Death at Greenway

A Novel

By: Lori Rader-Day

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

From the award-winning author of The Day I Died and The Lucky One, a captivating suspense novel about nurses during World War II who come to Agatha Christie’s holiday estate to care for evacuated children, but when a body is discovered nearby, the idyllic setting becomes host to a deadly mystery.

Bridey Kelly has come to Greenway House—the beloved holiday home of Agatha Christie—in disgrace. A terrible mistake at St. Prisca’s Hospital in London has led to her dismissal as a nurse trainee, and her only chance for redemption is a position in the countryside caring for children evacuated to safety from the Blitz.

Greenway is a beautiful home full of riddles: wondrous curios not to be touched, restrictions on rooms not to be entered, and a generous library, filled with books about murder. The biggest mystery might be the other nurse, Gigi, who is like no one Bridey has ever met. Chasing ten young children through the winding paths of the estate grounds might have soothed Bridey’s anxieties and grief—if Greenway were not situated so near the English Channel and the rising aggressions of the war.

When a body washes ashore near the estate, Bridey is horrified to realize this is not a victim of war, but of a brutal killing. As the local villagers look among themselves, Bridey and Gigi discover they each harbor dangerous secrets about what has led them to Greenway. With a mystery writer’s home as their unsettling backdrop, the young women must unravel the truth before their safe haven becomes a place of death . . .

An interesting murder mystery

a surprise who did it murder mystery. I usually figure out who did it before the reveal. Looking back I saw the clues I missed.

Not Agatha but still a fun read/listen

I enjoyed Death at Greenway. It may have been a bit slower than what I’m used to but I found the subtleties intriguing.

Wonderful story & characters that kept me company

I truly enjoyed Rader-Day's weaving this story into true events that took place at Agatha Christie's summer home in WWII. The characters were well developed - not overly sentimental as these types of characters are often written - while still compelling me to feel compassion for them and to have hope for them. In other words, their choices and their reasons for making them felt realistic and so kept me invested in their lives. I enjoyed it so much, I wanted the story to go on and turn into a series with Bridey realizing her temperament and skills would make her a great detective as she entered deeper into Gigi's world. And, I truly appreciated how Rader-Day developed Gigi's character. I'll just say it was a very welcomed surprise. I'm a cultural anthropologist by training and will also note that a bit of a nod to one of my favorite cultural anthropologists, Ruth Benedict, was fun to read.

Excellent

In the vein of Dame Agatha herself, Ms Day has crafted a fine novel, full of twists and turns the reader is unprepared for.

Hyper-detailed, excellent narration.

Had I read the author’s notes first, I may have enjoyed the story more. As it was, I did find this to be a bit tedious to wade through. I did not see that it was a great mystery, but rather a rich story threaded in the tapestry of history.