the case of the perfect maid by agatha christie

And, through her eyes, we finally get to solve the ultimate Agatha Christie mystery. She has a story of her own to tell, one that is heartbreaking and tough to read at times. She becomes so much more than 'the mistress' who broke up a marriage. This beautiful novel by Nina de Gramont finally gives Nan a voice. Yes, you read that right, it's a mouth full, but Nan was the mistress of Archie Christie and went on to marry him after he divorced Agatha. In fact, the only people in on the secret were the mystery writer herself and, according to The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont at least, Christies's husband's mistress.

And even less people know where she was and what she did during that time.

Most of us have probably picked up an Agatha Christie (or ten) in our time, but not many people know that she was entangled in a real-life mystery herself, as she disappeared without a trace for eleven days in 1926. It creates an extra layer of distance between the reader and the supposed truth, and it makes for one hell of a (boat) ride! What makes this debut by Tom Hindle especially gripping – and tricky to figure out – is that it's told from the perspective of one of the ship's officers trailing behind the investigator, rather than the detective himself. What ensues is a twisty tale about the cunning people in the art world, an infamous and invaluable painting that may or may not exist, a potentially fraudulent banker, and death threats. A detective from Scotland Yard, who just happens to be on the same boat, offers up his services to figure out whether it was foul play. It's 1924 and an elderly man is found dead next to a staircase on the Endeavour from Southhampton to New York.

With the Kenneth Branagh adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile hitting cinemas next month, at last, it's the perfect time for another water-based whodunnit to hit bookshelves.

The case of the perfect maid by agatha christie