The Secret of Chimneys

There are obviously things to enjoy here: it's not a book that really blows you away or anything but the plot is well designed and satisfying as a mystery and the dialogue is lively and flows well. It has light elements of the political thriller type novel, mostly in terms of the background, although it's still firmly a sedate golden age mystery style. There's some mild complexity to it that's handled well and it's hard to imagine getting confused or anything. Christie's writing style and handling of mysteries is so all round solid it's really hard to fault her in any way on those specific things. The ending ties everything together with no loose ends in a way that everything feels "right".

But... it's impossible to get away from the show more racist, colonial, aristocratic entitlement that pervades the book. A financier with a blatantly Jewish name is referred to as "yellow skinned" multiple times which is clearly some kind of racist stereotype that's antiquated now and there's a few other anti semitic allusions surrounding him. The brunt of the racism, though, is directed at the inhabitants of the country of Herzoslovakia, whose situation forms the entire motivation of the book. Of the characters, their names are mocked regularly, their appearance is described negatively, and even their dangerous revolutionary secret paramilitary is treated as a comedic joke rather than serious villains. Their country is presented as one of brigands and ignorant peasants and both a supposed conservative attachment to the monarchy behaving properly and their new democratic government are presented as contemptible. It's not every page, but when the subject is such a major part of the book it's hard to get it out of your mind.

The colonialism starts from the first page, where the action starts with our main character being a tour guide for a bunch of English people touring modern-day Zimbabwe and finding it distasteful except for picture postcards and going to see Cecil Rhodes' tomb! The British government is involved in Herzoslovakian politics because there's recently been oil discovered there and they want to be the ones to get exclusive rights to it. To that end, they're planning on deposing the current republican government and reinstalling a heir to the old royal family. The oil rights are a condition for a massive loan they're going to give him to get him into power. It's such a striking example of British imperialism nakedly destroying lives for British profit and yet there's no moral judgement attached to it at all - and the choice of characters and perspectives we get mean we're supposed to be *on their side*. show less

‘The Secret Of Chimneys’, published In 1925, was Agatha Christie’s fifth novel. Like ‘The Secret Adversary’ (1922) and ‘The Man In The Brown Suit’ (1924), it is an early example of a thriller, rather than a detective story. It is also the first of her five Superintendent Battle books..

Sadly, it has neither the freshness and vigour of the earlier thrillers. They had main characters I could root for. 'The Secret Of Chimneys' is filled with people I'd prefer not to spend time with. Superintendent Battle is the best thing in the book and he isn't given much to do except demonstrate that, even though he's a policeman and is not a gentleman, he's still astute and intelligent. How remarkable is that?

It was a book I was glad to be show more done with. The plot manages to be silly without being amusing. I felt as if I'd just stepped out of a period adaptation of Scooby-Doo with added doses of patriarchy, xenophobia, and aristocratic exceptionalism thrown in for authenticity.

I detested the hero, Anthony Cade, on sight and further acquaintance only confirmed my poor opinion of him as a chancer, all confidence and cunning wrapped up in charm. The aristocrats in the book respond to him as 'one of us' not despite his behaviour but because that behaviour demonstrates his unassailable sense of entitlement.

The foreigners presented in the book have all the authenticity of a Tintin cartoon. Christie demonstrates her dislike of Italians, her disdain for Slavs, her sense that a British financier with the surname Isaacstein is almost a foreigner and her belief that even foreign aristocrats negotiating internal contracts can't master the basics of English syntax.

The denouement is so ludicrous it's almost a pastiche of itself. After the big reveal, Christie makes us trudge through two more chapters, one to help anyone who hasn't understood the plot to have it explained to them one more time and a final one for readers who need this rather dull cake to be iced over with an attempt at romance. Even the romance fails, degrading into a successful negotiation between two people who know themselves too well to have any truck with romance.

If this had been my first Christie, it would have been my last. show less

I enjoyed this. Christie takes her time gathering the premises of the situation and the consort of characters, but this was fine for me. It wasn’t long before the first mysterious corpse appeared, and from then on, things moved along.
The protagonist, Anthony Cade, is attractive, adventurous, and mysterious. His love interest, Virginia Revel, has enough spunk to match; she was my favorite character. The other characters fill their roles well for the most part, except for three who are pure stereotype: Lord Caterham, the effete, skittish proprietor of Chimneys (a confusing name for an estate), George Lomax, a blustering government type (think Lummox), and Isaacstein, the financier. In the last case, the stereotype is uncomfortably show more anti-semitic.
There’s the requisite amount of misdirects (drawing my suspicion first to one, then to another) and details mentioned early on, then forgotten until brought back as part of the denouement. And, of course, all are gathered in a room for the big reveal (well, almost all—nice touch), leading to a satisfying conclusion. All that with neither Poirot nor Miss Marple, yet undeniably Agatha Christie. show less

I've enjoyed various works by Christie over the years, but this is not one of them. The characters are flat cardboard cutouts constantly gibbering at one another. The plot somehow manages to be both tedious *and* ludicrous, and the denouement beggars belief.

I cannot believe this was once considered a good mystery with a satisfactory ending. Only finishing this through sheer pig-headed doggedness I realise now I shouldn't have bothered. Considering reading a Christie novel? Then I implore for the love of little kittens, please choose anything but this.

This is one of Christie's funniest detective novels. The characters are far more interesting than in the Hercule Poirot novels. It's written as satire on the British upper classes. Fantastic characters, lots of interesting shenanigans.

One thing I found on a recent reread is that Christie does show many of the distasteful attitudes of the people of her time. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that. Her characters sometimes make racial or social class slurs. Sometimes, as the novel points out, that is because they are wrong. But sometimes Christie herself seems to accept them. This was disappointing, but should not be surprising; you have to read this as a period piece. Well, you have to do that with anything, really, but sometimes it show more sticks out more than others. But if you can get over that, then this is a thoroughly enjoyable novel, with the usual Christie surprise ending.

The sequel to this novel, "The Seven Dials Mystery," is of similar quality and is just as funny or funnier.

This novel is more like her Tommy and Tuppence stories (e.g., Partners in Crime) than her Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple novels. More action, more humor, and much more interesting protagonists. show less

Terrific AC novel. Outside Poirot/Marple novels Christie enjoys herself. Eastern Europe, Oil, Americans, jewel thieves and, best for last, Lady Eileen's some what lunatic driving. (LE's point of view:- They did not catch Grace Kelly) .

The Secret of Chimneys feels much closer to Christie's actions novels with Tommy & Tuppence rather than the whodunnits of Poirot and Marple. While it lends some lip service to there being a mystery and goes through a bit of evidence and alibis, the core of the book is much more on the conspiracies and political intrigue rather than anything to do with the murder itself.

Putting aside the genre distinction, I wouldn't say Chimneys is a particularly good example even of what it is trying to be. There are some good characters, but the plot ends up feeling confusing and disconnected in a way that makes it difficult to get immersed in the events of the story. I can remember a lot of half-connected details but nothing stuck out in my memory show more for very long after finishing. show less