Review: A Talent For Murder by Andrew Wilson

The epigraph on the front cover of my copy of a Talent For Murder reads: A mystery worthy of Agatha herself and that, I think, sums up the essence of the novel. It is not a new concept--speculating what happened to beloved British author Agatha Christie during the ten days in which she disappeared--but author Andrew Wilson plots this novel so cleverly and so carefully, blending fact with a mystery that makes one feel as though they really are reading a Christie novel that I found myself entirely caught up in the plot.

The facts, as many of you will already know, is that in 1926 Agatha Christie went missing for ten days. Her car was found abandoned the day after she went missing. Ten days after her disappearance she was recognised by staff at a hotel in London and had checked in under the name of Mrs Theresa Neele. In A Talent for Murder, author Andrew Wilson creates a cracking great read whereby the Agatha Christie is blackmailed by a doctor to poison his wife, and the author has to find a way out. Meanwhile, the local police aren't doing terribly well at solving the disappearance, the story has whipped up a frenzy in the media and a young, aspiring journalist might find herself in harms way ...

In many respects, this one read just like a Christie novel and that, at its heart, it what makes it such an enjoyable read. The writing is clever, as is the plotting. I picked this one up only intending to read a chapter or so, but soon got caught up in the whole thing.

Recommended.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for my ARC.

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