Enjoyable, easy read but nothing really outstanding. I did not know of Gertrude Bell and now I want to find out more about her and the Wooleys. ( )

Agatha Christie is asked by Davison of the Secret Intelligence Service to go out to Ur and investigate the death of Gertrude Bell some two years earlier. As letters had been discovered which indicate that she feared for her life when on an archaeology dig in Ur run by a Mr and Mrs Woolley.
A very enjoyable well-written mystery with Agatha in the lead as a likable well-rounded character. Davison is also an amiable character, but also the secondary characters are well-defined.
Another delightful story in this series.
A NetGalley Book
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Compelling 1920's intrigue!

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 ( )

Author Agatha Christie goes to Iraq in 1928 on an undercover mission for the British intelligence service. She's been asked to investigate the suspicious death of archaeologist Gertrude Bell. This takes her to Ur where Professor Woolley is leading a dig and finding some treasures.

It's a clever plot although the process of elimination points to the killer well before the reveal. Despite that, it's a good read as tension is built up amongst the closed group of suspects. Agatha is not as sharp as Miss Marple but not as abrasive as Hercule Poirot. It's light entertainment.

This is the third book in the author's series about Agatha Christie as an amateur detective. It's not necessary to have read the previous ones to enjoy this one.

Recommended ( )

Agatha Christie is tasked, by letter, to what was then called Persia, now Baghdad, to investigate the death of Gertrude Bell. Her death was determined to be suicide. Gertrude was an English writer, traveler, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq, a very well respected woman in the Middle East. Gertrude felt that she was being followed and her life in danger so whether she committed suicide or was murdered has never been determined.

She was also in competition with another archeologist, Mrs. Woolley. Katharine who had an official position as an illustrator for the excavation at Ur. Katherine's first husband committed suicide, many speculate it was because Katherine suffered from Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, which meant that she could not have children.

In Death in a Desert has Agatha trying to figure out why Gertrude died finds herself in a totally separate murder mystery. Agatha befriends Mrs.Wooley and while Mrs.Wooley is brilliant and temperamental Agatha is still able to have empathy for her. A young girl gets into an argument with Mrs.Wooley and ends up dead. Mrs. Wooley is leaning over the body of the young women and of course, Mrs. Wooley becomes a suspect and is locked into her room. When the investigators are able to get there, they find that there is a young man who says he killed Sarah Archer.

Both suspects are kept locked in their rooms until the police can figure out who the true killer is. Agatha visits her in her room and begins to suspect Katherine's behavior to not be normal. Could she have been poisoned? There are substances that could be taken that would change a person's personality and that would explain a lot of things

There are a lot of well-fleshed characters that make this story very believable. I did not know until the end of the book, that this novel was based on the real lives of Gertrude Bell and Mrs.Wooley and her husband Leonard, and that the murder mystery was interwoven with the real events of these people. This is the first book I have read in this series and I think that I will go back and start from the beginning! A worthwhile read, a clean mystery but still a suspenseful who dun it. I really enjoyed the book and read it in a few sittings! ( )