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Destination Unknown
When a number of leading scientists disappear without a trace, concern grows within the international intelligence community. And the one woman who appears to hold the key to the mystery is dying from injuries sustained in a plane crash.
Meanwhile, in a Casablanca hotel room, Hilary Craven prepares to take her own life. But her suicide attempt is about to be interrupted by a man who will offer her an altogether more thrilling way to die. . . .
257 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 1954
596 people are currently reading
10734 people want to read
About the author
Agatha Christie
5,789 books74.9k followersAgatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.
This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.
Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,543 reviews
April 7, 2020
I read 81 of Agatha Christie's 82 books (I've always refused to read Final Curtain) between the ages of 14-16. I loved her books heart and soul - but my reading taste matured and at some point I became an insufferable snob when it comes to genre fiction. However, after a long quarter with an pedantic twerp professor for a literature class I decided I needed a completely frivolous break from literary fiction. I picked up And Then There Were None for a reread. It read fast and fun and reminded me how relaxing and enjoyable genre reading can be. I was ready for more. Destination Unknown was always my favorite Christie book. I loved Mrs. Marple and Poirot to be sure, but I always reveled most in her stand alone books.
It would be easy to pick this book apart from any number of perspectives and from the reviews here, it's clear that most people aren't very impressed with this book. It's more than a stand alone book, it's not a mystery. It's a thriller and it's drenched in cold-war era propaganda. It's plot is improbable, and often absurd, edging up to a Fleming-like escapism. The characters are one-dimensional tropes and you know how it's going to end from the first chapter. But that criticism could apply to any book in Christie's catalog. She's not a deep or literary writer, but nonetheless she's a damn entertaining writer.
My love of this book is a pure guilty indulgence. I grew up in the 80s and love cold-war books and movies. I've always had a soft spot for spy thrillers, whether they be serious like La Carre, or absurd like Fleming. Destination Unknown doesn't ask you to think or feel on a complex level, rather it provides you with familiar stories and faces that let you rest and relax as the story effortlessly unfolds. It was the perfect antidote to detoxify all the literary snootiness I slogged through in school last quarter to remember that reading is supposed to be a joyful experience, not a chore, and all books, genre or literary are worthwhile if someone finds joy in them.
It would be easy to pick this book apart from any number of perspectives and from the reviews here, it's clear that most people aren't very impressed with this book. It's more than a stand alone book, it's not a mystery. It's a thriller and it's drenched in cold-war era propaganda. It's plot is improbable, and often absurd, edging up to a Fleming-like escapism. The characters are one-dimensional tropes and you know how it's going to end from the first chapter. But that criticism could apply to any book in Christie's catalog. She's not a deep or literary writer, but nonetheless she's a damn entertaining writer.
My love of this book is a pure guilty indulgence. I grew up in the 80s and love cold-war books and movies. I've always had a soft spot for spy thrillers, whether they be serious like La Carre, or absurd like Fleming. Destination Unknown doesn't ask you to think or feel on a complex level, rather it provides you with familiar stories and faces that let you rest and relax as the story effortlessly unfolds. It was the perfect antidote to detoxify all the literary snootiness I slogged through in school last quarter to remember that reading is supposed to be a joyful experience, not a chore, and all books, genre or literary are worthwhile if someone finds joy in them.
January 2, 2023
I loved the premise.
A tragic young woman who has lost everything plans to end her own life. At the last moment, a stranger forces his way into her room and gives her a new option for her death.
Make it count.
Scientists are disappearing and he needs someone to help him infiltrate a culty organization with secret ties to England's enemies. Her job would be to impersonate the wife of a missing scientist and report as much information back to him as she can.
Her chances of survival are slim to none, but since she doesn't value her life, why not spend it for her country?
As far as a Christie's thrillers go, this one wasn't as bad as say, Passenger to Frankfurt. But I highly doubt this thing is on anyone's top ten list, either. The idea was good but the execution missed the mark.
Like the majority of the books she wrote in this genre, it goes off the rails quite a bit by the time you've hit the finish line and ends up feeling like a subpar reading experience.
