Customer Reviews

The Secret of Chimneys (Agatha Christie Comic Strip)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Chimneys is the palatial home of the Marquis of Caterham and his charming daughter Eileen, better known as Bundle. His good friend, George Lomax, a high-ranking official in the Foreign Office, arranges a hunting party to be held at Chimneys. The party is actually a cover for diplomatic intrigue. Before the party is too far along, Christie serves up murder, blackmail, romance, mysterious strangers, and a case of mistaken identity. There is also a bit of political information about a fictitious country called Herzoslovakia. This book is often confusing, definitely improbable, but always fun.

I think that anyone who starts with this as their first Agatha Christie will not get a true picture of her work nor will they really see the depth of her genius. However, it is very enjoyable for confirmed Christie lovers.

This book is notable for the introduction of Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, a man who will appear in several other Christie books including one of her very best, "Towards Zero."

This 1925 novel begins in Africa with the chance meeting of two old friends, young men out to see the world. As they catch up with each other they discover that one is working at a job he hates and the other wants to be in two places at once. Since they resemble each other at least superficially one decides to impersonate the other.

When the imposter, Anthony Cade, arrives in England he has two errands to complete for his friend, Jimmy McGrath, the first to deliver a manuscript and the other to return a package of indiscrete letters to a lady. Cade is soon swept up in a tangle of intrigue that leads him to one of England most famous 'Stately Homes' - Chimneys.

At Chimneys all the various threads come together involving state secrets, murder, secret passages, secret societies and romance. All is well in the end setting the stage for the return of Chimneys and its delightful resident family in the SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY.

This is a comic mystery story with many of the characters and much of the plot sounding as much P. G. Wodehouse as Agatha Christie. For those looking for a serious mystery look else where. There is no Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple (although Superintendant Battle makes his first appearance) here but instead a delightful departure from Christie's usual style

Let's be clear: this book is a NOVEL....The Ingram review isn't much better: yes, there's a beautiful woman and a stolen diamond in the story, but she has nothing to do with the theft.

In some ways, this is classic Christie, complete with nefarious goings-on in the grand country home, swarthy-looking foreigners, a beautiful heroine, a manly hero, the mysterious dead body, etc., etc. What raises it above the rest (and makes it one of my favorite Christie books) is that there is an unusual amount of HUMOR in the book, and more than a dollop of romance. And it's clever, altho' the "who-dun-it" is a bit obvious by the end. However, this is one book worth reading for what happens BETWEEN the crime and the revelation of the crook.

For budding Christie fans, you should know that "Chimneys" features some of the same characters found in "The Seven Dials Mystery," including the young Lady Eileen Brent (aka, "Bundle"), her long-suffering father Lord Caterham, the over-earnest George Lomax, and Bill Eversleigh - who marries Bundle at the end of "Seven Dials" but is infatuated elsewhere in this volume. Crime-solving is by the impassive Inspector Battle, another one of Christie's recurring characters.

A delicious read for a rainy week-end or a day at the beach.

THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS will appeal to those who are bored with the "dead body in the sitting room, which of the dinner party did it?" formula. The stakes are very high, the plot is engrossing, and the end, hard to predict. It's a story told on a vast scale, and it will exact a high demand of focused attention from its audience. Were this to be made into a film, it should be on the scale of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, large, long and opulent. Anthony Cade is a magnetic character; clever and levelheaded in the face of danger. Virginia Revel does not at first seem like a worthy love interest. She babbles on about her figure and shopping, and loves it when men are infatuated with her; it's a major ego boost. She needs to be more than a beautiful young socialite for the reader to want her and Anthony together. Battle is a wonderful detective; so smart that we will trust his every instinct, and the relationship between he and Anthony takes on an intriguing Holmes/Watson aspect. Good read.

This book is full of plot twists involving a foreign kingdom, lost jewelry, and a famous French jewel thief. I admit that I could not follow all of the various plot twists, but I could not put this book down. The book also has caricatures of the English Lord, The Government Minister, the Rich Widow, the Rich American, and the Faithful Servant. Underlying the plot is a sense of humor about society. The author mocks all of the characters. You will never be able to guess how this one ends.

