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The Agatha Christie Cure : What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me about Life
Overview
"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.
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9780593835302
- ISBN-10: 0593835301
- Publisher: Viking
- Publish Date: October 2026
- Dimensions: 8.53 x 5.82 x 1.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.95 pounds
- Page Count: 352
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British novelist and memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink (The Last Act of Love) first encountered Agatha Christie’s mysteries as a girl. Years later, despondent and dispirited as she grapples with a struggling marriage and her teenage son’s challenges in school, Rentzenbrink turns to Agatha (as she comes to call her) for solace, inspiration and insight into life. She sets herself a challenge to read all 66 Christie crime novels in order, from The Mysterious Affair at Styles to Sleeping Murder. (She also reads the six novels Christie published under a pseudonym and her autobiography.) The result is The Agatha Christie Cure: What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me About Life, an endearing and intimate exploration of the world’s most celebrated mystery author, interspersed with Rentzenbrink’s reflections on her own life, career and motherhood. Rentzenbrink has a fluid, engaging style, and as she gets to know Christie, readers will as well. Of course, the most talked-about incident in the author’s life is her 11-day disappearance in December 1926 before being discovered in a hotel in Harrogate, England. The incident, and Archie Christie’s claim that his wife had no memory of the events, changed Christie’s life. At first, Rentzenbrink intended to pass over Harrogate in writing this book, yet it became impossible to ignore. “If we see Agatha’s life as a train journey—and why not, when she loved trains so much—and all her books as stations, then Harrogate is an explosion that wrenches her off track.” Rentzenbrink lays out the facts as they’re known, but it’s her deep empathy for her subject that makes her attempt to understand what happened so powerful. The Harrogate episode also becomes a touchstone for the lessons the author takes away from her immersion into Christie’s life and work. At the outset of Rentzenbrink’s quest, she, like Christie, felt the urge to disappear. Christie’s resilience and eventual recovery from Harrogate help Rentzenbrink to gain perspective. She credits the famed detective novelist with teaching her to balance the often competing demands of being a writer, a teacher and a mother. By studying Christie, Rentzenbrink reflects, she’s also learned to be “properly present. I don’t feel like I’m playing or pretending anymore. I write. I mother. I live. I make mistakes and get over them. I grieve. I flinch. I laugh and cry, often at the same time. I survive.” While the memoir aspects are appealing, The Agatha Christie Cure is at its best when Christie’s novels and life take center stage. Rentzenbrink, who once worked as a bookseller, includes a helpful list of Christie’s oeuvre, making it easy for others to follow her reading journey. As for her favorites, the author admits she changes her mind a lot, but The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder at the Vicarage are high on her list. What about you?
British novelist and memoirist Cathy Rentzenbrink (The Last Act of Love) first encountered Agatha Christie’s mysteries as a girl. Years later, despondent and dispirited as she grapples with a struggling marriage and her teenage son’s challenges in school, Rentzenbrink turns to Agatha (as she comes to call her) for solace, inspiration and insight into life. She sets herself a challenge to read all 66 Christie crime novels in order, from The Mysterious Affair at Styles to Sleeping Murder. (She also reads the six novels Christie published under a pseudonym and her autobiography.) The result is The Agatha Christie Cure: What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me About Life, an endearing and intimate exploration of the world’s most celebrated mystery author, interspersed with Rentzenbrink’s reflections on her own life, career and motherhood. Rentzenbrink has a fluid, engaging style, and as she gets to know Christie, readers will as well. Of course, the most talked-about incident in the author’s life is her 11-day disappearance in December 1926 before being discovered in a hotel in Harrogate, England. The incident, and Archie Christie’s claim that his wife had no memory of the events, changed Christie’s life. At first, Rentzenbrink intended to pass over Harrogate in writing this book, yet it became impossible to ignore. “If we see Agatha’s life as a train journey—and why not, when she loved trains so much—and all her books as stations, then Harrogate is an explosion that wrenches her off track.” Rentzenbrink lays out the facts as they’re known, but it’s her deep empathy for her subject that makes her attempt to understand what happened so powerful. The Harrogate episode also becomes a touchstone for the lessons the author takes away from her immersion into Christie’s life and work. At the outset of Rentzenbrink’s quest, she, like Christie, felt the urge to disappear. Christie’s resilience and eventual recovery from Harrogate help Rentzenbrink to gain perspective. She credits the famed detective novelist with teaching her to balance the often competing demands of being a writer, a teacher and a mother. By studying Christie, Rentzenbrink reflects, she’s also learned to be “properly present. I don’t feel like I’m playing or pretending anymore. I write. I mother. I live. I make mistakes and get over them. I grieve. I flinch. I laugh and cry, often at the same time. I survive.” While the memoir aspects are appealing, The Agatha Christie Cure is at its best when Christie’s novels and life take center stage. Rentzenbrink, who once worked as a bookseller, includes a helpful list of Christie’s oeuvre, making it easy for others to follow her reading journey. As for her favorites, the author admits she changes her mind a lot, but The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Murder at the Vicarage are high on her list. What about you?