"It wasn鈥檛 bad, but it wasn鈥檛 exactly a 鈥渨ow鈥� book either. It kind of reminded me of Mine S枚臒眉t鈥檚 Deli kad谋n hikayeleri, since each chapter tells the story of a different woman. "avarenin kar谋s谋" chapter was definitely the highlight for me."

"The Young Adventurers
A review of the Global Publishers eBook (2023) of The Bodley Head (UK) hardcover original (January 1922).

鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 you kill me off at once before I regained consciousness?鈥�
The German hesitated, and Tommy seized his advantage.
鈥淏ecause you didn鈥檛 know how much I knew鈥攁nd where I obtained that knowledge. If you kill me now, you never will know.鈥�
But here the emotions of Boris became too much for him. He stepped forward waving his arms.
鈥淵ou hell-hound of a spy,鈥� he screamed. 鈥淲e will give you short shrift. Kill him! Kill him!鈥�

I took a step back from my re-reads of Agatha Christie's early Hercule Poirots to read this Tommy and Tuppence adventure which was Christie's 2nd published book. I don't think I had ever read any of the T&T books previously. Based on this first outing, they are more along the lines of early movie serial adventures in which the heroine/hero get into perilous situations at the end of each chapter, only to be miraculously saved in the next one.


The cover image of the original The Bodley Head hardcover (1922). Image sourced from 欧宝娱乐.

The duo of Tommy and Tuppence are down on their luck in the post-WWI UK economy, but through chance circumstance become enlisted as agents of the British Secret Service. The case they are assigned is the retrieval of a draft treaty document which would have disastrous consequences for the government if it came to light. The document went missing during the sinking of the in 1915, but it is supposedly in the hands of a woman who was saved from the torpedoed ship. A group of enemy agents led by a mysterious "Mr. Brown" are determined to retrieve the document for their own nefarious purposes.

The coincidences, perils and rescues pile up here in a totally unbelievable manner. You just have to relax and not worry about the believability of it all. I've realized now that Christie wrote several books with this sort of "evil conspiracy by mysterious forces" plot. So they are not in the "inexplicable crime solved by a brilliant detective" style that she is better known for. Novels that followed in the same vein were The Man in the Brown Suit (1924 - Colonel Race #1) and The Big Four (1927 - Hercule Poirot #5).

This was a pleasant enough read, a GR 3, without anything especially striking about it. For its day, it did probably stand out by having a strong female character as its c0-lead.

Trivia and Links

A photograph of my archival Agatha Christie paperbacks, not in any order except for the first 3 Poirot's in the top left. Image from own photo.

The Secret Adversary has been adapted 3 times for the screen, as a silent film movie (1929) and as part of a TV series (1983 and 2014). You can see those listed under the book's . The 2014 adaptation time jumps the story into the Cold War era in the 1950s."

"The civil war is over鈥� The聽New Economic Policy is in bloom鈥� The state gets richer鈥� Citizens steal鈥�
Respectable chief accountant of the Soviet trust is a main personage and a chief culprit鈥�

Philip Stephanovitch was a model citizen. And all this notwithstanding, there was just a little impish adventurous streak in his character.

The accountant and cashier go to the bank鈥� Twelve thousand official rubles are in their pockets鈥� Their wicked destiny leads them to the bar鈥�

Suddenly a brisk tune was struck up. The flaxen hair of the pianist fell over the black and white keys of the groaning keyboard.聽
Three hands moved squealing bows over collapsible music-stands. Brazenly inflated lips began to spit into the narrow mouthpiece of a flute, extracting from the black wood a clear, high and tremulous howl. All this combined in a tune which consumed you and filled the heart with a promise of impossible but easily attainable pleasures.

Music is calling for adventures鈥� Music is calling for joy鈥� Music is calling to steal鈥�
Everything drowns in the drunken fog鈥� All the pleasures begin鈥�

The following morning Philip Stephanovitch woke up at a certain hour鈥� Each person has his own manner of waking in the morning after a drunken orgy, and as nothing is unknown to a Soviet citizen, so there is nothing strange in the fact that one Soviet citizen wakes up in one way, another so, and a third prefers not to awaken, but lies with face to the wall and eyes closed, waiting in vain for the friends who have forgotten to bring him half a vodka and a cucumber.

After a big family scandal鈥� After an unbridled binge鈥� There is no other way but run away鈥� And the train carries them to the former capital鈥� The unconstrained merriment continues鈥�

Philip Stephanovitch, with a dagger in his mouth, was dancing a Caucasian dance in the middle of the room. Over his jacket he wore the tunic of a general, epaulettes jumping up and down like golden claws.聽
Twisting and turning his long legs in a most unbelievable manner, he was waving a beer bottle, groaning and grimacing. It was terrible. And all round him stood noisy people of the highest society 鈥� drunkenly applauding and beating time.

There are always those who want to grab a piece of a chocolate cake belonging to others."