They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

280 pages
Published by Dodd, Mead & Company in 1951
Reprinted in  2002 by St. Martin's Paperbacks of St. martin's Press
New York, NY

I must confess I was a little hesitant when I picked up They Came to Baghdad from my local library. All summer long I had suffered from a sort of reading-funk which has kept me from finishing little more than a dozen books. So when I saw this novel, written by one of my favorite authors, was not one of her more famous "who-dunnit" murder mysteries, but instead a little-known adventure/espionage thriller set in post WWII Iraq I was not thrilled.

But determined to give it a chance (after all I am still endeavoring to read my way through all of Agatha Christie's novels in order of publication) I pressed on. And I am happy to tell you my first impression was wrong!

The Plot:
"Baghdad is holding a secret superpower summit, but the word is out, and an underground organization in the Middle East is plotting to sabotage the talks. Into this explosive situation appears Victoria Jones, a young woman with a yearning for adventure who gets more than she bargains for when a wounded spy dies in her hotel room. The only man who can save the summit is dead. Can Victoria make sense of his dying words: Lucifer…Basrah…Lefarge.…" (Harper Collins Publisher)

My Thoughts:
They Came to Baghdad now ranks as one of my all-time favorite novels by Agatha Christie. As I mentioned above, at first I was rather hesitant in reading this novel. I didn't have high expectations that it would be a thrilling read and I really didn't like the heroine, Victoria Jones, when she first enters the scene. But I kept reading and it wasn't long before I was hooked.

As I mentioned above, They Came to Baghdad is not your average Agatha Christie who-dunnit murder mystery, but instead a post-WWII espionage suspense thriller that include a few murders. The main story is set in Iraq during the early 1950s and while it revolves around Victoria Jones there is plenty of time for "sight-seeing" along the way and Christie makes time for it. At this time in her life, Agatha Christie was married to archaeologist Max Mallowan and spent a great deal of her time with him on digs in the Middle East. Her knowledge of the area and the work is woven seamlessly into this story without detracting from the thrilling story plot.

As the story draws to an end I am happy to report I changed my mind about Victoria Jones. Her character truly matures as the story progresses and as the lose ends are tied up I was delighted with the foreshadowing for Victoria that Christie included in the closing paragraph.

All in all, I must admit I was definitely surprised with this novel. In my opinion it's a definite winner and a top favorite for me. I highly recommend it to those readers who are looking for a variant from the typical English countryside murder mystery or those who love a good spy tale.

Up next, I'll return to Hercule Poirot and the English country village in Mrs. McGinty's Dead.

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Related Links:

• Harper Collins Publishers: Buy a copy of They Came to Baghdad
• AgathaChristie.com: They Came to Baghdad
• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge Carnival

My Other Agatha Christie Reviews:

*Novels published from 1920-1923 see note below.

The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)
The Secret of Chimneys (1925)
The Big Four (1927)
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
The Sittaford Mystery (1931)
Peril at End House (1932)
Lord Edgware Dies (1933)
Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1934)
Three Act Tragedy (1935)
Death in the Clouds (1935)
The A.B.C. Murders (1936)
Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
Cards on the Table (1936)
Dumb Witness (1937)
Death on the Nile (1937)
Appointment With Death (1938)
Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938)
Murder Is Easy (1939)
And Then There Were None (1939)
Sad Cypress (1939)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe (1940)
Evil Under the Sun (1941)
N or M? (1941)
The Body in the Library (1942)
Five Little Pigs (1942)
The Moving Finger (1942)

Towards Zero  (1944)
Death Comes As the End (1944)
Sparkling Cyanide (1945)
The Hollow (1946) 
Taken At the Flood (1948) 
Crooked House (1949) 
A Murder is Announced (1950)

Absent In the Spring by Mary Westmacott (a.k.a. Agatha Christie) (1944)

Agatha Christie, An Autobiography

* Christie's novels written from 1920 (The Mysterious Affair at Styles) through 1923 (Murder on the Links) I read before I began this blog hence no reviews are currently available.

Crooked Adam by D. E. Stevenson

256 pages
Published in 1942, reprinted in 1970
by Holt, Rinehart & Winston


When it comes to books I love a good spy thriller and Crooked Adam by D. E. Stevenson is just that. Departing from her typical novel format that consists of romance, quaint English and Scottish neighborhoods, and the occasional family drama, Crooked Adam is set in Scotland during the early years of World War II and is a tale of espionage with a very unlikely hero; a young man called "Crooked Adam."

