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1927: Agatha Christie goes on a cruise, but it heads into a much darker destination than she imagines!
A Different Kind of Evil
What you need to know before your trail
In January 1927 – and still recovering from the harrowing circumstances surrounding her disappearance a month earlier – Agatha Christie sets sail on an ocean liner bound for the Canary Islands.
She has been sent there by the British Secret Intelligence Service to investigate the death of one of its agents, whose partly mummified body has been found in a cave.
Early one morning, on the passage to Tenerife, Agatha witnesses a woman throw herself from the ship into the sea. At first, nobody connects the murder of the young man on Tenerife with the suicide of a mentally unstable heiress. Yet, soon after she checks into the glamorous Taoro Hotel situated in the lush Orotava Valley, Agatha uncovers a series of dark secrets.
Travel Guide
Tenerife, Canary Islands
This novel is centered around the very true story of Agatha Christie and her desperate need to escape Britain. Following her marriage breakdown and her disappearance in a Harrogate hotel, she headed to on a cruise about the SS Gelria with her daughter and secretary.
The ship was bound for Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. When she got to Tenerife, she stayed in the Taoro Hotel, in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife between 2 and 27 February 1927.
While she was staying in Tenerife, she wrote the short story The Man from the Sea which is set on the island. Whilst in the Canary Islands, she finished the novel The Mystery of the Blue Train.
There is a lot of mystery on this island according to the novel. There’s a mystery of the occult where occultists on the island are keen to release the spirit evil from Mount Teide. There is a real sense of the Guanches people too , the aboriginal people who worshipped an evil spirit called Guayota. “According to local legen, this Guayota was locked up inside Teide for various misdeeds, including the kidnappint of the sun god Magec”
There’s not just evil on this island, there’s a rather fine garden of evil…..plenty of poison and some very inventive ways of using it. Oh and take care next time you see a Bird of Paradise flower!
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
This is turning into a really fun series. Book one was good and this second one goes that bit further. Agatha Christie herself of course is the star of the show and this time she’s on a cruise when she gets asked to help out regarding a crime. She’s writing one of her famous novels at the time and this is a really nice touch to the story when she mentions her book and marriage struggles in the course of this story.
I like these novels – entertaining, mysterious and with the best crime writer of all time at its heart. There’s something fascinating about having a real life crime writer at the heart of her own mysteries. This one captured my interest as there’s even action on the ship on her way to the holiday destination – and quite a bit too! One passenger starts talking about the Titanic….well that gives a flavour of things to come…
Once she gets to the island of Tenerife, there’s murder mysteries galore, poisonous plants and all things deadly..
A fine read.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: A Different Kind of Evil
Destination : Canary Islands, Tenerife Author/Guide: Andrew Wilson Departure Time: 1927
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