The Agatha Christie Cure: What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me About Life

by Cathy Rentzenbrink

One Christmas, Cathy Rentzenbrink finds herself drained by life’s upheavals. In need of comfort and escape, she turns to her first literary love: Agatha Christie.

As Cathy delves into Agatha’s novels and her mysterious disappearance in 1926, she discovers more than she expected. Beyond the hidden jewels, detectives and thrilling escapes on trains and automobiles, Cathy unearths an adventurer and innovator who hid – within the pages of her own books – the secrets of how she survived a personal crisis and started life again. With the Queen of Crime at her side, Cathy soon begins finding answers to questions she hadn’t even realised she was asking.

A literary detective story and a memoir of finding hope in reading, this journey into the heart of the most successful writer of the 20th century is the perfect tonic for anyone in search of life-affirming resilience, and proof that if ever you’re lonely, tired and in need of solace, getting in the bath with an Agatha Christie is always an excellent idea.

Reviews of The Agatha Christie Cure: What Reading the Queen of Crime Taught Me About Life

'Agatha turns out to be the ultimate life coach in this joyous amalgam of a read. An easy book to befriend" — MATT HAIG

'Beautiful, warm and clever. I want to press it into the hands of everyone I love' – Daisy Buchanan

'One of those books that felt like an old friend, from the very first page. So honest, and funny and somehow . . . kind. It made me want to read a little Christie, it made me want to read all of Rentzenbrink. I'll return to it again and again' – Meg Mason

'Beautiful, moving, surprising. Feels like an intimate friend; the sort of book you want to reread because it is such good company' – Philippa Perry

'A hugely readable and illuminating memoir that's ultimately about something we could all benefit from, these days: the power of the imagination to help us navigate tumultuous times' – Oliver Burkeman

'Part memoir, part meditation on the life and work of Agatha Christie, The Agatha Christie Cure is moving, enlightening, hopeful and a joy to read.' – Paula Hawkins

'A beautiful exploration – written with grace and overwhelming honesty – of two women's despair and how one helps the other' – Greg Wise

'A wonderfully warm, generous, wise and comforting book about getting through dark times and the mystery of life with a bit of help from Agatha Christie. Full of insights on Christie, on divorce, on parenting, on midlife, it's just a gorgeous, immersive read' – Samantha Ellis

'In this bold, brave and beautiful memoir, Cathy skillfully charts Agatha Christie's timeline and with deft skill, weaves her own path of recovery from burnout and a loss of self' – Mani Coe

'When Cathy Rentzenbrink found herself drained by life's upheavals, she turned to her first literary love – Agatha Christie – and unearthed the secrets of how the troubled writer survived personal crises and started life again' – The iPaper