- this edition read as an e-book on my Kindle (Amazon)
- ASIN : B08XB5JYLR
- Publisher : AC Press, Publication date : December 16, 2025
- Originally published 1925
- Print length : 605 pages - this rather inflated, more like 400 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-9895623426
- Book 1 of 4: Superintendent Battle
Synopsis (Amazon)
Little did Anthony Cade suspect that an errand for a friend would place him at the center of a deadly conspiracy. Drawn into a web of intrigue, he begins to realize that the simple favor has placed him in serious danger.
As events unfold, the combined forces of Scotland Yard and the French Sûreté gradually converge on Chimneys, the great country estate that hides an amazing secret...
My Take (heavily reliant on an earlier review)
I don't appear to have read this novel as often as many other Christie novels. There are elements that I feel are rather weak, lots of red herrings, and a huge number of characters.
I have re-read it this time for discussion with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group in 2026.
I note also that at the time of reading this novel has been published for 100 years. The plot and its themes are perhaps a little dated, certainly some of the "romantic" dialogue seemed to be. On the other hand I am struggling to think of other authors who published over 100 years ago, that we are still reading.
CHIMNEYS begins in Bulawayo, Africa, when Jimmy McGrath runs across his
old friend Anthony Cade. Jimmy has in his possession a manuscript that
needs to be delivered to a publisher in London by a particular date. He
also has a bundle of incriminating love letters that he wants returned
to the person who wrote them. He can't take them himself as he on the
hunt for some gold.
Cade agrees to take on both tasks, and travels to London by steamer in the guise of James McGrath.
One
of elements of this story is political intrigue related to the kingdom
of Herzoslovakia in the Balkins. Its last king was assassinated seven
years earlier and the kingdom has been a republic ever since. However
the heir to the throne is attempting to claim it back. The
Herzoslovakian links in the story become important because the
manuscript is the memoir of a former Prime Minister.
The action
moves to London and then on to Lord Caterham's country house Chimneys,
where a murder takes place. Christie's search for a suitable protagonist
continues. THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS marks the appearance of yet another,
this time a Scotland Yard detective, Superintendent Battle. He is
assigned to this case because of the importance of Chimneys, which is
apparently often used as a pleasant meeting place for affairs of state.
We are told Battle is a man of "ripe experience", and there certainly
seems an attempt to give him a modicum of intelligence, and to allow him
at times to be a step or two ahead of others in his understanding and
intuition. On the other hand he is often poker-faced and expressionless.
Other
people who will appear in later novels are Caterham's daughter Eileen Brent (Bundle) and Bill Eversham, a young clerk from the foreign office.
Colonel Melrose makes a cameo appearance as the Chief Constable
although in later stories and novels he will be the Coroner.
The
novel is possibly set I think in "real time". There is a reference to
European nations rebuilding for the past 7 years, which seems to
indicate a passage of time since a cataclysm, possibly the Great War.
There is however no other reference to those events. There is also a
reference to the previous, assassinated, queen of Herzoslovakia having
claimed Romanov connections.
Perhaps I am mistaken and the setting is
actually in the period just before World War I when the Balkans was in
great turmoil. Another point in favour of this earlier period is the
reference to Bertillon measurements
as a means of identifying a person. These were measurements taken of
various parts of the body: a system in common use in France in the late
19th century.
This is a novel in which many characters are not
who they seem to be, beginning with Anthony Cade who poses as Jimmy
McGrath. There are many who are leading a double life, and it becomes
difficult for the reader to decide who is on whose side.
There
are elements in THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS that really don't work all that
well. The idea of an arch criminal which first appeared in THE MAN IN THE BROWN SUIT makes an
appearance, as does the idea of conspiracy and secret societies, in this case the Society of the Red Hand. The Koh-i-noor diamond, part of the British Crown Jewels since 1858, makes a puzzling appearance.
This
is also a novel in which Christie shows that she doesn't really care if
the reader has all the information, that we should expect that she will
keep cards up her sleeve to be revealed in the final denouement. The
novel is full of red herrings, and at the end we ask ourselves if we had
enough information to solve the mystery. A pattern that is becoming a
trademark in her novels even by this, the 5th one, is that in the final
pages the cast of characters will be gathered and all will be revealed.
I
wouldn't rate this as one of her best novels, although at the time of
publication it was well received. It feels rather over-populated with
characters, heavily reliant on ideas of conspiracy, intrigue and
political upheaval, with some romantic elements.
On the other hand, I had worked out the answer to the central mystery about half way through, but failed dismally on the identity of King Victor.
My rating: 4.0
