merichmer 's review for:

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

4.0

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This first book in Christie's Tommy & Tuppence series is a real romp! I hadn't heard of this duo before, but I really enjoyed their banter and resilience. Tuppence is the definition of "pluck," and Tommy somehow manages to keep a cool head in the wildest scenarios. I only have a few quibbles: first, that Christie and her characters repeatedly refer to Tommy as "slow" when it seems to me he's just as smart and quick-thinking as anyone and second, the indulgence of the villain. He gets a full on victory speech, Bond-villain style. And later, we read portions of his diary to show what a criminal mastermind he really was. Honestly, I skipped over this part, because who cares. Maybe it wasn't a trope when she wrote it, but it could not be more of a stereotype now. Even so, I enjoyed the book overall and would definitely recommend it.