There was also a little love story thrown in for good measure. And while it did feel a little wonky, at least he didn't try to strangle her.
So. They've got that going for them.
Recommended for Christie Completionists.
A tragic young woman who has lost everything plans to end her own life. At the last moment, a stranger forces his way into her room and gives her a new option for her death.
Make it count.
Scientists are disappearing and he needs someone to help him infiltrate a culty organization with secret ties to England's enemies. Her job would be to impersonate the wife of a missing scientist and report as much information back to him as she can.
Her chances of survival are slim to none, but since she doesn't value her life, why not spend it for her country?
As far as a Christie's thrillers go, this one wasn't as bad as say, Passenger to Frankfurt. But I highly doubt this thing is on anyone's top ten list, either. The idea was good but the execution missed the mark.
Like the majority of the books she wrote in this genre, it goes off the rails quite a bit by the time you've hit the finish line and ends up feeling like a subpar reading experience.
There was also a little love story thrown in for good measure. And while it did feel a little wonky, at least he didn't try to strangle her.
So. They've got that going for them.
Recommended for Christie Completionists.
April 21, 2022
I am surprised at the lower rating of this book. Is this from Christie fans who expected a Poirot or a Marple and didn't get one? I can't find a flaw here. It's a one-off thriller, very fifties in concept and style. (Well, duh, written at that time.) I think it holds up well. Scientists are disappearing from western countries. The cold war is in full swing, and British intelligence is trying to figure out where and how they go, focusing on the latest disappearance. It's a clever thriller with good action and suspense, but most importantly, with Christie's expert sub-plots and plot twists, including a spectacular double twist at the end. I didn't think: it's seventy years out of date, I thought: it's a perfect period piece, capturing the world as it was then. (France has African colonies, commercial airlines use propeller-driven planes, and communist spies are suspected everywhere.) Christie wrote this novel shortly after the Cambridge spy ring (Burgess, MacLean, Philby) were exposed (Soviet agents high in British Intelligence.) Possibly the scandal prompted her to write the story.
August 1, 2020
The Christie thrillers are such a departure from her usual whodunnits, that they're a real mix bag.
This started so strongly and with promise but ultimately descended into chaos.
Hilary Craven is so down that she contemplates suicide, that is until she is given a better way to die...
She is tasked with impersonating a wife of a missing nuclear scientist who is believed to have deflected to the Soviet Union.
This is so real cold war behind the Iron Curtain stuff.
Which makes the Moroccan setting even more interesting.
Like all good spy novels the secret base in the mountains is kinda cool but the reveal of the plan felt kinda weak.
More entertaining than many of her other standalones
But when it comes to the Queen of Crime, I much prefer a good murder mystery.
This started so strongly and with promise but ultimately descended into chaos.
Hilary Craven is so down that she contemplates suicide, that is until she is given a better way to die...
She is tasked with impersonating a wife of a missing nuclear scientist who is believed to have deflected to the Soviet Union.
This is so real cold war behind the Iron Curtain stuff.
Which makes the Moroccan setting even more interesting.
Like all good spy novels the secret base in the mountains is kinda cool but the reveal of the plan felt kinda weak.
More entertaining than many of her other standalones
But when it comes to the Queen of Crime, I much prefer a good murder mystery.
March 14, 2024
A young woman plans to commit suicide in a Moroccan hotel. A British secret agent however stops her in time. And then he persuades her to undertake a dangerous mission instead. She’ll still probably die. But this way she can make her final moments in life matter.
She agrees to impersonate the wife of an important nuclear scientist who has gone missing, to find out what happened to him.
It’s a story very much set in the Cold War, with real life inspirations. There’s a nuclear scientist gone missing, which puts everyone on edge. The mistrust, the almost philosophical way of political thinking, the subtle yet always present suspense and the necessity for the shady operations are actually done quite well. And the setting in particular is pretty fascinating.
It’s a slow-paced and cozy spy adventure story rather than an actual thriller for the most part. The premise is a little bit out there, but is nonetheless quite enjoyable if you don’t think about it too much. The protagonist’s character arc is the heart of this story. And it’s hard not to compare the protagonist in the book with Agatha Christie herself. A woman who’s married and has a child whose heart gets broken by her husband as she suddenly finds herself replaced by another woman. But that does not mean that her life is over. She finds a new purpose in life, reinvents herself and comes out of the adventure stronger than she was before.
