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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
These books are great fun. I love it that even though I've read them all (ages ago) I forget "who did it" and so I can enjoy them again. There are some perks to getting older.
Rounding up to 4 because, despite some cheery coincidences and tidy explanations, I really enjoyed this mystery. I never knew of Christie's books beyond Poirot and Miss Marple, but the lesser-known "adventurers" Tommy and Tuppence are super fun and I'm looking forward to reading more of their stories. This was the second book Christie wrote and I think that's why it feels a bit less polished and lacking some details. I wish we got more on the espionage element. I feel that was glossed over a bit.
Interesting spy novel
I quite enjoyed this thriller by Agatha Christie. All of her books I've read in the past have been murder mysteries. I always enjoyed them, but this spy novel was a lovely change of pace.
I quite enjoyed this thriller by Agatha Christie. All of her books I've read in the past have been murder mysteries. I always enjoyed them, but this spy novel was a lovely change of pace.
So this isn't the actual book I read - I'm really reading a collection of 5 Christie books, but this is the best way to get credit for all the books. If I can count 15 volumes of a Manga one book, I can count a collection of novels, five books. The book I'm reading is [b:Agatha Christie: Five Complete Murder Mysteries|140332|Agatha Christie Five Complete Murder Mysteries (Secret Adversary/Murder of Roger Ackroyd/Boomerang Clue/Moving Finger/Death Comes as the End)|Agatha Christie|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266481020s/140332.jpg|117094] - and I'll use it as the last book.
For many years I was laboring under the impression that Agatha Christie was a romance novelist. A modern-day romance novelist. I'm not sure how the idea got into my head but she was prolific as many romance novelist were - she wasn't SFF so I didn't run across her in my section of the bookstore and then there was the name Christie. It's very girlish name. But whatever the reason when I found out she not only DIDN'T write mystery novels, she wrote early 20th century mystery novels I was floored. That's my favorite kind owing to Laurie King's [b:The Beekeeper's Apprentice|170237|The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell, #1)|Laurie R. King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172375921s/170237.jpg|891863].
So when the chance came to get a book with five classic murder mysteries - and owing to the fact I left all my Christie back in Japan knowing I'd run across her in used book stores cheaper than shipping the books home, I jumped at the chance.
This book - The Secret Adversary has neither Poirot or Miss Marple so I hadn't read it before. And the story of Tuppence and Tommy's adventures across London looking for Jane Finn while avoiding the clutches of the mystery and shadowy Mr. Brown while the unravel a old old mystery was fun and engaging.
For many years I was laboring under the impression that Agatha Christie was a romance novelist. A modern-day romance novelist. I'm not sure how the idea got into my head but she was prolific as many romance novelist were - she wasn't SFF so I didn't run across her in my section of the bookstore and then there was the name Christie. It's very girlish name. But whatever the reason when I found out she not only DIDN'T write mystery novels, she wrote early 20th century mystery novels I was floored. That's my favorite kind owing to Laurie King's [b:The Beekeeper's Apprentice|170237|The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell, #1)|Laurie R. King|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172375921s/170237.jpg|891863].
So when the chance came to get a book with five classic murder mysteries - and owing to the fact I left all my Christie back in Japan knowing I'd run across her in used book stores cheaper than shipping the books home, I jumped at the chance.
This book - The Secret Adversary has neither Poirot or Miss Marple so I hadn't read it before. And the story of Tuppence and Tommy's adventures across London looking for Jane Finn while avoiding the clutches of the mystery and shadowy Mr. Brown while the unravel a old old mystery was fun and engaging.
My first Agatha Christie and I loved it! Humor and suspense, what more can you ask?
Re read with The Christie Carnage -noobs, middlings & hoity tots
WARNING: My thoughts are going to be scattered all over this review, Why? Because, I suck at reviewing.
Lets begin from the beginning.
So, some of the readers at the Indian Readers decided to read the complete works of Agatha Christie. I, being overly curious and enthusiastic, jumped right into with my fellow readers, despite of having read, re-read, watched, heard (audiobooks and those delicious BBC radio plays) multiple number of times. So the book most voted upon (roughly based on chronology of its publishing) was the Secret Adversary , published in the year 1922 (this was after Mysterious Affair at Styles).
Disclaimer: Prior to this I had never followed any chronology while reading her works. The primary reason was availability. Whatever books were available in the school and local libraries, had to make do with those. But that was almost 15 years back. (Totally useless information.)
