It’s May Day, so here I am with another batch of short reviews of other things I read last month that I haven’t already told you about – or in one case, updating you on something I mentioned on release day.
Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley
A lot has been written about Agatha Christie’s disappearance in 1926 – in non-fiction as well as fiction – and while that is one of the key moments in her life, this sets it in the context of her childhood, her marriage and her work as an author. If all you know about Christie is that she wrote mysteries and that she disappeared, this will fill in all the rest of the gaps for you and is very readable as you do it. It’s clearly got a lot of research behind it, but it wears it very lightly. Definitely worth a read if you’re a classic mystery reader.
Vanishing Point by Patricia Wentworth
I’ve read a few of Patricia Wentworth mystery novels now, both in the Miss Silver series and outside it, and although they’re not my favourite of the “other” Golden Age crime novels, they’re still pretty consistently good, more towards the thriller side of the scale than some of the others, but still with a body or two. They tend to have a slightly higher proportion of Plucky Young Women of various types, but there is variation within that as well. I picked this one up from a charity book exchange, but they’re also relatively regularly available at a good price on Kindle.
The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
I mentioned this when it came out so it’s only fair that I come back with a bit of a verdict on it – and it’s bad news considering how much I enjoyed The Roughest Draft last year. Sadly this is a disappointment and a puzzle. This is slightly spoiler-y but I can’t explain without them: A puzzle because I don’t know who this is actually for. I don’t think the Taylor fans will like it because the Taylor stand in is just terrible and plays all into all the worse of the tropes about her life. I don’t think the non-Taylor fans will either because as a reader you just can’t see how they can be happy and be true to themselves. It feels like it has all the elements of a toxic relationship where it will just keep repeating in patterns.
And that’s your lot – have a great Wednesday everyone.
Verity Reads Books (lots of them) 
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