A recent college graduate is hired by a wealthy recluse to track down an unpublished Agatha Christie manuscript, but she uncovers a murder and an attempted murder instead.

This is a thoroughly humdrum mystery with an obvious killer. It's ok, but not really good. It does feature some exceptionally annoying characters. ( )

A little bland at times but overall a nice cosy easy mystery. I didn't hate the characters - I just didn't really love them either. The mystery was interesting and not entirely predictable. I'm likely to pick up the rest of the series if they come on sale. ( )

While it was a slow build, I give extra stars because I could not figure out whodunnit until near the end. There were plenty of red herrings and miss directions, but all were plausible. The peripheral characters were a motley crew, and I gave up trying to count how many uncles were involved lol. ( )

The Christie Curse (2013) (Book Coll #1) by Victoria Abbott. This mother/daughter writing duo now have several mysteries out, but this is the first and the only one I have read. I was slightly disappointed in that the book had very little to do with Agatha Christie or the mystery surrounding her disappearance for more than a week. Once I got past that I let myself enjoy what turned out to be a nice mystery that introduced what seem to be a rather large cast on on-going characters.
Jordan Bingham has tentatively secured herself a position working for the richest, and most hated, woman in town. Jordan is to continue the search for a rumored play that Miss Christie may have written during her “missing” time. The play would be worth a fortune, enough to kill someone over, which is what happened to the young man who was Jordan’s predecessor.
We get introduced to Jordan’s Irish clan of uncles, five or six of them, possibly more in the future, who are on the shady side of the law in their upstate New York town. Miss Van Alst, her new employer, is a picture of the angry spinster, now confined to a wheelchair after a horrible accident. There are a couple of police officers added in to either act as angel or demon to Jordan, but which is which is left to the reader for most of the book. A small crop of temporary participants fill out the cast, adding interest and insight, and a body or two to be attacked, to give the story more oomph.
But the real treat is Jordan herself. Smart, funny, inventive and fearless/reckless enough to get into major trouble and almost always to get herself back out. Think Stephanie Plum but with more reliance on the brains it took to get her degree and less on her cuteness to get help from the men who throw themselves at her. And in this book the men don’t yet act like puppy dogs vying for a piece of meat.
This is a good start to what might be a great series. It is a bit of a shame that the plot veered away from Christie so quickly leaving us with a sort of standard “cute girl” detective story like so many cozy mysteries. Standard, but well written. ( )

Agatha Christie has been my favorite author since I first read The Mysterious Affair at Styles when I was 9 years old. I love all things Agatha. Not only did she write mysteries set in exotic places, but her life was also very interesting to me. She even had her own mysterious incident. In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared, making headlines around the world. She was discovered at a hotel 11 days later, registered under the name of her husband's mistress. In the 90 years since, many theories about her disappearance have circulated -- she was trying to frame her husband for her murder, she was in a fugue state and didn't know what was going on, she just wanted to get away from her philandering husband for a few days and figure out what to do with her life, etc. In the end, only Agatha knew exactly what happened and she never spoke about it. She divorced the unfaithful rat in 1928 and re-married two years later, having a delightful life with her new husband, Max Mallowan, a British Archaeologist.

The Christie Curse is a cozy mystery about the hunt for an unpublished play by Christie supposedly written during the 11 days she was missing in 1926. Jordan Bingham, after a bad break-up, is looking for a job and a place to live. She is hired by Vera Van Alst, a wealthy rare book collector, to research and locate the mysterious unpublished Christie manuscript. Free room and board at the Van Alst mansion should make this the perfect job, but Jordan soon discovers there's a lot more to it than that. Her new, high-brow job is complicated by local hatred for the Van Alst family, a smiling cop who turns up wherever Jordan goes, the suspicious death of several people connected to the manuscript, and a shadowy, underworld figure known only as Merlin. The missing manuscript soon becomes a deeper and much more dangerous mystery than the 11-day disappearance of the author.

I loved this book! The main character is a strong, independent woman. She has three uncles who have connections in criminal circles, and who taught her life skills like lock picking and how to shake off cops who are following you. The story was a perfect mix of humor and serious tone. The mystery had plenty of suspects, twists and turns and excitement to keep me interested from beginning to end. Plus, I love old books. The thought of hunting down a previously unknown Christie manuscript had me completely intrigued.

The Christie Curse is the first book in the Book Collector Mystery series. There are 4 books in the series, with a fifth scheduled for publication in October 2016. Victoria Abbott is a pseudonym used by Victoria Maffini and her mother, Mary Jane Maffini. Mary Jane Maffini is the author of several mystery series, including the Camilla MacPhee Mystery books. Learn more about the authors and the Book Collector Series at their website, http://www.victoria-abbott.com/ ( )