Coming back to the book, had I read, The Secret Adversary, some odd 10 years back, this book would have been a winner for me (getting olderunfortunately has made me more critical). This book has one of my most favourite tropes- An espionage set during the First World War period . The idea of saving secret documents from the hands of the bad guys during one of my most favourite period of history (should have) got my juices flowing. The story had almost all the elements - secret societies with members having code names, dual identities, chasing and spying sequences, lost memories and of course murder. Despite of the things that should have made this great espionage book, the story went flat for me.
The main characters, Tommy & Tuppence (Two peoplegoing to extreme lengths trying too hard for the sake of money and some idea of grand adventure) and Julius Hersheimmer somehow seemed a bit caricaturish to me. Exception perhaps was Sir James Peel Edgerton who made a clever and believable character. The plot too, IMO, was a bit too contrived.
Then mid way, through the book, I recalled the bad guy was :-/ (curse of re-reading). Was languishing at 50%, had to speed up because my co-readers were already done with it (again completely rambling thoughts)
I had started with the intention of giving it at least three stars, chopping off one star now. Was annoyed at times while reading those obvious coincidences and at Tommy’s tomfoolery, the way he would goad his captors.
Here's an incident,
"Good morning", said Tommy amiably. "You have NOT used Pear's soap, I see".
"No light repartee, have you old bean? There, there, we can't always have brains as well as beauty..."
Sorry, I was neither amused nor impressed with his bravado.
Damn! Thats the reason I don’ t like doing reviews.
The Secret Adversary gets only 2.25 stars from me.
Having said that do not go by my verdict, Goodreads is teeming with good reviews. I would recommend it to all mystery/thriller aficionados
WARNING: My thoughts are going to be scattered all over this review, Why? Because, I suck at reviewing.
Lets begin from the beginning.
So, some of the readers at the Indian Readers decided to read the complete works of Agatha Christie. I, being overly curious and enthusiastic, jumped right into with my fellow readers, despite of having read, re-read, watched, heard (audiobooks and those delicious BBC radio plays) multiple number of times. So the book most voted upon (roughly based on chronology of its publishing) was the Secret Adversary , published in the year 1922 (this was after Mysterious Affair at Styles).
Disclaimer: Prior to this I had never followed any chronology while reading her works. The primary reason was availability. Whatever books were available in the school and local libraries, had to make do with those. But that was almost 15 years back. (Totally useless information.)
Coming back to the book, had I read, The Secret Adversary, some odd 10 years back, this book would have been a winner for me (getting older
The main characters, Tommy & Tuppence (Two people
Then mid way, through the book, I recalled the bad guy was :-/ (curse of re-reading). Was languishing at 50%, had to speed up because my co-readers were already done with it (again completely rambling thoughts)
I had started with the intention of giving it at least three stars, chopping off one star now. Was annoyed at times while reading those obvious coincidences and at Tommy’s tomfoolery, the way he would goad his captors.
Here's an incident,
"Good morning", said Tommy amiably. "You have NOT used Pear's soap, I see".
"No light repartee, have you old bean? There, there, we can't always have brains as well as beauty..."
Sorry, I was neither amused nor impressed with his bravado.
Damn! Thats the reason I don’ t like doing reviews.
The Secret Adversary gets only 2.25 stars from me.
Having said that do not go by my verdict, Goodreads is teeming with good reviews. I would recommend it to all mystery/thriller aficionados
Tommy and Tuppence are so charming and underappreciated. Listened to this on the podcast Phoebe Reads A Mystery.
I've never read any of the Tommy and Tuppence book. It delivered everything the premise promised. Tommy and Tuppence also deliver everything their names imply--snappy 20s dialogue, modern flapper attitudes and a couple truly meant to be.
I figured out the identity of the Adversary early on (and I'm not particularly good at that sort of thing) but the book convinced me to doubt myself when it told me I was wrong. Anyway, it's not so much a mystery, although there is one, as an adventure. There's just the sort of elements--spies (Bolsheviks!), mental homes, amnesia, konks on the head, mysterious pictures, poison, funky landmarks and the sinking of the Lusitania. If you're looking for a fun post-WWI romp, this is for you, old bean.
I figured out the identity of the Adversary early on (and I'm not particularly good at that sort of thing) but the book convinced me to doubt myself when it told me I was wrong. Anyway, it's not so much a mystery, although there is one, as an adventure. There's just the sort of elements--spies (Bolsheviks!), mental homes, amnesia, konks on the head, mysterious pictures, poison, funky landmarks and the sinking of the Lusitania. If you're looking for a fun post-WWI romp, this is for you, old bean.