Destination Unknown is a solid and cozy standalone spy thriller by Agatha Christie. Very different from her more well-known mystery stories. The beginning of the story in particular is quite strong. And the middle is pretty solid. The story kind of fizzles out a bit at the end unfortunately. There is a big twist at the end, though it’s a bit underwhelming. The ending is still satisfying enough to make for an entertaining read, as long as you don’t think about it too much.
She agrees to impersonate the wife of an important nuclear scientist who has gone missing, to find out what happened to him.
It’s a story very much set in the Cold War, with real life inspirations. There’s a nuclear scientist gone missing, which puts everyone on edge. The mistrust, the almost philosophical way of political thinking, the subtle yet always present suspense and the necessity for the shady operations are actually done quite well. And the setting in particular is pretty fascinating.
It’s a slow-paced and cozy spy adventure story rather than an actual thriller for the most part. The premise is a little bit out there, but is nonetheless quite enjoyable if you don’t think about it too much. The protagonist’s character arc is the heart of this story. And it’s hard not to compare the protagonist in the book with Agatha Christie herself. A woman who’s married and has a child whose heart gets broken by her husband as she suddenly finds herself replaced by another woman. But that does not mean that her life is over. She finds a new purpose in life, reinvents herself and comes out of the adventure stronger than she was before.
Destination Unknown is a solid and cozy standalone spy thriller by Agatha Christie. Very different from her more well-known mystery stories. The beginning of the story in particular is quite strong. And the middle is pretty solid. The story kind of fizzles out a bit at the end unfortunately. There is a big twist at the end, though it’s a bit underwhelming. The ending is still satisfying enough to make for an entertaining read, as long as you don’t think about it too much.
February 26, 2023
I'm not generally a fan of Christie's thrillers, having been disappointed many times over. But time and again I've found a few I enjoyed. And this standalone thriller is one of them. Perhaps it is the story, or perhaps, it is the characters. But whatever it is, this novel pleasantly surprised me at a time when I was in the mind frame never to read her thrillers again.
In this story, scientists disappear from time to time, the latest one being Thomas Betterton, and an international investigation into their disappearance is launched. In this background, a woman who is about to give up life in despair takes on a suicidal mission to try and locate Tom Betterton posing as his wife.
The story was exciting in its beginning, but as it proceeded, it became slow-paced with a lot of talking and less action. This middle part was a bit tedious and boring. However, the story picked up in the latter half, and from there on, led towards a satisfactory ending, though differently than expected. It wasn't wholly a plausible plot. But for once, it didn't affect my enjoyment. The story was slow-paced. One cannot say that it was an action-packed thriller. Yet, I was led on by such an eager curiosity to know the end results that even the slow, boring parts seem bearable.
The characters certainly added to the strength of the story. The courageous and spirited Hilary Craven brought great vitality to the story. Presented at first to the readers as a character to sympathize with, Christie takes Hilary on a journey of self-discovery as well as the discovery of what has happened to the "disappeared scientists". Not only Hilary Craven, but Andrew Peters, too, deserved our sympathy as his "mission" became known. The touch of compassion for these characters that flowed from Christie's pen made them feel real and likable.
Although this novel is first and foremost a thriller, a story of a past murder and catching the culprit run parallel to the main story which is surprisingly revealed at the end. That was a new Christie experience for me which I enjoyed.
Overall, I'm pleased with myself for having been able to enjoy this novel. I was getting tired of expressing my disappointment over and over in Christie thrillers. Although I can never be an admirer of her thrillers, this one was quite satisfying.
In this story, scientists disappear from time to time, the latest one being Thomas Betterton, and an international investigation into their disappearance is launched. In this background, a woman who is about to give up life in despair takes on a suicidal mission to try and locate Tom Betterton posing as his wife.