It is because of his limp that Adam was found unfit to join the King's military and must endure the war from the classroom of a boy's school. And it is because of this limp that Adam despairs he will never do anything to help his country... Until one day he discovers the war has come to his school's back yard when he uncovers a plot to steal a scientific invention that -- if built to full-scale -- could change the way the RAF defends the United Kingdom from enemy aircraft.

"Crooked Adam" may be an unlikely hero, but he is definitely the man for the job as he takes on the role of amateur detective and helps capture and close down the spy ring.

I thoroughly enjoyed Crooked Adam. The story is fast paced and kept me turning page after page to see what would happen next. In addition, there is a good amount of description and the dialogue is both interesting and witty. Although the ending might be a little predictable I still found the overall plot an excellent mix of mystery, adventure and romance and all-in-all another gem by D. E. Stevenson

For the reader looking for a different type of spy thriller I definitely recommend Crooked Adam. The only disappointment is that Crooked Adam is out of print. Used copies are available online, but prices are rather high ranging from $15-75 per book, which is why I opted for the ILL option. For those lucky enough, many libraries still carry a number of D. E. Stevenson's books and if your own library doesn't, you might be able to obtain a copy through their ILL program.

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Related Links: 


Happy Birthday D. E. Stevenson
Other D. E. Stevenson books reviewed

N or M? by Agatha Christie

202 pages
Published in 1941by Dodd, Mead & Co.
Reprinted in 1988 by Bantom Books
Hicksville, NY

Ask just about any reader to name one of Agatha Christie's detectives and I'm sure you'll hear the names Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. But if they mention the names Tommy Beresford and Tuppence Cowley, then you know you are talking with an avid Christie fan. Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence stories only total four novels and one short story over the span of 51 years whereas Hercule Poirot appeared in no less than 33 novels and 51 short stories during that same span of time.

Tommy and Tuppence are first introduced in Christie's second novel, The Secret Adversary** published in 1922. The pair then made one more, albeit brief, appearance in the 1929 short story Partners in Crime before fading so far to the background of Agatha Christie's writing that they disappear completely for nearly two decades. It is not until 1941 during the midst of World War II that Tommy and Tuppence return in the spy thriller N or M?

I can only imagine the excitement Christie fans must have felt when they learned she had written another Tommy & Tuppence story. Finally after nearly twenty years we get to enjoy another thrilling adventure with this duo and finally find out where they have been and what they have been doing for the last 20 years! Well, that's what I imagine fans must have thought -- it's what I thought and I only had 1.5 years of waiting.

(** Unfortunately I read The Secret Adversary before I began this blog so I do not have a review written that I can refer you to. It was an excellent story and a must if you plan to read any of the Tommy and Tuppence books.)

N or M? -- The Plot:
"This atmospheric story, set during World War Two, finds Tommy and Tuppence doing what they do best – having an adventure. These unlikely Intelligence Service spies decide to help Queen and country by tracking down two ruthless traitors. The only clue to the traitors’ identities is a government agent's dying words that lead them to the Sans Souci boarding house, where it’ll take some extremely subtle detection work to establish which of the guests are the treacherous N and M." (Summary courtesy of AgathaChristie.com)

My Thoughts:
I found N or M? to be just exactly what I had hoped -- a thrilling spy novel that contained all the elements that make a novel a delight to read. There was suspense and mystery, there was comedy and sweetness, there was adventure and villainy. As for Tommy and Tuppence, they may have aged some, but they were every bit as endearing to me in this story as they were in The Secret Adversary. I especially liked the fact that Christie let them grow up and mature. They weren't reckless youths anymore, nor where they stodgy middle-aged couple. They were themselves -- intelligent, adventurous, and witty, but also a tad wiser and maybe with a gray hair or two.

If I had to compare Tommy and Tuppence to another fictional pair I would pick Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies (NOT the book), although with a lot less alcohol. I loved Nick and Nora in the Thin Man movies. There was something about their characters -- their wit and sarcasm and how they related to each other that made them a delightful couple. I have the same feeling when I read about Tommy and Tuppence in N or M? They make for an entertaining read.

