A Talent for Murder

The 11 day disappearance of crime author Agatha Christie in the mid-1920s has been hashed over in books and articles many times, the consensus being she had suffered some kind of psychological disturbance brought on by stress, trauma or depression, although some went so far to call it a publicity stunt.
 
This novel takes another approach: that Christie was recruited by a blackmailer, the sinister and unscrupulous Dr Kurs, who wants to use her talents in poisons to get rid of his wife.
 
Right at the outset, it seems pretty ludicrous, that Christie would go along with his plans in order to protect her slightly sleazy husband’s reputation and, more importantly, stop something nasty happening to her daughter. She had plenty of opportunity to stop the waste of public money and time searching for her, to ease her family's distress and simply march into a police station, yet she gets sucked into the bad doctor’s trap, including following his instructions to go to Harrogate and stay in a hotel there under an assumed name while they plan the final dastardly coup de grace. The name she chooses is in fact the name of her husband’s mistress, Neele, which makes no sense whatsoever (that bit is true - a sign of mental distress if anything). But when Agatha gets pally with the intended victim, the plot plunges deeper into the syrup of implausible pulp.
 
Yet, all this aside, I must acknowledge that this is inventive, sharp and sassy writing and it is entertaining. The real story of Agatha’s disappearance remains fascinating as a study in mental health; there must be many individuals who live in the limelight who disappear for a few days under aliases just to get away from stress or simply to try and make sense of their lives. 

(Apparently this is the first in a series on Agatha Christie, sleuth, as my copy of the book includes the opening chapters of a second adventure in which the grande dame of crime gets involved in much more than just words.)
 
Three and a half stars.

 
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