The Case of the Christie Curse – 3rd Instalment of The Detection Club Series From Kelly Oliver

Last Updated on August 6, 2026

The Detection Club is back, and this time our legendary sleuths are off to Mesopotamia for an archeological dig, led by the always intrepid Agatha Christie, in The Case of the Christie Curse.

This is the third book in Kelly Oliver’s series, and if you are new to it, let me give you a quick recap.

Book 1, The Case of the Christie Conspiracy, introduced us to the Detection Club, where the likes of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and GK Chesterton regularly meet to discuss all things solving murder.

Sayers is the club secretary, and it is her assistant, Eliza Baker, who becomes the main character in Oliver’s books. And, I should point out that yes, The Detection Club was real and is still going to this very day.

So, back we go to 1926 when a fellow author’s initiation ceremony takes a gruesome turn, and one of the group ends up dead.

When Agatha disappears the day after the murder, she’s assumed to be guilty, and it would seem that only Eliza is interested in investigating the case.

All’s well that ends well, and we move on to book 2, The Case of the Body on the Orient Express, which I thoroughly enjoyed (review here).

The story follows Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, who are boarding the legendary Orient Express, bound for Constantinople.

Christie is hoping for a break from her recent troubles, as her divorce from Archie and the lukewarm reception of her latest novel have left her feeling down.

But before she can settle into the luxury of the train’s first-class carriages, a fellow passenger drops dead during dinner.

And guess who finds herself the prime suspect? None other than Dorothy Sayers, who was the last person to speak to the victim.

It is then up to Eliza and her friend Theo to navigate a twisting maze of suspects as the train barrels eastward.

Saving the day, once again, you would think that these ladies would stop getting themselves into trouble, but nope…

The Case of the Christie Curse

This time around, Agatha has already departed, heading for Mesopotamia for an archaeological dig that has piqued her interest.

However, when the club receives a letter from her telling them that something ‘is off’ at the dig, Dorothy, Eliza, and Theo decide to come to her rescue.

So off they pop to the other side of the world, where a series of troubling events begins to take place. An accidental death – or is it?, missing artifacts, a journalist looking for scandal, and, as it turns out, somebody who is trying to kill them all.

Once again, Eliza must trust her instincts and intellect to find out who is behind the mysterious goings-on.

Mostly Love It

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It’s another great mystery with the added meta element of being based on real-world events that actually transpired.

For example, Kelly Oliver learned that Christie’s first archeological dig was with her second husband, Max Mallowan, hence the setting of the story.

Using Christie’s autobiography, Come, Tell Me How You Live: An Archeological Memoir, as inspiration, Oliver frames her mystery within an authentic historical and emotional context and is always respectful to Christie’s real-life experiences.

As readers, we get a glimpse of the environments and relationships that influenced Christie herself, while still enjoying a cleverly constructed whodunit.

From that perspective, it’s a great book. However, there was one element that I genuinely wish had been toned down, and that was the overly gushy and lovesick Theo.

Page after page, after page, about his feelings for Eliza. At times, I wanted to scream ‘WE GET IT, HE’S IN LOVE!!!’, but just why it had to dominate so much of the narrative is utterly beyond me.

It’s not that I don’t like a slow-burning romance, even one that takes multiple books to really get going, but I’ve never read one where entire chapters are dedicated to one person simply pining after another.

Even the dog yawns at one point in the midst of Theo’s emotional ramblings, and I knew exactly how she felt!

Did it add anything to the story? Not really. But, more importantly, did it detract from the story? Again, not really. Some readers will love it; I just happened not to be one of them.

Worth A Read

Despite my grumblings about Theo’s obsession with Eliza, The Detection Club books are excellent, with smart puzzles to be solved and characters that we can all cheer on.

Eliza is a young woman ahead of her time, and using her as a reliable narrator, rather than her more famous companions, is an ingenious way to create a whole new Christie universe while still staying true to all of the characters involved.

And if all of that wasn’t enough, we know that there are at least two more books in the series due for release soon: The Case of the Christie Wedding Affair in June 2026 and The Case of the Christie Honeymoon Murder in September 2026