As for the mystery itself -- Christie scores again! I picked up on numerous clues, but didn't know how they fit together until they were revealed. And as I drew closer to the end of the book I couldn't put it down. In the end I was up very late reading and thinking to myself, "How is it possible for one woman to write so many excellently thrilling stories?" There is a reason that I am such an avid fan of Agatha Christie and that she is the all-time best selling mystery writer. She was such a creative and clever storyteller. N or M? may not be her best work, but it's definitely an excellent read and shows what a diverse novelist she was. Too bad there hasn't been a Masterpiece adaptation.

Here are a few interesting facts about N or M?:

* The title of this book: N or M? plays a central role in the story, but it originated from a catechism in The Book of Common Prayer, which asks, "What is your Christian name? Answer N. or M."

* N or M? is one of two books that Agatha Christie wrote during the midst of World War II when she lived alone in London. The other novel was The Body in the Library, the second Miss Marple mystery. Christie was quoted as saying that she alternated her writing between N or M? and The Body in the Library in order to keep herself "fresh at task."


What's next in my Agatha Christie reading challenge?: The Body In the Library. Stay tuned.

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Other Agatha Christie Reviews:
*Novels published from 1920-1923 see note below.

The Man in the Brown Suit (1924)
The Secret of Chimneys (1925)
The Big Four (1927)
The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928)
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929)
The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)
The Sittaford Mystery (1931)
Peril at End House (1932)
Lord Edgware Dies (1933)
Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1934)
Three Act Tragedy (1935)
Death in the Clouds (1935)
The A.B.C. Murders (1936)
Murder in Mesopotamia (1936)
Cards on the Table (1936)
Dumb Witness (1937)
Death on the Nile (1937)
Appointment With Death (1938)
Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938)
Murder Is Easy (1939)
And Then There Were None (1939)
Sad Cypress (1939)
One, Two Buckle My Shoe (1940)
Evil Under the Sun (1941)

Absent In the Spring by Mary Westmacott (a.k.a. Agatha Christie) (1944)

* Christie's novels written from 1920 (The Mysterious Affair at Styles) through 1923 (Murder on the Links) I read before I began this blog hence no reviews are currently available.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

I found an unexpected surprise when I picked up a copy of The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax at my local library. Published in 1966, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax is the first in a series of spy-mystery novels by Dorothy Gilman.

Honestly, I feel a little behind the times as this is a 40+ year old series and I'm only just now sitting down to read it. When I found the book I recalled the title vaguely from a conversation a friend and I had a few years back when she was reading the series. There are currently 14 books in the series, the most recent was published in 2000.

In the first book, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, we meet 60-something year-old Emily Pollifax. Emily is a widow with grown children and grandchildren who live many states away and are busy with their own lives. Emily is involved in multiple charities and volunteer assignments, but is bored with life. "I can't help feeling I've outlived my usefulness," Emily tells her doctor during her annual check-up. It is the doctor's response that prompts Emily into action. "Is there anything in life you wanted to do, but have never done?" Of course the doctor probably is thinking of Emily traveling or taking up knitting some such hobby, but what immediately comes to Emily's mind is espionage. She has always wanted to be a secret agent... but hasn't. And so with this in mind she heads to Langley, VA to the CIA to volunteer her services as a spy for the United States of America. What results is very unexpected for Emily and for all involved.

I really enjoyed The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax. I was expecting a mystery like Miss Marple, but instead found myself caught up in a story of adventure, mystery, and espionage. It was a little like Miss Marple meets Triple X (only less hard-core and less tough-guy). The characters were entertaining, the settings fascinating, and the story quick-moving, interesting, and relatively believable. I am definitely planning on continuing in the series and recommend to readers who are looking for a different kind of adventure/mystery/spy thriller to check this series out.

Although this first novel was written over 40 years ago there is something timeless about it that made it feel as if it could have come off the presses 40 days ago. I thought it might be fun to see this book adapted to the screen and was surprised and pleased to find a television adaptation was made in 1999 staring Angela Lansbury. I'm already partial to Lansbury because of her work as Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote (1984-1996) and also as Mrs. Ada 'Arris in the 1992 TV movie Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris. As I read The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax I thought she reminded me a tiny bit of Ada 'Arris as played by Lansbury... So what'd-ya-know!

Please note that while the book is very clean there is a minor amount of profanity, though nothing vulgar and it is kept in context with the "heat of the moment". While I did not find this offensive or distracting to the story, some readers may prefer to be warned.

On a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible and 5 being excellent I would rate The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax a 4. I really enjoyed it.