With its Ruritanian intrigue and bright young things, The Secret of Chimneys has more in common with the thriller-comedy-mysteries popular in the 1920's than with Christie's usual puzzlers. Although she is sometimes referred to as a writer of "country house mysteries", this is one of her few books that actually takes place in a country house -- meaning a stately home rather than, you know, just a house in the country.

Christie handles this style well, but she does go a bit overboard. It's a bit like the 12 days of Christmas -- there are at least five people who aren't who they claim to be, four prowlers at midnight, three McGuffins, two sinister servants, and yes, a pistol in a beech tree.

You probably won't have much trouble figuring out whodunnit and so forth, but that's not really the point here. It's a fun period piece that won't take you long to get through: I enjoyed reading it in the bathtub, but I'm not sure how well it would fare on dry land.

"The Secret of Chimneys" is one of Agatha Christie's mysteries that does not feature her famous sleuths Hercule Poriot or Miss Marple. Rather the main character, Anthony Cade, works as an amateur sleuth to solve a very confounding mystery. While some elements of the plot are rather improbable, "The Secret of Chimneys" is a thoroughly enjoyable and charming puzzle of a mystery to solve.

The reader first meets Anthony Cade as a tour guide in Africa. By chance he meets up with his old friend, James McGrath, who asks him to carry out a favor for him. Anthony agrees and travels to England, under the guise of being James McGrath, to deliver the memoirs of a dead statesman as well as a packet of letters that had been used to blackmail a married woman. Anthony has no idea how interesting both packages he carries are, and finds himself accosted and ransacked for the packages he has in his possession. His efforts at delivery and to get to the bottom of why everyone seems to want the information in his possession leads him to a house called Chimneys. But just as he arrives, a foreign prince is murdered and Anthony Cade finds himself a likely suspect. He sticks around in an effort to clear his name and finds a murder mystery unlike any other.

"The Secret of Chimneys" abounds with Christie's trademarks - mistaken identities, disguises, more twists than a corkscrew. It is filled with political intrigue, not something Christie always carried off very well but that works in this piece, if one can suspend disbelief and believe in a country called Herzoslovakia. "The Secret of Chimneys" will keep readers guessing and re-guessing to the very end. It is a perfect lighthearted, frothy mystery read, even if the descriptions on the back of the book do not match up to the action that unfolds within.

This is absolutely the best non-Poirot book Agatha Christie ever wrote, and certainly ranks up there with the best of the Poirot ones as well. It's certainly very different from typical murder mysteries, despite having many of the cliched elements. The delight in this book is the characters and they way they interact. You'll come away with a new appreciation of Battle, if you've only seen him on the sidelines to Poirot before. All the other other characters are wonderful as well, and part of the fun is that nearly everyone in the book is playing their cards close to their chest, but Christie does a wonderful job of revealing enough, but never too much. There is a lot going on in this book, and it is not to be rushed through. However, this is one of the very few books that I read a second time, and it was enjoyable as the first time, having, as it were, a different perspective on the characters and the plot. I've re-read a few more times now, just to enjoy the dialog and amusing touches throughout the book. Highly recommended.

I have read every Agatha Christie novel and short story multiple times, and there are many that I love, but The Secret of Chimneys is my absolute favorite. The characters are fun, the plot is interesting, and there are passages that never fail to amuse me. I admit I've read this book so many times that I can point out little slip-ups, but I couldn't care less. The Secret of Chimneys is Agatha Christie's third novel, and I find that I enjoy her earlier novels most, as some of the later ones are darker and can ramble. Fun is generally not a word I associate with murder mysteries, but it applies to this book: intrigue, romance, humor and a few murders are a fabulous combination.

This comment specifically concerns the AudioBook CD edition read by Hugh Fraser. As an avid audiobook listener, I would like to post a comment about this edition:

Fraser is not the most versatile voice-doer I've listened to, and that can be distracting at times. There is little change in pause length between sentence and paragraphs. Also, until you get used to the subtle difference in tones and voices, it is very hard to follow in dialogue who's saying what (especially when there are more than two characters conversing), and very easy for your mind to wander off, victim to the monotonous reading style. Overall, I give the reading effort 3 out of 5 stars.

Whether you should purchase this or not is up to you, but at least you've been cautioned. I recently heard The Body in the Library, read by Stephanie Cole, and the quality of the reading was excellent. Happy listening!