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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Certainly not Christie’s finest work, but it is light and amusing. She sometimes struggles with the youthful characters and romance that distinguish Tuppence and Tommy from her older detectives like Poirot and Miss Marple. Still, the humor is a welcome addition to Christie’s normal mystery.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
tense
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I love a Christie novel and I fell in love with Tommy and Tuppence. The banter between the two characters was great, the chemistry palpable. The story was exciting and thrilling. One of Christie’s best.
I love Poirot and Miss Maple, but I really enjoyed the younger voices of Tommy and Tuppence!
More of a 2.5 rounded down.
Look, to be fair, I can see why I loved this book when I was younger. (The copy I own was first printed when I was 13 years old, so I would have been about 13-15 when I read it.) Basically, Tommy and Tuppence were who I wanted to be; they were young and savvy and had exciting adventures and saved the country.
Now that I'm somewhat older...
I find this book high in melodrama, featuring another unneeded marriage proposal (three Christie rereads, three unneeded marriage proposals) and with just a touch of internalized misogyny. And, I think what's even worse than that, is that I'm either not smart enough to pick up the actual clues from the red-herrings - or two of my three rereads haven't had actual clues and are just loaded up with red-herrings. (...Actually, that might be all three.)
The only clue that I think actually pointed to the right person (literally, the only clue,) you won't understand unless you know British slang terms from before 1970. (So, that's another aspect of these books that hasn't aged well.)
Finally, I want to say that I read some but also listened to this audio version: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45994519-the-secret-adversary
Not only was the audio painful to listen to at times - hello melodrama! - but, at one point I was listening and reading along and they changed wordings. In the handful of pages I did this with, they changed a 'five' on the clock to a 'six' and they changed 'unofficial' to 'official'. I don't know why and that last one is especially egregious as it changes the whole theme about that subject.
Look, to be fair, I can see why I loved this book when I was younger. (The copy I own was first printed when I was 13 years old, so I would have been about 13-15 when I read it.) Basically, Tommy and Tuppence were who I wanted to be; they were young and savvy and had exciting adventures and saved the country.
Now that I'm somewhat older...
I find this book high in melodrama, featuring another unneeded marriage proposal (three Christie rereads, three unneeded marriage proposals) and with just a touch of internalized misogyny. And, I think what's even worse than that, is that I'm either not smart enough to pick up the actual clues from the red-herrings - or two of my three rereads haven't had actual clues and are just loaded up with red-herrings. (...Actually, that might be all three.)
The only clue that I think actually pointed to the right person (literally, the only clue,) you won't understand unless you know British slang terms from before 1970. (So, that's another aspect of these books that hasn't aged well.)
Finally, I want to say that I read some but also listened to this audio version: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45994519-the-secret-adversary
Not only was the audio painful to listen to at times - hello melodrama! - but, at one point I was listening and reading along and they changed wordings. In the handful of pages I did this with, they changed a 'five' on the clock to a 'six' and they changed 'unofficial' to 'official'. I don't know why and that last one is especially egregious as it changes the whole theme about that subject.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've read a couple of Agatha Christie books before and I have to say that I'm surprised by how much I liked this one. Not that I in any way dislike her more murder mystery-focused works (they're lovely) but, in some ways, I do think that her style of writing and storytelling suited this kind of adventure better. To me, it seems more logical that someone who sees themselves as the Napoleon of Crime would come up with these kinds of convoluted plots and cover stories, rather than a random civilian who wants to murder someone they know. Because normal people don't really think that way or would go through that much effort to get rid of someone they want to get rid of.
All that said, the book wasn't the most exciting one, perhaps, and had some weak moments when I kind of lost the plot a bit (though that might have been my fault). I did like the characters, though, especially Tommy and Tuppence. So I definitely enjoyed it and if I run across another one of the books about Tommy and Tuppence, I'm pretty sure I'll read it.
All that said, the book wasn't the most exciting one, perhaps, and had some weak moments when I kind of lost the plot a bit (though that might have been my fault). I did like the characters, though, especially Tommy and Tuppence. So I definitely enjoyed it and if I run across another one of the books about Tommy and Tuppence, I'm pretty sure I'll read it.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
One of the better Tommy and Tuppence novels. If you have read much Christie, and I have, you will recognize some of the hallmarks of her work. It’s a decent, serviceable adventure mystery. Ties up a little too neatly and there isn’t much in the way of character development, but it’s not really that kind of book.