Chimneys Has Plenty of Christie Flair

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

In the mid-20s, Agatha Christie hadn't yet developed a formula. She was not yet Dame Agatha and her "greatest" works were yet to come.

Perhaps that is why works written then, such as Secret of Chimneys have such a fresh, rich feel. It isn't one of her masterpieces, but neither is it one of her bombs. It is, ultimately, what made Christie the queen of the mystery genre: A solid mystery with interesting characters that is tightly written.

The Secret of Chimneys opens in Africa where two chaps meet up and discuss old times. One ends up asking the other, one Anthony Cade, to deliver a manuscript for him. He'll receive 1,000 pounds upon delivery, a sort of legacy that the other man was left for once saving a Count's life. Anthony agrees to the task, and also to discharge some letters that he was given, letters that could be used to blackmail if not returned to their rightful owner.

So Anthony Cade returns to England and soon finds himself surrounded by political intrigue and murder. He is drawn to Chimneys, a fine old British manor, where a prince of Herzoslavakia (Dame Agatha did always have a way of making up Balkan states willy-nilly to suit her purposes) is negotiating oil rights with a business that will help him overthrow the republic and reclaim his "rightful" throne.

And since this is Agatha Christie, there must also be marriages and love triangles to spice the pages of the mystery. Secret of Chimneys is lacking any of Christie's famous detectives. There is no Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, or Tommy and Tuppence. It does, though, have Inspector Battle, a member of the Scotland Yard who shows up in many of her novels. He is not, though, the bumbling idiot of the British police force that is so common to stories of amateur detectives. Rather, he is highly professional and sharp. She manages to create an intelligent detective while still keeping him in the background so that Anthony Cade can be the hero.

Mind, the book is not without its flaws. There are instances where Christie takes a lazy way out--simply assuming that her readers have intimate knowledge of the peerage and the homes of England. She also falls back on stereotypes a little too often for comfort. Throughout the pages are a number of casual ethnic slurs, revealing that Christie shared many of the prejudices of her time.

The ending also became a bit rushed. She takes us right up to a climactic scene and then shifts the camera away so that secrets aren't revealed too early. It keeps the suspense up, but in a way that felt like she was cheating.

That said, the story was tightly plotted and had the usual twists and turns that we expect from a Christie novel. Though she provides us with all the clues, she makes it difficult to guess the answer and the final denoument is an exciting scene with new revelations on each page.

There is also something that is still comforting in reading a book where most of the blood is kept off scene. Dame Christie sees no reason to turn our stomach with gory details. There is a gentility about her tales, even while she gives us body after body.

The Secret of Chimneys makes for a quick, entertaining read, the literary equivalent of a crossword puzzle. While it is not among Christie's greatest work, it has many of the charming and endearing qualities that make her works a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.