Victoria “Tory” Van Dyne enjoys her life as a book conservator at the Mystery Guild Library in Manhattan. Her grandmother left the townhouse to the library, reserving the top two floors for Tory’s cozy apartment, complete with a view of Washington Square.
True, she’s something of a recluse (she survived a traumatic event revealed only toward the end of the book), and her wealthy, high-society family can be exhausting. But she has good friends in her colleague, librarian Adrian, and her cousin Nic, who talks like a Valley Girl but has a genuinely kind heart.
Tory also inherited a closet full of very cool couture items — pieces she could never afford on a conservator’s salary, especially since her father lost his share of the family fortune.
And then there is the library’s showpiece: a replica of Agatha Christie’s study at Greenway, her summer home in Devon.
The icing on the cake comes when Tory walks into this special room and finds a woman “wearing well-polished brogues, sensible tweeds, five strands of big fat pearls and a hat like a deflated soufflé.” The woman identifies herself as Agatha Christie.
Moreover, she’s there to solve a murder.
An attempted killing quickly presents itself. Someone has poisoned Bertram, the pug belonging to Nic’s agent, Howard. Bertie survives, and Mrs. Christie helps unravel what happened. But soon Howard is pushed under a subway train…
Tory, Adrian, and Nic — with assistance from Mrs. Christie, who appears in the library when she feels like it (usually at opportune moments) — begin investigating. Naturally, the police get involved, particularly Detective Sebastian Mendez-Cruz, quickly dubbed “the hot detective.” Tory is intrigued. But is the detective dazzled by her beautiful — if somewhat spacy — cousin?
The group is joined by a young Irish girl, Mairaid, whose father is teaching at nearby New York University. Interested in book conservation, she eagerly takes notes at meetings of what she has dubbed “Agatha Incorporated.” She also owns a Yorkie named Tony — just like the real Mrs. Christie once did.
Hmm. The real Mrs. Christie. In life, Agatha was technically Mrs. Mallowan, and that is how Tory introduces her. Because she is not entirely certain whether “Mrs. Christie” is an eccentric impostor — or the Queen of Crime herself, visiting from the afterlife.
A second murder and another attempted homicide keep Agatha Inc. — along with the hot detective — moving briskly forward.
This book is a great deal of fun and a joy for Christie fans. Each chapter opens with a quotation from one of Christie’s works. “I admit,” says Arthur Hastings, “that a second murder in a book often cheers things up.” (The A.B.C. Murders) Tory, Adrian, and of course, Mrs. Christie frequently trade apt lines from the oeuvre as well. Poison — Christie’s favorite fictional murder weapon — features prominently.
The literary milieu adds further pleasure. Adrian and Tory discuss CrimeReads articles. A gala at the New York Public Library plays a major role. A subplot explores the rare book world.
My one quibble is that I finished the novel still unclear about what, exactly, the Mystery Guild Library is meant to be. There is, of course, the Mystery Guild mail-order book club for thriller fans (I own several vintage copies myself), but this fictional institution does not seem directly connected. Perhaps that mystery will be addressed in a sequel. If so, I’ll gladly return — because spending time in this literary Manhattan townhouse, with a spectral master of misdirection on the case, is a thoroughly entertaining prospect.
