Compelling 1920's intrigue!
Death in a Desert Land (Agatha Christie #3) by Andrew Wilson
Wilson continues his fictionalized stories about Agatha Christie's life, positing her travels and adventures partly as undercover work for British Intelligence, as supporting her detecting aspirations, and as gathering material for her writing. An inspired idea, the reimagined life of Agatha!
Agatha has been asked by her friend and Intelligence Officer Davison to go to Ur by way of Bagdad to investigate the death of a prominent archaeologist, writer and Intelligence Officer Gertrude Bell. (Bell also helped drafted the antiquities law in Iraq. Given the rape of antiquities from the Middle East and Egypt this was an important accomplishment for the times).
Agatha is presented as a quiet force, still reeling with self doubts after her infamous disappearance, followed by her divorce from her husband Archie. To those she meets she is a crime writer with interests in archaelogy.
The buildup of tension over time, the brutal death of a young heiress at the Dig near the Ur Ziggurat, the accusations and actions against the accused Mrs Woolley, are full of acrominy and hate, bordering on hysteria. Throw in others with secrets and there is a downward spiral towards chaos with too many clues. Agatha is dealing with a group of strangers throwing off the shackles of civilized behavior, and the real possibly of descent into anarchy.
Agatha has her hands full as she searches for clues and brings together hunches and facts, and in consummate Hercule Poirot fashion unveils the murderer, and the hidden plot within a plot
I commend the author's detailing of the facts behind this story at the end of the novel. In this section background information is given that is not only informative but attests to the quite rigorous research Wilson has engaged in, thus shaping this intriguing addition to the novels about Agatha Christie, the person.
A solid historical crime/mystery read!
An Atria Books ARC via NetGalley
*****
Agatha has been asked by her friend and Intelligence Officer Davison to go to Ur by way of Bagdad to investigate the death of a prominent archaeologist, writer and Intelligence Officer Gertrude Bell. (Bell also helped drafted the antiquities law in Iraq. Given the rape of antiquities from the Middle East and Egypt this was an important accomplishment for the times).
Agatha is presented as a quiet force, still reeling with self doubts after her infamous disappearance, followed by her divorce from her husband Archie. To those she meets she is a crime writer with interests in archaelogy.
The buildup of tension over time, the brutal death of a young heiress at the Dig near the Ur Ziggurat, the accusations and actions against the accused Mrs Woolley, are full of acrominy and hate, bordering on hysteria. Throw in others with secrets and there is a downward spiral towards chaos with too many clues. Agatha is dealing with a group of strangers throwing off the shackles of civilized behavior, and the real possibly of descent into anarchy.
Agatha has her hands full as she searches for clues and brings together hunches and facts, and in consummate Hercule Poirot fashion unveils the murderer, and the hidden plot within a plot
I commend the author's detailing of the facts behind this story at the end of the novel. In this section background information is given that is not only informative but attests to the quite rigorous research Wilson has engaged in, thus shaping this intriguing addition to the novels about Agatha Christie, the person.
A solid historical crime/mystery read!
An Atria Books ARC via NetGalley
*****
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