🎧 Listened in audio | 📢 Narrated by Patti Murin
⏱ Duration: 12 hours | 🏷️ Publisher: Penguin Random House and Spotify
📅 Published: August 26, 2025 | 📖 Genre: Cozy Mystery
Book Blurb:
Tory Van Dyne is the down-to-earth member of a wildly eccentric old-money New York family. She’s a book conservator at Manhattan’s Mystery Guild Library, and she’s happily left uptown society behind. Then a woman in the library’s Christie Room introduces herself as Agatha Christie, asks for a cocktail, and says she’s here to help solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet. When Tory’s cousin Nicola lands in the middle of a suspicious death, Tory turns to the self-proclaimed Mrs. Christie. Together with a snarky librarian, an eleven-year-old computer whiz, and an NYPD detective with questionable taste in suits, they start untangling a killer’s devious mind.
Let’s talk … murder!!!
Picture this: you’re a book conservator minding your own business when a woman in the library’s Christie Room asks for a cocktail and announces she’s Agatha Christie, here to help with a murder that hasn’t happened yet. Tory’s side-eye is fully earned, and that setup is the whole charm. Patti Murin’s narration is the secret ingredient, balancing wary skepticism and starstruck Christie glee in one breath. Her Saylor, an eleven-year-old with peak teenage nonchalance, had me grinning on the spot.
This book is a buffet for bookworms. Every chapter opens with a Christie quote that suits the mood, and the nods to Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club and Tana French made me squeal. Nick treating abrus like Advil cracked me up, Tory’s nagging inner monologue is so me it’s embarrassing, and Mairead walked in and quietly stole the show. Confession: I read book two first, so I already knew Mrs. Christie was a ghost here to stay. It didn’t spoil anything, but I missed details like Adrian’s storyline and Sebastian’s “click” being a blink-and-memorize habit, not a pen. Learn from me and go in order.
My one gripe is the finale. Twist is stacked on twist until there are enough mysteries for two books. I ordered a cup of tea and got the full high-tea tower. Still, it’s all served with so much charm that I happily finished every course. A charming, nostalgic, ghost-flavored whodunit that’s nearly perfect in audio, with a finale that tries to be a three-course meal.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, and I’d say go for the audio. Patti Murin gives this ghostly Christie caper so much personality that I smiled through most of it. The nostalgia, the bookish Easter eggs, and a cast you want to hang out with make up for a finale that tries to do too much. If you love cozy mysteries with a wink, this is a fun pick for your next book club. Just start with book one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you liked this, try these
- The Maid by Nita Prose: a quirky, big-hearted heroine stumbles into a murder in a grand hotel, with plenty of Christie-style charm and a cozy feel.
- Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz: a bookish, Christie-flavored puzzle for anyone who loves mysteries about mysteries.
- The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths: a cozy for book lovers, full of literary charm and quirky amateur sleuths.
- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie: the original, if Mrs. Christie made you want to revisit the queen herself.
- The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston: a warm, funny story with a ghost in it, for readers who loved the supernatural twist here.
Which Literary Ghost Would You Hire?
If a legendary author’s ghost showed up to help you crack a case, who would you want on your team, and what would you offer them to drink? 🍸 And be honest: do you read series in order, or have you ever jumped in at book two like I did? Tell me in the comments!
Book Links:
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