatha’s life. It gave me some new information and expanded on things I already knew, and you can clearly see Laura’s passion for Agatha and her life. It’s quick and easy to read. I would have liked it to have a better flow, and a bit more of Laura in it, so it didn’t read as 200+ pages of fact after fact. But that’s probably my only niggle.
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