The latest installment in Wilson's series featuring the great mystery writer as protagonist and sleuth takes place at a wedding on the island of Skye. A double murder throws the occasion into chaos, but Agatha Christie is on the case.
I Saw Him Die is great fun ... Wilson's Christie is a great character, filled with self-doubt and angst, eager to leave Skye and get on with her wedding to her lover, Matt, but at the same time swept away by the possibilities of the investigation. The mystery takes innumerable twists and turns, and while I thought I knew who the killer was, my conclusion kept changing as the story moved forward. This book is great, engrossing fun—just what we need right now when the world feels too dark.
The claustrophobic country house setting is pure Christie, as is the nursery rhyme clue (if somewhat far-fetched in this case) and the use of poison, her murder weapon of choice ... Wilson see-saws once too often from suspect to suspect—a colourful and entertaining bunch—while his plot runneth over with revelations. Still, while I did guess whodunnit early on, I couldn’t begin to guess why, and therein lies the fun in a book that is essentially one giant puzzle.
The premise is delightful—Agatha Christie working as consultant for the British Secret Intelligence Service—and the Isle of Skye setting in this third entry in Wilson’s series...is evocative ... Wilson does an excellent job of using familiar Christie tropes—including the roomful of suspects for the denouement—but this has a freshness of its own, helped by taking readers inside Agatha’s head as she deals with personal demons. Fans of mystery fiction’s Golden Age will be entranced.
