Destination Unknown

First Published: 1954
Setting: The Unit, Somewhere in the North African Desert

Starring: Hilary Craven, Tom Betterton, Mr. Jessop, Andrew Peters

Important Other People: Monsieur Leblanc, Mr. Aristides, the Director

What I like about all of Agatha's espionage books is that they are written from a woman's perspective, and thus a bit softer than Ian Fleming or The Bourne Identity or whatever. Also, there's always a little bit of Agatha-styled romance in them! It's not as intense as other spy thrillers, and everything works out in the end with a minimum of deaths. Which is funny considering how many people die in her other books. 


The whole book revolves around defection to the Soviet Union in the 1950s. It touches on the themes of communism, nuclear fission and atom bombs, and witch hunts such as were happening in the US at the time. It is interesting the different people that were persuaded to join The Unit, leaving their lives behind for the cause of science. But apparently that happened in real life at the time! (see below) From what I gather, the whole essence of defection behind the Iron Curtain (I love when they say that in the book) is because they all want to pool their scientific knowledge. That's a nice thought, but obviously, countries don't always act in the best interest of humanity.


Aristides is said to have yellow hands. Again, we get this theme of yellow = money. Indeed it does, since he funds the entire Unit. 


One last thing, and this is according to Wikipedia (Matthew Bunson let me down this time) is that the book mirrors Agatha's own marriage breakdown after she had a daughter. Her husband, just like Hilary's, left her for a younger woman. Unlike Hilary, her daughter did not die. I also like how Mr. Jessop talked Hilary out of suicide and into espionage. Perhaps that's what Agatha wished had happened to her!

Interesting facts: This is the only book that does not revolve around a murder, or have murders in it. The person who was killed was killed before the time period in the book, and we don't know that the case is being investigated until the end of the book. The book is similar in style to a James Bond book by Ian Fleming, but less intense (and sexual). According to Wikipedia, the scientific defections in the book are reminiscent of two cases during the 1950s: Bruno Pontecorvo and Klaus Fuchs, two scientists who both defected to the Soviet Union. Crazy!

Favorite? Of all of the espionage books, not my favorite. I like it better than a lot of the espionage books without recurring characters, but it's all Cold War stuff. 

Death by: Poison: No deaths during the book, but that has happened before and I've still counted it.

Body Count: 1; Cumulative: 125

The Count: Poirot-24, Miss. Marple-6, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-4, Superintendent Battle-5, George-4, Goby-2, No Recurring Character- 6, Mrs. Oliver-2, Albert- 2, Superintendent Spence-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: Labels are not always correct. One could bear things so long as there was a reason to bear them. There's always a way. Once you get into the state of mind where the taking of human lives no longer counts, the fact that six other people will die is not even considered. When you cage a bird, if you give it all that it needs, it forgets in the end that it was ever free. One can be absolutely sure of nothing in this world. The old like to remember. 

Up Next: Hickory Dickory Death

They Came to Baghdad

First Published: 1951
Setting: Baghdad! 

Starring: Victoria Jones, Edward Goring, Anna Schiele, Richard Baker

Important Other People: Carmichael, Dakin, Captain Crosbie, Dr. Rathbone

To begin with, Victoria Jones is a modernized Anne Beddingfield. (The Man in the Brown Suit). Travels to Africa were in vogue back when that was written (1924), but travels to the Middle East were more popular in the 1950s. I also like to think that Anne is modeled after Agatha, and so Victoria must be as well. Victoria is significantly more foolish than Anne (losing her job by mocking the boss' wife, letting a stranger take her picture and falling in love with him, and deciding that she was going to Baghdad just because of that stranger). Sure, Anne did some flighty things in her time, but I really think she has more sense than Victoria. Probably because Agatha was older and wiser at this point in her own life, and so was able to write the younger character from a more cynical viewpoint. Also, one of the most important life lessons here is directly related to Victoria's actions: sometimes it is wiser not to mix oneself up in things one does not understand. She definitely did not understand what was going on (me either, really), and Agatha is able to look on with more experience and judge that maybe, it would have been best for Victoria if she had just minded her own business. One last connection to Agatha- in The Man in the Brown Suit, Anne ended up with the dashing, devil-may-care lunatic, and they lived happily ever after (at least I hope so). In They Came to Baghdad, though, Victoria does not end up with the dashing young lunatic, but rather, with the older, wiser, and more serious archaeologist. A possible allegory for Agatha's own life, seeing as she did not stay married to her dashing young adventurer, but rather found happiness with the mature archaeologist. Hmm. 

One of the coolest, most unrealistic aspects of this book is the scene in the consulate, where Carmichael signals to Baker in Morse code by clinking the beads together. First of all, really? Secondly, what is the chance that Carmichael's old schoolmate would be in the consulate in Basrah at the same time that he was trying to avoid getting murdered? Third: that would never happen. It was a cool scene though!


Last- there is mention of Siegfried in the book. Just wait, we'll hear a LOT more about that in Passenger to Frankfurt. 

Interesting facts: Matthew Bunson says, "For her first novel featuring espionage since N or M?, Christie returned to one of her strongest devices, the setting of stories in exotic locales. In this case, she chose Baghdad, a city she had first visited in 1928 and theat she knew quite well, thanks to the archaeological work of her husband, Max Mallowan, in the Middle East."

Favorite?  No. I liked it a lot better when I read it this time than when I read it at least 10+ years ago, that's for sure. It's still unnecessarily confusing. 

Death by: stabbing 

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 113

The Count: Poirot-22, Miss. Marple-4, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-4, Superintendent Battle-5, George-2, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 6, Mrs. Oliver-1, Albert- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: Sometimes it is wiser not to mix oneself up in things one does not understand. Ordinary people are the ones who matter. Humility is what keeps you sane and a human being.

Up Next: Mrs. McGinty's Dead

N or M?

First Published: 1941

Setting: Leahampton

Starring: Tommy and Tuppence, Albert

Important Other People: Major Bletchley, Commander Haydock, Mrs. Perenna, Sheila Perenna, Mrs. Sprot, Betty Sprot, Carl von Deinim

Tommy and Tuppence, Agatha's husband and wife spy team, come into play at times when patriotism is necessary. We saw them as two young things right after the first World War, and now we see them again, as older, wiser, and with grown-up children. Although the are no longer young and carefree, they still want to do their part in the war. Unfortunately, it is difficult for them to find their niche. They are able, however, to set out on another joint venture, just as they did in The Secret Adversary, one that involves spies, the war, and their marriage.

I like the twists and turns in this book, just as in almost everyone of Agatha's books, but this time everything seems much more urgent. It also seems like everything has a much larger impact than we are used to in her novels. The things Tommy and Tuppence do are so pivotal on a small scale, but it can have a huge impact on the rest of the war. I feel like this novel was helpful to the British public because it gave them something fast-paced and (relatively) lighthearted to become engrossed in, which took their minds off the real danger that was at hand.

From Agatha's autobiography: "...N or M?, a spy story, was in a way a continuation of the second book of mine, The Secret Adversary, featuring Tommy and Tuppence. Now with a grown-up son and daughter, Tommy and Tuppence were bored by finding that nobody wanted them in wartime. However, they made a splendid comeback as a middle-aged pair, and tracked down spies with all their old enthusiasm. I never found any difficulty in writing during the war, as some people did; I suppose because I cut myself off into a different compartment of my mind. I could live in the book among the people I was writing about, and mutter their conversations and see them striding about the room I had invented for them."

Interesting facts: Mr. Carter is mentioned, although does not make an appearance. Actually interesting fact, according, once again, to Matthew Bunson: "Published in 1941, N or M? offered readers in Britain a chance to follow the exploits of two of their favorite characters in a setting very close to home. Britain was in the middle of World War II, and the fun of the book was a welcome relief for fans from the all-too-real daily dangers being posed by the Luftwaffe and the reports of the war overseas. Christie wrote the book in the middle of the frequent bombings during the Blitz."

Favorite? I do love Tommy and Tuppence, and patriotism, and spies. So, yes.

Death by: shooting

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 82

The Count: Poirot-20, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-2, Hastings-7, Japp-7, Colonel Race-3, Superintendent Battle-4, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 3, Mrs. Oliver-1, Albert- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: There is a strange anomaly to war. There is respect among adversaries. The young don't see the pity, waste, and horror of war. Being a devoted wife saps the intellect. Anything that mitigates suffering is worthwhile. Anything should be done for construction, not destruction. Flattery should be laid on with a trowel where a man is concerned (I love Tuppence). There is time to weep after the battle.

Up Next: The Body in the Library

The Boomerang Clue (Why Didn't They Ask Evans?)

First Published: 1934

Setting: Wales, Hampshire

Starring: Bobby, Frankie

Important Other People: Roger Bassington-ffrench, Moira, Badger

I hardly took any notes on this book while I was reading it, and there is no mention of it in Agatha's biography. I think because it starts off so promising and with such great characters, but it doesn't really follow through. There's twists, but some of them just peter out. Don't get me wrong- I like this book a lot! I just think it could have been a lot better.

Interesting facts: Only appearance of Bobby and Frankie, who are wonderful and I'm sad they aren't in any other books. The idea of a chance sentence heard by the protagonist was used before in Lord Edgware's Dead, although it was elaborated on here.

Favorite? Yes because of the way it starts off- a chance remark leading to an adventure!

Death by: Shooting, pushed off a cliff

Body Count: 2; Cumulative: 32

The Count: Poirot-8, Miss. Marple-1, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-5, Japp-4, Colonel Race-1, Superintendent Battle-2, George-1, Goby-1, No Recurring Character- 2

Agatha's Life Lessons: Men like helpless women (and isn't that annoying!) Don't get sidetracked.

Up Next: Three Act Tragedy

The Man in the Brown Suit- Day 5

First Published: 1924

Setting: Kilmorden Castle, South Africa, Rhodesia

Starring: Anne Beddingfield, Colonel Race, Harry Rayburn

Important Other People: Sir Eustace, Suzanne, Guy Pagett, the "Colonel"

The first thing I want to point out about Agatha and her career is that she was not just the elderly lady we see on the back of book covers or on her website. Agatha wrote books for over 50 years, and in that time period, she started out young and got older. I always picture her as an elderly woman writing her books, when in reality, she was young when she got started, and so was young when she wrote The Man in the Brown Suit. This explains the spirit of adventure apparent throughout the novel, as well as her identification with Anne and her passion regarding Harry. She was young, and she knew what it was to love passionately and to yearn for adventure.

One of the major themes of this book is the changing idea of womanhood and the new role that women played in the 1920s. Similar to The Secret Adversary, Agatha explores the new idea of women, modeling her heroine after this new ideal. Colonel Race talks about women as "weak things," which Anne explains is due to society's renderings, because in the beginning, they were equal. She explains how the archaeological record shows that women and men used to work together as equals before modernized society designated separate rolls for them. We see how Anne constantly goes against the idea society has for women as she strikes out on her own and continues to follow her heart and her dreams. We also see Suzanne as a direct opposite from her, cemented by her upper-class life and her trip to Africa as a whim. We also get the idea that marriage is a foolish notion that is used to tie women down and keep them in these preconceived roles. Anne fights that by marrying on her own terms and disregarding what is "best" for her.

Anne Beddingfield is Agatha's emulation of herself. She is young, free, and adventurous, and she loves madly. Agatha saw herself in Anne, but Anne has a greater degree of freedom and thus has more adventures than Agatha. Still, out of all of her characters, I really think she felt she was most like Anne. She even observes that "one always gets what one wants." Agatha wanted adventures, and she was able to get them in her life, but also, and most importantly, she was able to get them through her characterization of Anne. She also readily acknowledges that she is oftentimes foolish and childish in her actions and choices. Agatha is very self-reflective in her depiction of Anne, and we are able to see more of her personality in this book, than, I would venture to say, in any other.

Interesting facts: Agatha wrote this story after going on a world tour with her husband and their friend- who happened to be the inspiration for Sir Eustace (see the dedication!)

Favorite? One of them because I do love Anne, even though her relationship with Harry is a little too intense for my liking...

Death by: Strangulation (Nadina). I will not count the man falling under the train, since it was technically an accident.

Body Count: 1; Cumulative: 4

The Count: Poirot-2, Miss. Marple-0, Tommy and Tuppence-1, Hastings-2, Japp-1, Colonel Race-1

Agatha's Life Lessons: (So many in this book!) "Men will not be nice to you if you are not good-looking, and women will not be nice to you if you are." "It is good for one now and again to realize what an idiot one can be." The world is full of starving cats. A true lady is neither shocked nor surprised at anything that might happen. "Nothing a woman enjoys so much as doing all the things she doesn't like for the sake of someone she does like." Don't let your sense of humor carry you away. Rats always leave a sinking ship. And most importantly... Don't settle when you marry.

Up Next: The Secret of Chimneys