The Agatha Christie Cure: What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me About Life

“Part memoir, part meditation on the life and work of Agatha Christie . . . moving, enlightening, hopeful, and a joy to read.”
—Paula Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Blue Hour

One recent Christmas, journalist and Sunday Times bestselling memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink finds herself drained by life’s upheavals. In need of comfort and escape, she turns to her first literary love: Agatha Christie.

As Cathy delves into Christie’s novels, and her mysterious disappearance in 1926, she discovers more than she expected. Beyond the hidden jewels, detectives, and thrilling escapes on trains and automobiles, Cathy unearths an adventurer and innovator who hid—within the pages of her own books—the secrets of how she survived a personal crisis and started life again. With the Queen of Crime at her side, Cathy soon begins finding answers to questions she hadn’t even realized she was asking.

A literary detective story and a memoir of finding hope in reading, this journey into the heart of the most successful writer of the twentieth century is the perfect tonic for anyone in search of life-affirming resilience, and proof that if ever you’re lonely, tired, and in need of solace, getting in the bath with an Agatha Christie is always an excellent idea.