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kat2112 's review for:
The Secret Adversary
by Agatha Christie
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.