The quotations from their jokey and sardonic letters to each other (often kidding on the square) are remarkable. Thompson also does an exceptional job of vividly and even-handedly portraying the other major figures in her subject’s life, including her mother, both husbands, and daughter Rosalind, with whom she had an uneasy but loving relationship. More than anything else I have read, this may be the definitive last word on the most dramatic but misunderstood event of Agatha Christie’s life. The one point (clearly signaled) where Thompson turns to fictional techniques, following thoughts and activities of her subject which no one could possibly know, is in her speculative but plausible reconstruction of Christie’s 1925 disappearance, which is followed by a calm exposition of the actual evidence. The author delves deeply into the psychology of her subject, using quotes from her detective novels and especially from her pseudonymous works as Mary Westmacott for insights into her beliefs and feelings, which can lead down a dangerous path but seems reasonable and apt here. While all have had points of interest, Thompson’s book may supersede Janet Morgan’s 1984 biography as the new standard. There have been dozens of books about Agatha Christie, and I have read or at least glanced at most of them.
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