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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
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
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
After an accidental meeting in Bulawayo, drifter Anthony Cade agrees to a favour on behalf of an old friend - taking a memoir manuscript to a publisher in London, and returning a parcel of letters to their owner at a house in the country. How hard can it be?
Well, much more complicated than he knows, because the manuscript is actually at the centre of a power struggle in troubled Eastern European country Herzoslovakia, and both sides of the conflict are desperate to get their hands on them. And as for the letters, they offer the additional complication of a blackmail plot involving one of Europe's most wanted criminal masterminds...
As soon as Cade arrives in England, all sorts of bizarre shenanigans play out, embroiling him in a situation of national importance at famous country house Chimneys, where a secret lies waiting to be discovered. Along the way, Anthony meets the vivacious socialite Virginia Revel (by way of an unexpected incident involving the letters and a dead body), who is his ticket to Chimneys - where he coincidentally arrives on the night of another inconvenient murder.
Enter stage right, the enigmatic Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard in his first Christie adventure, who is tasked (along with secretive Monsieur Lemoine of the French Sûreté) with getting to the bottom of all the messy goings on at the home of the delightful Lord Caterham and his plucky daughter Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent.
This is one of Christie's devilishly complicated mysteries. The intricately weaving plotlines centre on political intrigue about the fictional Herzoslovakia, and the cast of players is drawn from an international setting as befits one of her more adventurous capers. There is a lot going on at any one time, which really kept me guessing about who was at the bottom of the interconnected dark deeds - and there are a lot of likely characters for you to suspect!
Many of these characters reappear in the follow-up Battle story, The Seven Dials Mystery, but this is a very different beast in nature, as it it much heavier in terms of its international plot, and not nearly as humorous as its sequel - despite the best efforts of the adorable Lord Caterham and Bundle (and her younger sisters). There are many fun elements though, particularly in the way Christie uses hidden identities (lovely twist on this theme at the end), and the romance between perfectly matched Anthony and Virginia is charming.
This was a great book to explore this month's #ReadChristie2025 theme of Detectives, with its mix of professional and amateur sleuths, and I very much enjoyed discovering it through the delightful voice talents of my favourite narrator Hugh Fraser, in the excellent audio book.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Full of Agatha’s classic wit and charm, I had to mark this one down for some of the English-supremacy savior complex stuff going on. Too bad, because so much of it had me laughing out loud.
While in Africa, Anthony Cade agrees to help his friend Jimmy McGrath and return a manuscript to London. After an attempt to steal the manuscript from him, he ends up at the country house of Chimneys, involved in a political scandal and murder case involving the royal family of Herzeslovakia.
This is far from my favourite of Christie's novels that I've read, but it's enjoyable enough and easy to read, despite a fairly complicated plot. I found I missed Poirot or Marple, and the number of characters pretending to be someone other than they were was a little ridiculous. However, for some easy escapism, it's a good read.
This is far from my favourite of Christie's novels that I've read, but it's enjoyable enough and easy to read, despite a fairly complicated plot. I found I missed Poirot or Marple, and the number of characters pretending to be someone other than they were was a little ridiculous. However, for some easy escapism, it's a good read.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Starts off like it's going to be one of Christie's amateur detective spy stories like The Secret Adversary or The Man in the Brown Suit.
I like those okay, but I don't usually love them, so I was extremely happy to see The Secret of Chimneys settle into an English country manor cozy mystery and add a brilliantly cagey sleuth from Scotland Yard. I was able to figure out a couple of mysteries before they were revealed, but that doesn't matter so long as I'm enjoying the setting and characters. Which I very much did.
I like those okay, but I don't usually love them, so I was extremely happy to see The Secret of Chimneys settle into an English country manor cozy mystery and add a brilliantly cagey sleuth from Scotland Yard. I was able to figure out a couple of mysteries before they were revealed, but that doesn't matter so long as I'm enjoying the setting and characters. Which I very much did.
Not my favorite but a fun little adventure. There was an element of murder mystery but it was much more a confounded political conspiracy of sorts. Superintendent Battle wasn't even in it that much. He seems capable enough but is certainly not the character that Poirot is.