A Talent for Murder

At the start of the novel, Christie considers going to the police, but then decides to try to contain the situation herself. Does she make the right choice? What would you have done differently in her shoes? Is it worth putting yourself in dangerous situations to conceal embarrassing secrets?

On page 31, Christie reads a note her father wrote to her mother, and throughout the book Christie reflects on her childhood. How do these memories help inform her character? In this example, what parallels are there between her own marriage and that of her parents?

One of the motifs in the book is keeping secrets or hiding emotions from others. Do you think withholding information benefits the characters in the book? Are there good reasons for concealing secrets or hiding your feelings from someone?

On page 38, Christie retells the story of the Silent Pool:

“[A] girl had come to bathe in the pool. But no sooner had she taken off her clothes than she had been shocked to see a man on horseback approach out of the mist. The nobleman had tried to entice her out of the water, but the farther the man proceeded into the pool the farther the girl swam away until she got out of her depth and drowned.”

How does this story relate to Christie’s imminent meeting with Kurs? What is this story’s connection to the larger themes of the book and of Christie’s predicament?

Kurs and Christie share some of the same obsessions with mysteries and understanding motivations of people. How else are these two characters similar? What is the quality or personal motivation that, ultimately, puts them on opposite sides?

In the novel and in real life, Christie’s disappearances was the cause of intense media scrutiny. Would the media’s response be different today? What would make it easier or harder for someone as well known as Agatha Christie to disappear or go missing for a substantial period of time today?

On pages 188–189 Una exclaims, “There are certain times, well, when one has to be creative, don’t you think? Surely you’re not telling me your department has always acted within the confines of the law?” Do you agree with Una that it is acceptable to go around the police to investigate a crime when the police are seemingly ineffective? What are the implications of doing so?

Davison is a secret agent with a personal secret of his own; does this make him a better agent because he knows how to hide something about himself or make his job more difficult because he has to keep two secrets at once?

Did knowing that Agatha Christie’s disappearance really happened change the way you read the novel? Are there any other parts of the book you think are real to Christie’s life? When a writer uses an historical figure as a character, how true to the facts of that person’s life do you think they should be?

On page 271, Agatha Christie questions herself: “And what of the choice of name, Mrs. Teresa Neele? Why had I chosen that?” How would you explain it to Mrs. Christie? Why do you think she chose this name as her alias? What does it say about her feelings toward her husband?

At the end of the book Christie admits to having some regrets. What do you think she is referring to? What could she have done differently?