The Lusitania is sinking, victim of a torpedo attack, and an American woman, Jane Finn, is pressed into service when an agent passes her a secret document that could be the undoing of Great Britain, and her allies.
Jane promptly disappears, years pass, and two young English people seeking funds in a post-war Great Britain where jobs are scarce, decide to team up and start their own business: The Young Adventurers. Little do they know that their first job, tracking down a missing American girl, will lead to danger, intrigue, and possible death at the hands of the shadowy Mr. Brown.
The Secret Adversary was Agatha Christie’s second published detective novel, and her first featuring the characters of Tommy and Tuppence. Christie’s skill in creating quirky, beloved characters and mysteries filled with red herrings is on full display this earlier in her writing career. You cannot help but read an Agatha Christie novel and suspect nearly everyone of some wrong-doing.
I’ve listened to several Agatha Christie novels and short story collections on audio book, read by the likes of Emelia Fox, Hugh Fraser, and David Suchet–all first-rate narrators–but this is only the second of her novels that I actually read in analog, on paper.
It was a great pleasure to read this in September, with a large section being read on a very rainy Saturday and finished on the Sunday holiday “Read a Book Day”. I enjoyed watching the BBC mini-series Partners in Crime, starring David Walliams as Tommy and Jessica Raine as Tuppence. This series was set when the couple was older, in the Cold War era as opposed to just post-WWI, and though I loved them in their respective parts I don’t remember enough of the plot for it to spoil a read through of their adventures.
I just checked out the second book, Partners in Crime, which is a collection of short stories, from the library via audio. I look forward to Hugh Fraser’s reading (he who played Hastings on the long-running Poirot series).
Agatha Christie’s stories have the rich history and nostalgia of being set in memorable periods of history–in this case just after World War I–as well as being very accessible in that people’s motives and behaviors have not changes that much in 100 years. For a novel published in 1922, it remains accessible and engaging and entertaining, with so much of the suspense existing because of a world in which there were no cell-phones and the best one could hope for would be to get to a telegraph office.
I enjoyed the nostalgic trip of reading this nearly 100 year old novel and I certainly look forward to more Agatha Christie in the very near future.
#ripxv @perilreaders
If you can you should try to view the Tommy and Tuppence TV series from the early 1980s with Francesca Annis. Everything is so stylish, wonderful art deco settings and costumes and very entertaining. .
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080336/
I will have to check it out, after I read a few more of the stories. Started the Partners in Crime book on audio today.
I enjoyed this book when I read it and Partners in Crime also. I haven’t watched either of the TV series but I plan to.
I recently read And Then There Were None for the first time, after all these years of reading books by Christie. It was very good. And then we watched the 1945 movie and the more recent BBC series.
And Then There Were None is the only other Christie I’ve actually read, vs. listening on audio. It has long been a favorite, since I first saw the stage play Ten Little Indians many, many years ago. The novel is a great whodunit, and I like both the old and modern adaptations as well.
I feel like I’ve been reading a lot of reviews of Agatha Christie books lately and it’s been so long since I’ve read one. Must change that. Also have never read any of her books featuring Tommy and Tuppence. Could be a good selection for R.I.P. 🙂
I think you’d enjoy it, and you definitely want to start with this one first out of the T and T books.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I have only read one book by Agatha Christie and that was Murder on the Orient Express. The Secret Adversary sounds like one I’d enjoy, so I’m making a note to see if I can get a copy from the library. Thanks, Carl!
You are welcome. I’ve not read or listened to Orient yet, though I have seen a few adaptations. Not the most recent one, however. It is really hard for me to see anyone play Poirot besides David Suchet. He personifies Poirot for me.
I do love a bit of Agatha Christie. She also wrote half a dozen novels as Mary Westmacott and I read one of those a couple of years ago, Absent in the Spring, and found it incredibly touching and thoughtful. Christie’s autobiography is also one of the best I’ve ever read and I bore for England recommending it to *everyone*. LOL
I never knew that. I will have to check out Mary Westmacott. The autobiography sounds great as well.
I’m very slowly making my way through all of Christie’s mysteries, and I think what I really love about them are the great characters she writes. I read this one early this year, and Tommy and Tuppence are so much fun! I’m reading them in chronological order of publication, so I’m still a few away from Partners in Crime, but I’m looking forward to it! I hope you continue to enjoy your time with Christie.