Smoke Signal

by Marie Benedict, Kate Quinn, Nicola Barber (Narrator)

Best-selling authors Marie Benedict (The Mystery of Mrs. Christie) and Kate Quinn (The Rose Code) join forces to tell the captivating story of how history's most famous mystery writer crossed paths with one of Britain's top secret code breakers in the throes of World War II.

Recruited as a code breaker of enemy ciphers, ex-debutante Osla Kendall spends her days translating Axis military messages and her nights reading mystery novels. When Osla gets her hands on Agatha Christie's most recent work, N or M?, a mysterious signal within its pages catches her eye, and she and her eccentric book club get in touch with the famous but reclusive writer. Osla's outreach is a welcome distraction for Agatha, who feels restless and underestimated toiling away in a London pharmacy while men like her husband can contribute to the war effort from the front lines.

So begins the story of an unlikely friendship and the secrets that bind two brave women embroiled in war. Based on true events and told by two beloved authors and champions of history's heroines, Smoke Signal is a breathtaking novella of espionage and the unforgettable women who risked everything to serve their country.

To learn more about Osla Kendall and Agatha Christie, see Marie Benedict's The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, a novel of Agatha Christie's disappearance in 1926, and Kate Quinn's forthcoming The Rose Code, a novel of the female code breakers of Bletchley Park.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Short Stories, Novella

1 pages, Audiobook

First published February 11, 2021

About the author

Marie Benedict is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Queens of Crime, The Mitford Affair, Her Hidden Genius, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, The Only Woman in the Room, Lady Clementine, Carnegie's Maid, The Other Einstein, and the novella, Agent 355. With Victoria Christopher Murray, she co-wrote the Good Morning America Book Club pick The Personal Librarian and the Target Book of the Year The First Ladies. With Courtney Sheinmel, she co-wrote the first in a middle grade historical adventure series, called The Secrets of the Lovelace Academy.

Her books have been translated into thirty languages, and selected for the Barnes & Noble Book Club, Target Book Club, Costco Book Club, Indie Next List, and LibraryReads List.

Up next is the March 24, 2026 release, DAUGHTER OF EGYPT, the sweeping tale of a young aristocratic archaeologist — Lady Evelyn of Highclere Castle, the real Downton Abbey — who unearths the truth about a forgotten female Pharaoh, rewriting both of their legacies forever.

Reviews

[Sheyla ✎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've made no secret that I absolutely loved The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. When audible alerted me that they had an original novella where Agatha Christie meets Osla Kendall, I couldn't download it fast enough.

I haven't read The Mystery of Mrs. Christie by Marie Benedict but I absolutely loved the female code breakers from Bletchley Park. I was happy to have more of their world.

The novella has Agatha and Osla meeting twice, once during the war and the second time after it has ended. They compare notes and realized that due to a certain oath, a spy couldn't be stopped earlier.

If you have read The Rose Code, this audio is a must. The narration takes 1 hour and 10 minutes which was perfect for my work commute.

I'm very thankful to Kate Quinn and Marie Benedict for coming up with this character's meeting.

Both, Nicola Barber and Saskia Maarleveld did an amazing job in bringing these women to life.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

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[Taury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smoke Signal by Kate Quinn and Marie Benedict continues at Bletchley Park. Code breaks and Agatha Christie as a spy. What could go wrong! A nice well written, strong female characters during WWII. I didn’t enjoy it as much as many books I have read recently.

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️

Interesting short novella with two fascinating characters. I already knew about Agatha Christie and her work during WWII, but after listening to this audiobook I can’t wait to read The Rose Code to know Osla’s story.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

What grabbed my attention to read this novella were the authors: Marie Benedict and Kate Quinn. They are probably the two best historical fiction writers about famous or forgotten women. In this story we have Marie Benedict’s famous character Agatha Christie (“The Mystery of Mrs. Christie”) and Kate Quinn’s Osla Kendell (“The Red Rose”). Kendell is one of Bletchley Park’s famous code breakers. The novella is fast reading and leaves you wanting more. I do hope these two women get together again for a much longer novel. I have read a number of books by both authors; but, after reading this, I am going back to be sure I have read all their books. Needless to say, I am putting both authors on my “watch for new books list”.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is one hour and ten minutes. Nicola Barber and Saskia Maarleveld do a great job narrating the book.

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agatha Christie as a WWII spy? (*immediately puts on headphones)

This is a short audiobook crossover of characters from Kate Quinn’s The Rose Code and Marie Benedict’s The Mystery of Mrs. Christie.

When talented British Code Breaker Osla reads Agatha Christie’s novel N or M, she notices something odd that she simply must discuss with the author. There are moments in this story when the snappy dialogue shines and steals the spotlight.

Who would have ever imagined, Osla, a former debutante, a code breaker? Talk about the perfect camouflage, I can’t imagine a better way to be disregarded faster.

This is a story of women determined to make a difference despite the odds being stacked against them.

The narrators were a great choice.

Let’s step away from fiction and into the past momentarily, to touch upon one of the reasons why I was so curious to listen to this. I wanted to see where the writers would take this storyline because I knew Agatha had actually been investigated by MI5 after N or M was published. In the novel she named an undesirable character Major Bletchley. So they reasoned it might have been possible that she had a spy inside Britain’s famed undercover code breaking Bletchley Park. However, Christie reportedly claimed to have used that name after being delayed there so long while traveling by train.

The story presented here is fictional and differs some from actual events, but either way it’s quite thought provoking.

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was a quick fun read.. Agatha Christie as a spy 😊

[Magdalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a nice short story by Marie Benedict and Kate Quinn narrated by two of my favorite narrators, Nicola Barber and Saskia Maarleveld. I have yet to read The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, but after finishing Smoke Signal I'm eager to do so. I love the Rose Code by Kate Quinn and recommend that one warmly. This short little novella was quite good to listen to, Agatha Christie is such a fascinating person, so it's not hard to imagine her getting up to something like this as she did in the story.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just happened upon this and its so timely. This one hour audio is written by Marie Benedict (the Mystery of Mrs Christie) and the Kate Quinn (the Rose Code) and no question, it is the prelude to both books! Both of which I am about to read. What a perfect interlude, and even more amazing, its mostly true!

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read which serves as an introduction to different books. I really liked the narration, but the story was just okay.

[T. Rosado · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

How had I not already known about this little audiobook? I love Kate Quinn, but especially how she connects her WW2-era stories via titular characters and places. This crossover (w/ Author Marie Benedict) novella brings back Osla, Mabs, and Beth from The Rose Code (my favorite KQ novel) and introduces them to Agatha Christie (Benedict’s version) via a Bletchley Park employee book club. The employees are reading Christie’s latest mystery and discover some too-close-for-comfort references to BP’s top-secret work. I loved getting another look at some favorite characters and the audio presentation was wonderful, but this book felt like it started and ended a bit too abruptly. I enjoy an occasional novella/short story, but I would have enjoyed a little more from this.

[Tuesdayschild · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like I was missing content from the historical fiction novels these authors had written separately - Kate Quinn's The Rose Code about Osla Kendall, and, Marie Benedict's The Mystery of Mrs. Christie about Agatha Christie - this novella felt like a collaborative work to promote both of those individual books.

[Alice4170 🌙 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 ⭐️
It was to short, would’ve liked to listen to more about Agatha Christie

[Judith von Kirchbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this audible original little novella tying together Agatha Christie and the codebreakers of Bletchley Park. It was fantastic how Marie Benedict and Kate Quinn combined their most recent works of historical fiction, The Mystery of Mrs. Christie and The Rose Code ! Highly recommended!

[Jeanette Lukens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasant short listen free from Audible. Kind of left me wanting more.

[LemonLinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is The Rose Code meets The Mystery of Mrs. Christie, a collaboration by the authors of those books, Kate Quinn and Marie Benedict. It gives us two women who are working during WWII in an effort to support and preserve their country. A mystery writer crosses the path of a Bletchley Park code breaker with enough truth in it to make it believable and interesting. It is a short story so I was left wanting more of the story, but nonetheless was immersed in the story while it lasted.

[Iva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this and I thought I didn't like WWII fiction or historical will read more from both authors!

[Panda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook (1 hour 10 minutes) narrated by Nicola Barber, and Saskia Maarleveld

I cannot get enough of Saskia Maarleveld. Definitely one of the narrators to look out for.
The audio and narration are excellent.

Smoke Signal is a bite sized novella that fits so perfectly into so many situations, for me it's my night time routine. When I am between books or just want something different before bed, I look for something short and this one did it for me. I love Kate Quinn, so this was a no brainer, as a collab book with Kate Quinn and Marie Benedict.

What I hadn't realized is that this is really a creative sneak peek into The Rose Code, and also The Mystery of Mrs. Christie which I now have to read, obviously. lol! I mean secret code breakers during the war? The disappearance of Agatha Christie? Ummm, yes to both!

Sneaky! Sneaky!

Good stuff but too short. Left me wanting more, which I now see was the point!

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While a very short story that took less than an hour to listen to on audible, I felt that there were just way too many details strewn about and the storyline quickly jumped back and forth so many times it left me confused at times. The concept of the book was interesting though- Agatha Christie and how she became a spy. To be honest, it seems this was more of a bridge between two stories and since I hadn’t read either, it’s probably why I felt it was so all over the place.

[Holly Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful historical fiction novella. Too short!

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I scream at the end of this book? Yes. Was it amazing? Also yes. Nice little bridge into Osla’s post-war life from Quinn’s The Rose Code.

[Avid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to finish this book. The first portion I found myself in teacher mode. I could "hear" the over use of unnecessary commas for suspense but it didn't help. On the listening end it was irritating and made it drag on. The 2nd portion did capture my interest and I was entertained and intrigued. I was glad I had stuck with the book. However, it plateaued and never really went anywhere. I am disappointed overall but I didn't pay for the book and enjoy some so as a result gave it 3/5 to compromise.

[Natalie H · Rating 2 out of 5]

November 2023
Audiobook edition
54m 1s (1.3x speed)
Tram ride gacha under hour list

Historicals are hit and miss for me. This one took a while to get into and was mainly dialogue. It was a cross over between two characters from two different stories. The ending felt a bit of a cop out with the two of them bound by the secrecy act. I'm curious but not really my thing. Think I'll leave it there unless needed for a challenge.

[Chelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smoke Signal is a charming, fast-paced novella that delivers a surprising amount of heart in a short format. A quick, 40 minute listen on Audible. I especially loved that it’s rooted in a true story, which makes the bravery of the women at its center even more compelling. The authors capture their courage and camaraderie with a light, uplifting touch that keeps the story feeling warm and hopeful. A cute read overall.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short novella combines Agatha Christie and The Rose Code.
If you love Agatha Christie, you will see that her contribution to the war was more than just writing murder mysteries.
If you read The Rose Code, this story brings all those characters back to life and inserts Agatha Christie.

Very cool concept. Not my favorite but it was nice to see the combination of these two come to life in a spy adventure.

[Jennifer Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick audible novella— didn’t realize it was about Agatha Christie but really liked it.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can read/listen to anything that Kate Quinn writes. I would have loved a full version of this story. But equally excited to read The Rose Code and The Mystery of Mrs. Christie.

[Sydney Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun. I love what Benedict is doing here. And love that Quinn joined her.

[Kathleen Duffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it but wanted more!!

[Danielle Weiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short & sweet - always enjoy getting a little more out of characters from previous stories.

[LaChelle Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a hard time understanding what was going on