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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This story was a blast. It’s pretty different from what I expected, because it’s only tangentially a detective novel. It was a bit too fantastic at times, but it’s pretty fun, and that’s just what I needed at the moment!
Perhaps it was because this mystery was one of the first from the Agatha Christie's collection but plot and ending were very predictable from the get-together.
This was a summer read so it was pretty good and did his job even though it was shallow.
Agatha Christie doing SPECTRE fifty years before bond got there
Tommy and Tuppence are Christie's most under-appreciated characters. Who cares about Poirot or Marple when I can read a fast paced adventure/crime story with two young souls brimming with energy and potential!
'The Secret Adversary' was excitement from top to bottom: something was always happening to keep you on your toes. The characters were great, especially Tuppence whose personality was like a twinkling light of passion. She was exactly what I like about reading women written by women: independent, active and, even in trouble and in need of rescuing, never a damsel in distress. She was complemented well by Tommy and they made great partners so their dynamics were really enjoyable to read.
I can't wait to read more of their stories!!
'The Secret Adversary' was excitement from top to bottom: something was always happening to keep you on your toes. The characters were great, especially Tuppence whose personality was like a twinkling light of passion. She was exactly what I like about reading women written by women: independent, active and, even in trouble and in need of rescuing, never a damsel in distress. She was complemented well by Tommy and they made great partners so their dynamics were really enjoyable to read.
I can't wait to read more of their stories!!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There is nothing much to say about the plot, twists and resolution as it was really good, unsurprisingly.
I enjoyed very much being introduced to Tuppence and Tommy, you could feel the youthful energy, the rythm of events, actions were quite fast paced but it was rightly done (apart maybe for the beginning).
I loved the relationship between the main two characters, it was charming, almost tender at some point, funny, oh yes quite funny! I mean in Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, it's more subtle, almost like a suggestion but in Tuppence and Tommy it was straightforward and more dynamic and I loved it.
The story was gripping, entertaining, a bit sentimental but never for long.
However Tuppence's naivity bothered me sometimes, because it felt too much of a cliché (being a young woman)and as if she was trying to hard. Even though there were several women who were involved in the story, there was always this sort of tacit understanding that at the end ther were only there to stimulate men.
I enjoyed very much being introduced to Tuppence and Tommy, you could feel the youthful energy, the rythm of events, actions were quite fast paced but it was rightly done (apart maybe for the beginning).
I loved the relationship between the main two characters, it was charming, almost tender at some point, funny, oh yes quite funny! I mean in Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, it's more subtle, almost like a suggestion but in Tuppence and Tommy it was straightforward and more dynamic and I loved it.
The story was gripping, entertaining, a bit sentimental but never for long.
However Tuppence's naivity bothered me sometimes, because it felt too much of a cliché (being a young woman)and as if she was trying to hard. Even though there were several women who were involved in the story, there was always this sort of tacit understanding that at the end ther were only there to stimulate men.
Newcomers to the work of Agatha Christie will be pleasantly surprised to discover the author's library extends beyond Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple to include the adventurous and endearing team of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. That said, it is also disappointing to note that despite an extensive catalog of books spanning over half a century, Christie only gave us five mysteries featuring these two characters. As a teenager I devoured the later offering By the Pricking of My Thumbs (highly recommended) which features the two as a spritely elderly couple. Reading their debut, Secret Adversary (written over 40 years prior), was an enjoyable flashback to a pair becoming reacquainted with other in post-WWI Britain, both hungry for suitable living situations and adventure.
Wearily ensconced in a London hotel, a pre-married Tommy and Tuppence ponder their future after the war, most specifically how to earn an income with minimal skills and desire for heavy labor. A chance encounter with an eavesdropper promises a mysterious yet intriguing task, but quickly falls through when an uncomfortable Tuppence gives a false name to her would-be employer (Jane Finn, a name dropped by two passing gentlemen when Tommy himself was eavesdropping on conversations) and is accused of blackmail.
Money no longer a concern, The Young Adventurers, LTD., as Tommy and Tuppence have christened themselves, decide to sleuth to satisfy their own curiosity about the nondescript Jane Finn and why the girl is suddenly so popular. Soon they are employed for real, charged by Jane's millionaire American cousin to find the girl, missing since her rescue from the sinking Lusitania, and implored by one Mr. Carter to retrieve documents believed to have been on Miss Finn's person at the time, documents that could threaten the entire security of Britain and threaten the validity of post-war treaties. When a potential witness is murdered before she can offer any helpful information with regards to Jane and "Mr. Brown," the ringleader of the organization behind the threats, The Young Adventurers find enough adventure for two lifetimes.
In Secret Adversary, Christie offers perhaps one of her most complex mysteries -- a forerunner to the contemporary political thriller. The combination of Tommy's deductive intellect and Tuppence's wit and zeal are compelling to read, yet sadly addictive. Given the dearth of stories featuring these two, one may be left to wonder about the large gaps in between the Tommy and Tuppence novels and what adventures may have happened in the interim. For any mystery fan, however, Secret Adversary is a must read, a story that despite its setting will always be ageless.
Wearily ensconced in a London hotel, a pre-married Tommy and Tuppence ponder their future after the war, most specifically how to earn an income with minimal skills and desire for heavy labor. A chance encounter with an eavesdropper promises a mysterious yet intriguing task, but quickly falls through when an uncomfortable Tuppence gives a false name to her would-be employer (Jane Finn, a name dropped by two passing gentlemen when Tommy himself was eavesdropping on conversations) and is accused of blackmail.
Money no longer a concern, The Young Adventurers, LTD., as Tommy and Tuppence have christened themselves, decide to sleuth to satisfy their own curiosity about the nondescript Jane Finn and why the girl is suddenly so popular. Soon they are employed for real, charged by Jane's millionaire American cousin to find the girl, missing since her rescue from the sinking Lusitania, and implored by one Mr. Carter to retrieve documents believed to have been on Miss Finn's person at the time, documents that could threaten the entire security of Britain and threaten the validity of post-war treaties. When a potential witness is murdered before she can offer any helpful information with regards to Jane and "Mr. Brown," the ringleader of the organization behind the threats, The Young Adventurers find enough adventure for two lifetimes.
In Secret Adversary, Christie offers perhaps one of her most complex mysteries -- a forerunner to the contemporary political thriller. The combination of Tommy's deductive intellect and Tuppence's wit and zeal are compelling to read, yet sadly addictive. Given the dearth of stories featuring these two, one may be left to wonder about the large gaps in between the Tommy and Tuppence novels and what adventures may have happened in the interim. For any mystery fan, however, Secret Adversary is a must read, a story that despite its setting will always be ageless.