Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman Narrator: Patti Murin
Series: Mrs. Christie #1
Published by Penguin Audio on August 26, 2025
Source: Purchased
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 11 hrs 55 mins
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Libro.fm
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Book conservator Tory Van Dyne and a woman claiming to be Agatha Christie on holiday from the Great Beyond join forces to catch a killer in this spirited mystery from Amanda Chapman.
Tory Van Dyne is the most down-to-earth member of a decidedly eccentric old-money New York family. For one thing, as book conservator at Manhattan’s Mystery Guild Library, she actually has a job. Plus, she’s left up-town society behind for a quiet life downtown. So she’s not thrilled when she discovers a woman in the library’s Christie Room who calmly introduces herself as Agatha Christie, politely requests a cocktail and announces she’s there to help solve a murder -- that has not yet happened.
But as soon as Tory determines that this is just a fairly nutty Christie fangirl, her socialite/actress cousin Nicola gets caught up in the suspicious death of her less-than-lovable talent agent. Nic, as always, looks to Tory for help. Tory, in turn, looks to Mrs. Christie. The woman, whoever or whatever she is, clearly knows her stuff when it comes to crime.
Aided by a found family of unlikely sleuths -- including a snarky librarian, an eleven-year-old computer whiz, and an NYPD detective with terrible taste in suits -- Tory and the woman claiming to be her very much deceased literary idol begin to unravel the twists and turns of a murderer’s devious mind. Because, in the immortal words of Miss Jane Marple, “murder is never simple.”
I love the concept in Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library. Agatha Christie appears in a specialty mystery library in NY in contemporary times saying that she’s taking a break from a rather dull afterlife to help amateur sleuth and book conservator Tory Van Dyne solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet. The future victim? Tory’s sister Nic’s agent—who ends up being pushed in front of a subway train.
Mrs. Christie, aka Mrs. Mallowan, is charming and insightful. She does a good job of encouraging the rather quirky set of “detectives” to work things out for themselves. She also has a habit of quoting from her books, which is fun at first, but becomes a bit overdone as the book goes on. The supporting cast seemed a little quirky for quirky’s sake. Tory is pretty bland – she does have a reason, but we don’t know it until well into the book, but she she does wear a lot of vintage clothes. Her sister Nic is a bit of a flake but nice. They are joined by the librarian; the poorly dressed, handsome cop love interest; and a child whose age I don’t remember but whose also handsome father is fine with her hanging with adults trying to solve a murder.
In all honesty, if there’s a next in this series, I’ll probably read it because of Mrs. Christie. Other than that, I found Tory a bit annoying and I could have done without the minor romance angle. The writing was bland and some of the dialogue felt stilted. The plot itself was twisty but not entirely believable.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a decent job. She kept all the characters distinct – not an easy task given how many there were – and the pace was good.
I just noticed this is the same author as the Cape Cod Foodie Mysteries, just under a different name. I would have preferred another one of those.
About Amanda Chapman
Amanda Chapman also writes as Amy Pershing.
Amanda Chapman is a lifelong mystery lover and wordsmith. An enthusiastic fan of traditional mysteries and of New York City, she found herself wondering, “What if someone recreated Agatha Christie’s personal library—even to the furnishings and architecture—in New York City? What would happen in that space?” And thus MRS. CHRISTIE AT THE MYSTERY GUILD LIBRARY—the first in a new series—was born.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges: