::READERS REVIEWS::

If Walls Could Speak - "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.

The best non-Poirot book by far - 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.

An early Christie to explore. - Superintendent Battle is a favorite character for me in the Agatha Christie novels. I enjoy watching how Dame Agatha allows him to interact with the main characters, often with someone who should be a prime suspect. That is what happens in this novel. The Secret of Chimneys is the first Christie novel to feature the stolid, intelligent Scotland Yard superintendent who is seen to have a twinkle in his eye quite often when dealing with the "bright young things" filling the pages of an Agatha Christie mystery. Battle has a soft spot in his heart for these young people and he is always a shrewd judge of people.

This particular book is always a delight for me to read. This time I found myself wondering if it is okay to chuckle out loud while contemplating a murder mystery. The answer had to be a resounding yes. If you were to write out a list of everything you would expect to find in a mystery from one of the Golden Age of British Mystery Writers, this book would probably contain almost every item on the list. There are political intrigues, hunting for gold in Africa, switched identities, memoires on their way to be published, a fantastic jewel stolen and never found, secret rooms, incriminating love letters, a trunk left at a railway station, gunshots in the night, a deserted house, missing revolvers, a secret code, a dead body placed on the side of the road, a future King of a small Baltic nation. And I could go on and on. This book sometimes swerves a little too far toward the comic side for my particular tastes but you need to be on your guard just the same. Don't ever assume that someone is exactly who or what they proclaim to be.

My very favorite Agatha Christie books are the novels which feature Miss Marple. Having said that, if you love Agatha Christie, just read this offering of hers for the sheer pleasure and exuberance of her writing. Do I think it is her best book, no. Do I love it every time I read it, yes. I highly recommend this book, as I do any book written by Christie. They will keep your brain whirring and clicking over at top speed.

The best part is the dialogue - I have never enjoyed Agatha Christie's thrillers as much as her mystery puzzles, nevertheless, this book is a fun read. Most of the dialogue is fresh and fun , particularly the passages between the 'bright young things,' and I loved the Lord Caterham character. The plot is completely insane, but the pace is sprightly. I recommend a complete suspension of disbelief in order to enjoy this book to the fullest.

Fun and Breezy - Christie pokes satirical fun at the post-WWI British upper crust in this light-hearted murder yarn. Ironically enough, Christie's mildly racist Anglocentrism is on full display--unless that's meant satirically as well. Hard to tell.

An early Christie to explore. - Superintendent Battle is a favorite character for me in the Agatha Christie novels. I enjoy watching how Dame Agatha allows him to interact with the main characters, often with someone who should be a prime suspect. That is what happens in this novel. The Secret of Chimneys is the first Christie novel to feature the stolid, intelligent Scotland Yard superintendent who is seen to have a twinkle in his eye quite often when dealing with the "bright young things" filling the pages of an Agatha Christie mystery. Battle has a soft spot in his heart for these young people and he is always a shrewd judge of people.

This particular book is always a delight for me to read. This time I found myself wondering if it is okay to chuckle out loud while contemplating a murder mystery. The answer had to be a resounding yes. If you were to write out a list of everything you would expect to find in a mystery from one of the Golden Age of British Mystery Writers, this book would probably contain almost every item on the list. There are political intrigues, hunting for gold in Africa, switched identities, memoires on their way to be published, a fantastic jewel stolen and never found, secret rooms, incriminating love letters, a trunk left at a railway station, gunshots in the night, a deserted house, missing revolvers, a secret code, a dead body placed on the side of the road, a future King of a small Baltic nation. And I could go on and on. This book sometimes swerves a little too far toward the comic side for my particular tastes but you need to be on your guard just the same. Don't ever assume that someone is exactly who or what they proclaim to be.

My very favorite Agatha Christie books are the novels which feature Miss Marple. Having said that, if you love Agatha Christie, just read this offering of hers for the sheer pleasure and exuberance of her writing. Do I think it is her best book, no. Do I love it every time I read it, yes. I highly recommend this book, as I do any book written by Christie. They will keep your brain whirring and clicking over at top speed.

The best part is the dialogue - I have never enjoyed Agatha Christie's thrillers as much as her mystery puzzles, nevertheless, this book is a fun read. Most of the dialogue is fresh and fun , particularly the passages between the 'bright young things,' and I loved the Lord Caterham character. The plot is completely insane, but the pace is sprightly. I recommend a complete suspension of disbelief in order to enjoy this book to the fullest.

A tasty bon bon for seasoned Christie readers - No Agatha Christie book I know of is a waste of time. But this is one of her delightfully light works and not a good introduction for first time readers of hers. This is one of her earlier books and is especially notable for the introduction of Scotland Yard inspector Battle who appears in many later and more serious books. Christie plays with her readers here with more than one twist and will be rewarding for those of her fans who haven't yet discovered this one.

