The Secret Adversary

Not one of Agatha Christie’s better books.

A fun, easy read like so much Agatha Christie. The logistics of two wet behind the ears detectives getting involved – and solving – a case of international intrigue that stumped the professionals is a bit far fetched, but still entertaining. Lead character is a bit annoying in her habits, but otherwise, a good read.

I am hosting an Agatha Christie Readathon on my blog in April 2018 where we are reading one of her books each week. The first book up, The Secret Adversary, is the initial entry in the Tommy & Tuppence cozy mystery series she’s written. Although I’ve read a bunch of her novels, I hadn’t read anything in this particular series, so I was glad that one of them won the poll to choose our books that I had set up earlier this year.

In this caper, Tommy and Tuppence, ~22 year old somewhat poor residents of London around 1920, are bored enough to form a partnership where they will agree to do anything legal to obtain a salary. Tuppence wants to marry rich. Tommy doesn’t care. You kinda know they have to end up together, right? A mysterious man overhears their conversation and asks them for help in finding Jane Finn who disappeared when the Lusitania sank nearly five years earlier. She was given a very important government paper by a pseudo-spy who died in the tragedy, but Jane seems to have lost her memory. No one can find her, but there are several ne’er-to-do-wells and government spies searching for her. Though WW1 is over now, if anyone finds out what was written in the papers, it might just ignite another battle. Tommy & Tuppence take the case, but soon find themselves baffled by all the different stories they hear. When they separate to get more done, each is kidnapped and nearly killed for knowing nothing but really knowing something. Then Jane’s American cousin helps with the search and leads are finally flooding in around them. Now the little sleuthing pair are on their own and unable to determine who’s telling the truth. Think you can? I actually solved this one.

Christie is remarkable when it comes to creating suspense, intrigue, and drama in her books. Although the story started off a tad peculiar to me, I slowly became fascinated by how different things were nearly 100 years ago. Between the phrases used to describe people, the quick allegiance people swore to one another, and the methods for doing research, it was outstanding. Sometimes I laughed at their silly tactics, others I thought they made no sense. But it was a different time and place, and under those contexts, it actually made perfect sense.

Tommy & Tuppence themselves are also weird. They speak in terms of puzzles, but seem to understand one another. They wish for things they don’t need but join forces in a venture that initially makes no sense. I was worried… even thought… did I make a mistake giving this book a chance? But I knew how much people adored them, so I pushed forward and by about 20% in, the book takes on a much more standard mystery and suspense tone.

The ending was very well written. The plot is thorough but leaves a lot to the imagination. Do we really ever find out what’s written in the government documents? Do we know exactly who kidnapped each of the sleuths? Do we know whether every character was purely good or evil? Not really… there is a bit of vagueness going on, but it doesn’t hurt the story. Readers will more than likely fall in love with the duo, get caught up in determining which is the true bad guy, and grow puzzled in trying to decide which information to trust and which information is just a red herring.

It’s fun to read these capers. It’s less about the language and more about the approach to solving a crime. So sit back and relax… let the author dazzle you with her story… and let go of the normal constructs you expect in a mystery novel. I’m going with 4 stars on this one, as I’d more than recommend it, but there were some things I felt could have been handled better. That said… I look forward to reading more in the Tommy & Tuppence series, but that will have to wait. Next week’s book is from the Hercule Poirot collection. Join us if you can!