Since her death, she has been the subject of several biographies. None that I have read, even that of her second husband, Sir Max Mellowan, provides a satisfactory motivation or time table for the eleven missing days in 1926.

It seems remarkable that a young writer from the smallest state in Australia should be the one to adequately research the subject and to have access to the best informants. Jared Cade knows Agatha Christie's novels, plays, poetry and short sories well, and demonstrates how insights into this major crisis in Agatha Christie's life reside in them. His theories are sound, his rebuttal of false and misleading explanations is strong, and his judgments - even of Dame Agatha herself - are balanced.

Interest in what happened to the world' best-selling author back in 1926 may no longer be strong, but it is good to read something that at last sets the record straight. It is, moreover, a fascinating and focussed biography of someone who tried to keep herself away from public scrutiny. I like the compliment paid to the author by his principal informants, descendants of Agatha Christie's best friend: "This is the only biography that tells Agatha's life as it really was. Your insight into her life and personality is unsurpassed."

Later that evening, Agatha got in her car for a drive. Her car was found off the road with her coat inside but she was no where to be found.

It was 11 days before she was found. The official story was that she was suffering from amnesia.

But now, family members from someone who knows what really happened have cooperated with telling the true story.

It's fascinating, believable and a thoroughly absorbing look into the life of one of our most famous authors.