A Light-Hearted Romp of an International Intrigue - It seems that the main negative criticism of this Christie yarn is that it is not in keeping with the tone of most of her other books. However, that's one of the things that I most loved about it! I am a dyed-in-the-wool Agatha fan, not encountering many of her books that I have not enjoyed. She is, in my opinion, one of the great masters at creating vivid and spot-on characters (much like Austen). You read her short, surgically precise descriptions of the people who populate her works and even 60, 70, 80 years later, think, "I know that person!"
No difference this time around. Wonderfully drawn characters, intriguing plot, atmospheric setting. Some reviewers seem to be complaining that this book reads "old." That's one of the things I enjoyed so much about it. It is a wonderful product of its time, romantically and enjoyably painting a tableau of British aristocracy in the 20s.
As for the plot, for those who are regular readers of Agatha Christie, it is an early experiment in many of her routine bag of tricks. Consequently, it is not terribly difficult to deduce the solution, but it is still very pleasant, and I do not think the casual reader will easily guess the solution.
If you enjoy this book, I would also recommend "The Seven Dials Mystery." It refeatures one of my favorite Christie characters, Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent, as well as the thoroughly delightful George Lomax (in an amazing, Mr. Collins-like episode that had me laughing out loud) and Bill Eversleigh, along with Lord Caterham and the rest of the Chimneys crew. Both books have the ubiquitious Superintendant Battle at the helm of offical investigations. A warning, however: if you didn't like "The Secret of Chimneys," you will positively loathe "The Seven Dials Mystery." It takes the Wodehousian tone and antics to the next level, to the delight of this reader, but to immense frustration of those who are wedded to the Poirot type of Agatha Christie novel.
Overall, this is a really splendid early Agatha work. Great for a fun read- I always read her on vacation, so since the summer is here, let me recommend this to you for poolside lounging.

"There's a Dead Man in the Next Room. He's Been Murdered, and I Don't Know What to do About It..." - As one of the less-common Agatha Christie mysteries, a novel that stars neither Hercule Poirot nor Miss Marple, "The Secret of Chimneys" certainly begins with a compelling hook. Dashing Anthony Cade meets up with old friend Jimmy McGrath, who tells him of a rather odd errand that he's supposed to run. After saving the life of Count Stylptitch of Herzoslovakia, McGrath was sent the man's memoirs, with a substantial reward promised if he successfully delivered them to the publishers in England.

As he's more interested in carrying on to South America, McGrath asks Anthony if he would like to take up the challenge. But there's more. McGrath is also in possession of several letters that he received from a dying man, promising him that there was money to be earned from them. McGrath was disgusted to find out that the letters were rather desperate love-letters by a married woman to her lover, and that the profit to be earned from them would no doubt involve blackmail. The letters are signed Virginia Revel, and McGrath entrusts Anthony with the task of returning the letters to their rightful owner.

Naturally both these plots converge when Anthony reaches England, and what follows is one of Christie's more convoluted plots involving missing crown jewels, international politics, vying police investigations, diplomacy and espionage, blackmail and secret identities, master criminals and secret goings-on in the night. It's rather difficult to keep track of it all, and may warrant a second read in order to sort out all the intrigue and opposing motivations at work throughout the story. Not even the protagonists are what they seem, and a last minute reveal puts a whole new spin on everything.

What carries the story along are the characters of Anthony Cade and Virgina Reveal, both charismatic and cunning. Anthony is Christie's ideal of a manly man, and Virginia is a young widow who has the ability to charm every man, woman and child who crosses her path. The sparks immediately fly between them, particularly when a man is found dead in Virginia's living room, a man that she had "let" blackmail her (being rich and leisurely, Virginia thought it would be a lark). When Anthony helps her get rid of the body, the two of them meet up again at Chimneys, a historical landmark that is often used to host important guests of the British government. Owned by Lord Caterham and his daughter Lady Eileen (better known as "Bundle"), the house is a wonderfully atmospheric setting for the mystery that follows. Also present is the tacturn Superintendent Battle, one of Christie's favorite police investigators, in fine form here.

I've read "The Secret of Chimneys" twice now, and to be honest, I'm still a little fuzzy on some of the details. It is an immensely complicated plot, much of which is related through dialogue that contains opposing points-of-view, and it is more of a spy-thriller than an old-fashioned whodunit. Still, Christie doesn't spoon-fed the reader. All the clues are there, and you have to be sharp if you're going to keep up with the quick minds of Anthony and Virginia.

It is certainly one of Christie's more humorous novels, particularly due to the long-suffering Lord Caterham, who just wants all these odd foreigners to leave his house, and fans may be pleased to know that Caterham and his daughter turn up again in The Seven Dials Mystery. Certainly worth a read, though the change from Christie's usual formula may mean that it's not to everyone's taste.