The Secret Adversary

 

Angela and I recently discovered a podcast that had discussed Agatha Christie's books in publication order. Being who we are, we read Dame Agatha's first novel--1920's The Mysterious Affair at Styles--before listening together to the episode discussing it.  Now, we've moved on to her second book, reading it in preparation for listening to THAT episode. I have a wife who enjoys doing stuff like this with me. In other words, I have a perfect wife.

Christie's early novels are not as polished as her later efforts, but The Secret Adversary (1922) is still a blast to read. It introduces Tommy and Tuppence, two childhood friends who meet again right after the Great War ends and, both being broke, decide to start a company called "The Young Adventurers, Ltd." Then, without even meaning to, they stumble into their first adventure. 

It involves a survivor from the sinking of the Luisitania who has been missing for years; secret papers that were important during the war and are suddenly important again; a criminal gang of Socialists who plan to overthrow the British government; an American millionaire who might or might not be an ally; and a mysterious master criminal known only as Mr. Brown.

Tommy and Tuppence are not as revered a Poirot or Miss Marple, but I like 'em. They are both clever and their bantering dialogue carries the story along in a fast and entertaining manner.

The Secret Adversary is more of a thriller than a mystery, with both Tommy and Tuppence getting captured at different times along the way and the palpable aura of danger generated by the mostly off-screen Mr. Brown adding quite a bit of tension. There are mystery elements, though. involving the identity of Mr. Brown and the location of the secret papers.

Brown's identity is nicely handled. There's a rather obvious clue partway through the tale that points to one of two men. But which one is a mystery unless you pick up on several more subtle clues dropped in later. This gives Christie an opportunity to pull off what would become her usual technique of dropping in an unlooked-for plot twist at the novel's climax. 

There's also a clue that will tell a super-attentive reader where the papers are, but it's included in such a matter-of-fact manner that most of us poor shlubs reading the book will miss it. Tommy eventually gets it, though. He is clever.

We never find out what the contents of the papers are, by the way. It is a perfect example of what Alfred Hitchcock would later dub a Macguffin--an object that triggers the plot. All we need to know that it's something everyone wants and that's enough to carry the story. A Hitchcockian example would be the micofilm in 1959's North by Northwest. We never even get a hint as to what's on that darn film. All we need to know is that the bad guys have it and the good guys need it back.

One thing that's not a mystery in The Secret Adversary: If you don't know that Tommy and Tuppence are going to be in love and engaged by the end of the novel, then you aren't really trying. It's just as well. This allows them to appear in three more novels and an anthology of short stories.