I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writing is excellent, and it held my interest from beginning to end. I was ready for a lighter book, and this filled the bill. It is a fictionalization of the period in Agatha Christie's life after her divorce from her first husband. It is filled with travel to exotic locales, a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, and a bit of adventure. ( )

Re-read, July 2022: Some plot points stray into soap opera territory, but the writing is just so good that it kept me speeding along and fully engrossed, just as I was the first time.

Original review follows:

Easy reading, interesting storytelling and weaving of real life and fiction. Set in the time after Agatha Christie's divorce, the book takes advantage of a trip she made on the Orient Express to Baghdad to make a fresh start. Some of the other characters are from real life, some are inventions. Thematically it's a bit PG-13 because part of the storyline involves the fallout from an affair of an invented character. ( )

Its an interesting story based on elements of Agatha Christie's life. The writing is very good. The author does an excellent job of capturing the language of the time in both the dialog and prose. There are times where the story does drag a bit, but these are usually punctuated by some major event. ( )

3.5 - just for fun stars.

I think Agatha Christie would be delighted to find herself a fictional character involved in an oriental adventure in the company of two other women that she just happened to meet on a train. Ashford's imagination of what might have happened on Agatha's voyage on the Orient Express in 1928 felt true and possible, and what more can you ask?

I needed a palate cleanser after two many hard, serious books, and this little gem was just the ticket. I found each of the women fascinating in their own right, such different personalities, but showing that all experiences are universal...most of us have stood on one side or the other and failed to examine the flip side of the coin.

I hope the real Agatha Christie recovered from her divorce and all the publicity of her mysterious disappearance that made headlines and heartaches. I have never pictured her as a beautiful woman, having seen mostly older photographs, but a quick google of her showed a young woman who might have turned many of the heads around her.

I cannot say I am a true fan of Christie, although I have read and enjoyed a number of her books. However, I do think it is fun to find a well-known person scuttling about in the pages of a modern novel, if the writer can do it well--and Lindsay Jayne Ashford does. ( )

I didn't have a clue what the book was about when I started to read this book. I thought this book would have some kind of mystery that that would inspire Agatha Christe to write one her mystery books. It wasn't until I had read perhaps half the book that I read the blurb and I'm glad that I did not read it before because I thought it gave away a little too much for my taste. I preferred to discover key events rather than knowing before I start a book.

As for the mysteries in this book. Well, I can't say that this book turned out as I thought it would. But, still, I quite liked the book. I liked the women's stories, their friendship as they started to get to know each other. Some things are based on real events and real people and some are the author's inventions like Nancy Nelson. And, this may not have turned out to be the murder mystery story that I thought it would be, but I enjoyed traveling with the women on the Orient Express and later on their time in the Middle East. I love reading about travels in the beginning of the 2000-century. For some reason, it's just so much more exotic, and thrilling to follow people as they travel back then. Especially women like Katharine Keeling who was a real famous archeologist. Nowadays, well everyone is flying everywhere and there are tourists all over the globe.

So, despite not turning out as I thought it would, did I enjoy the book. I liked the writing style and I especially liked reading about three interesting women.

3.5 stars

I want to thank Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book through NetGalley! ( )