In December 1926 Agatha
Christie became front-page news when she vanished in bizarre
circumstances from her home in Berkshire, England. The
crime writer was found eleven days later in a hotel in
Harrogate,Yorkshire, claiming to be the victim of amnesia.
Up till now none of her biographers has come up with conclusive
evidence as to what Agatha Christie did in the first twenty-four
hours after she disappeared or whether her memory loss
was genuine. Although the notoriety made Agatha Christie
famous, she never recovered from the intense press
scrutiny, and the private anguish that surrounded the
episode ensured that she made no reference to it in
her memoirs.Illustrated with many hitherto unpublished
photographs, Jared Cade's riveting book – on which
a BBC television documentary has been based – provides
all the answers, including startling accounts by the novelist's surviving
relatives, that reveal for the first time why she staged the disappearance
with the help of a co-conspiritor and how it all went terribly wrong
. . .
‘A brilliant job of research .
. .Jared Cade has succeeded where all we other writers
failed to trace what really happened to Agatha on the night
of the disappearance.’– Gwen Robyns, author of The
Mystery of Agatha Christie
‘A page-turner.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘This thoughtful and absorbing inquiry into Agatha Christie's eleven-day
disappearance lends credible dimension to the complex life story of mystery's
most celebrated practitioner. Well done!’ – Sue Grafton
‘Jared Cade paints a brilliant picture of the tabloid press turning a
disappearance and possible murder into a national jamboree.’ – Robert
Barnard, author of A Talent to Deceive: An Appreciation of Agatha Christie
‘His meticulously researched and interestingly illustrated volume
is fascinating to read.’ – Charles Osborne, author of The Life and
Crimes of Agatha Christie
‘Affectionate and objective.’ – Alan Travis, Guardian
‘A gripping detective story.’ – Harpers & Queen
‘He has proved himself to be a detective so meticulous and thorough
that Agatha herself would have been proud’ – Northern
Echo
‘This is the only biography that tells Agatha's life story as it
really was. Jared Cade's insight into her personality is unsurpassed.’ – Judith
and Graham Gardner, relatives of Agatha Christie
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