Marie Benedict – Carol's Notebook

Author: Marie Benedict

Marie Benedict is a lawyer with more than ten years’ experience as a litigator at two of the country’s premier law firms, who found her calling unearthing the hidden historical stories of women. Her mission is to excavate from the past the most important, complex and fascinating women of history and bring them into the light of present-day where we can finally perceive the breadth of their contributions as well as the insights they bring to modern-day issues. Writing as Heather Terrell, Marie has also published three historical novels.

How could I pass this one up? We've got Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy working together to solve a murder. I've read books by all the authors and it was fun seeing the brought to life was fun. The story is told from Sayers' point of view, so we get the most insight into her life and personality, but the others all have their own strengths. It was interesting to see how these strong, intelligent, successful women still have to fight for respect, recognition and inclusion. It also gives us a look at how women in general were treated in the years following WW1, from surplus women to crime victims and witnesses. The mystery itself was put together well. We had several reasonable suspects and the women do a good job with the investigation, even if it's much more difficult in real life than it is for their fictional characters. It is...

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie is historical fiction, imagining what may have happened when Agatha Christie "disappeared" in early December 1926. The facts are there, the car, the letters, the search, but around this Benedict wraps a fictional story of the Christies' first meeting through their married life. The majority of the book alternates between a manuscript Agatha wrote chronicling their lives together and the events around the disappearance, starting with the discovery of her empty car. The problem is no one is likable. Archie is a jerk. Agatha is too desperate to please him and right until the end too gutless to stand up for herself. I couldn't even really care about the daughter, Rosalind, who when she showed up in the tale, was too calm and pulled together. The grand reveal at the end wasn't really grand or much of a reveal. It did redeem the rest of the book a bit, making you look a little differently at...

Author: Marie Benedict

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict