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The Secret Adversary (Tommy and Tuppence) (Hardcover)

by Agatha Christie (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
Price: £17.75 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 372 pages
  • Publisher: 1st World Library, Ltd (1 Jan 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1421810034
  • ISBN-13: 978-1421810034
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.8 x 3.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,800,934 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Synopsis

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - IT was 2 p.m. on the afternoon of May 7, 1915. The Lusitania had been struck by two torpedoes in succession and was sinking rapidly, while the boats were being launched with all possible speed. The women and children were being lined up awaiting their turn. Some still clung desperately to husbands and fathers; others clutched their children closely to their breasts. One girl stood alone, slightly apart from the rest. She was quite young, not more than eighteen. She did not seem afraid, and her grave, steadfast eyes looked straight ahead. "I beg your pardon." A man's voice beside her made her start and turn. She had noticed the speaker more than once amongst the first-class passengers. There had been a hint of mystery about him which had appealed to her imagination. He spoke to no one. If anyone spoke to him he was quick to rebuff the overture. Also he had a nervous way of looking over his shoulder with a swift, suspicious glance.

About the Author

Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became, quite simply, the best-selling novelist in history. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, written towards the end of the First World War, introduced us to Hercule Poirot, who was to become the most popular detective in crime fiction since Sherlock Holmes. She is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in the English language and another billion in over 100 foreign languages. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels under the name of Mary Westmacott. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
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4.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An early Christie caper., 3 Mar 2004
By John Austin "austinjr@bigpond.net.au" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Secret Adversary, the (Paperback)
Moving into a writing career that was to make her the world's most published author, Agatha Christie sent this book to her publisher in the early 1920s.

Already her strengths are evident: her gift for story telling, her ability to engage a likely readership aged from 8 to 80, her ability to pull a fast one on her readers, and her ability to reproduce actual ordinary conversation. In the 1920s it was normal to hear young adults calling each other "Old Bean" and "Old Thing", and they do so here. A weakness still is her inability to devise a means of dispensing with the requirement for long explanations, at the end of a mystery novel

"The Secret Adversary" is not a pure mystery novel, however. It is part romance, part adventure, part ripping yarn, part thriller, and part whodunit. Agatha Christie takes up some of the props found in each of these types of fiction. There are the lively young adults, Tommy and Tuppence, eager to make ends meet by undertaking a little detective work. There is the hunt for a secret document that will determine the fate of the great nations of the world. There are the apparent adversaries ("The German" is one of them), and the incredible eavesdropping and kidnapping situations.

Avid Christie readers will want to sample this early work, but general readers should choose from her productions of the 1930s.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The best Christie I have ever read!, 1 April 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Secret Adversary (Tommy & Tuppence chronology) (Paperback)
This is the best Christie I have ever read! It is different to her usual whodunnits and yet is just as thrilling. Tommy and Tuppence, the two main characters, have been friends since childhood. In a tea room they sit and discuss the difficulties of finding work after the war and decide to start up their own adventure company, a kind of detective agency. This opens up a spiralling story of mystery and suspense. The opening prologue works really well in setting the scene. A sinking ship and a man handing over important documents to be delivered, to the appropriate people in London. This reminded me of films such as the "The Thirty Nine steps" and "The Lady Vanishes". Indeed the book has a very similar style to these films, which I enjoyed as it had a certain charm. The characters are very likeable and again owe something to the earlier mentioned films. Margaret Lockwood would make a good Tuppence and Robert Donat a perfect Tommy. Mr Brown is the illusive villain of the book, which adds another important element to the style of the story. This story was I believe, the second one Mrs Christie published, after a Poirot yarn. It seems a shame Tommy and Tuppence did not become as popular as Poirot or Marple. Tommy and Tuppence have to track down Jane Finn, a name they overheard in a tea room, that later surfaces again in a very different light. Agatha Christie once overheard a person talking in a tea room about someone called Jane Fish and she thought it would be good to use the idea of a strange name being overheard and later being used again in a different context - changing it to Finn as Fish sounded silly! The details of London in this book make it a particular delight to read. From the Lyons Tea shop to the now closed Dover street tube station, make the reader feel part of that time. I would recommend this book to all Christie fans and those more familiar with her sleuths, as these characters will be a welcome surprise.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars NO SECRET HERE - A FINE VOICE PERFORMANCE, 11 Aug 2004
By Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Secret Adversary (Audio CD)
Popular performer Samantha Bond uses her wonderful British voice to best advantage in reading this -not-too-heavy tale by the doyenne of mysteries, Agatha Christie.

Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley suffer from a common malady - they need money. So, being an imaginative pair they decide to hire themselves out as adventurers, if you will, able and ready to tackle anything for a sum.

Better be careful what you ask for - they're retained by the evil Mr. Whittington who is a threat not only to Great Britain but also to our impecunious pair.

As they say, two heads are better than one but Tommy and Tuppence must use all the brainpower each possesses to get out of this scrape.

The dialogue features frequent feasts of repartee - a thoroughly entertaining listen.

- Gail Cooke

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Christie Parodies the Spy Thriller
Although I read a great number of Agatha Christie books as a child, I never came across any from her "Tommy & Tuppence" series on my mother's bookshelves. Read more
Published 21 months ago by A. Ross

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great Agatha Christie
I like Agatha Christie's books a lot. Unlike many of the other books written at the time, hers seem to be eternal in their appeal, at least where I'm concerned. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2006 by bookaholic

5.0 out of 5 stars Christie at her best!
Having startd their "Young Adventurers" agency, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford soon find themselves thrust into the world of international espionage. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2002

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