A Different Kind of Evil

Starred review from January 1, 2018
Agatha Christie makes a plausible amateur detective in Wilson’s stellar sequel to 2017’s A Talent for Murder, a crafty whodunit worthy of the queen of mystery herself. January 1927 finds the famed author aboard the SS Gelria headed for the Canary Islands. During a walk on deck, Agatha hears a scream and arrives just in time to see passenger Gina Trevelyan climb over the ship’s railings. Agatha and another passenger, Helen Hart, who’s been having an affair with Gina’s husband, do their best to talk Gina down, but the woman jumps to her death. The suicide devastates Agatha, whose own husband was unfaithful. John Davison, of the British intelligence services, distracts her from her emotional pain by enlisting her to investigate the murder of one of his agents, Douglas Greene, on Tenerife. Greene was bludgeoned to death, and his corpse was left in a cave, drained of blood and mummified. Wilson does a superior job of balancing surprising plot developments with a sensitive portrayal of his lead’s inner life. Agent: Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Associates.