The story was exciting in its beginning, but as it proceeded, it became slow-paced with a lot of talking and less action. This middle part was a bit tedious and boring. However, the story picked up in the latter half, and from there on, led towards a satisfactory ending, though differently than expected. It wasn't wholly a plausible plot. But for once, it didn't affect my enjoyment. The story was slow-paced. One cannot say that it was an action-packed thriller. Yet, I was led on by such an eager curiosity to know the end results that even the slow, boring parts seem bearable.
The characters certainly added to the strength of the story. The courageous and spirited Hilary Craven brought great vitality to the story. Presented at first to the readers as a character to sympathize with, Christie takes Hilary on a journey of self-discovery as well as the discovery of what has happened to the "disappeared scientists". Not only Hilary Craven, but Andrew Peters, too, deserved our sympathy as his "mission" became known. The touch of compassion for these characters that flowed from Christie's pen made them feel real and likable.
Although this novel is first and foremost a thriller, a story of a past murder and catching the culprit run parallel to the main story which is surprisingly revealed at the end. That was a new Christie experience for me which I enjoyed.
Overall, I'm pleased with myself for having been able to enjoy this novel. I was getting tired of expressing my disappointment over and over in Christie thrillers. Although I can never be an admirer of her thrillers, this one was quite satisfying.
January 23, 2022
Agatha Christie Book Reading Challenge
3.5 stars
BOOK 38 :- JAN 2022
3.5 stars
BOOK 38 :- JAN 2022
November 12, 2021
Destination Unknown is a 1954 spy fiction thriller where a suicidal woman is offered an alternative way to end her life while helping find out why prominent scientists are disappearing.
The first half of the book built the connections between the large cast of characters. Several threads seemingly unrelated will merge. The key people are Hillary Craven (depressed, suicidal, has red hair like Olive); Olive Betterton (worried over, Thomas, her scientist husband’s disappearance); Mr. Aristides (tycoon businessman); Mr. Jessop (British agent); and a handful of characters that are either agents or scientists.
The second half of the book is where the plot and subplot take center stage. The subplot involves a man seeking to avenge his cousin’s death, thus uses his knowledge as a scientist to get near to the person responsible. Some characters are not what they initially seem and have hidden agenda. Even though this is not Christie’s usual mystery format, there is a mystery surrounding what is happening to the scientists that have disappeared. Are they dead? Have they defected? I liked the layered plot, it kept me engaged, and I did not guess the outcome until it was revealed.
I listened to the audio format and was thankful for it. There are many accents in this international cast. Listening to the dialogue read enhanced the story. But I had a minor issue. One character tended toward melodramatics. I’m not sure if I would have felt the same had I been reading. Or it could have been the way the narrator, Emilia Fox, read. Nevertheless, if audio is your preferred format, it is good enough to choose.
Overall, it was a rather enjoyable Christie book. Even if it was light on characterization. I don’t grant it the same status as her golden age mysteries, my favorites. But I would definitely recommend this to AG fans and fans of spy novels.
The first half of the book built the connections between the large cast of characters. Several threads seemingly unrelated will merge. The key people are Hillary Craven (depressed, suicidal, has red hair like Olive); Olive Betterton (worried over, Thomas, her scientist husband’s disappearance); Mr. Aristides (tycoon businessman); Mr. Jessop (British agent); and a handful of characters that are either agents or scientists.
The second half of the book is where the plot and subplot take center stage. The subplot involves a man seeking to avenge his cousin’s death, thus uses his knowledge as a scientist to get near to the person responsible. Some characters are not what they initially seem and have hidden agenda. Even though this is not Christie’s usual mystery format, there is a mystery surrounding what is happening to the scientists that have disappeared. Are they dead? Have they defected? I liked the layered plot, it kept me engaged, and I did not guess the outcome until it was revealed.
I listened to the audio format and was thankful for it. There are many accents in this international cast. Listening to the dialogue read enhanced the story. But I had a minor issue. One character tended toward melodramatics. I’m not sure if I would have felt the same had I been reading. Or it could have been the way the narrator, Emilia Fox, read. Nevertheless, if audio is your preferred format, it is good enough to choose.
Overall, it was a rather enjoyable Christie book. Even if it was light on characterization. I don’t grant it the same status as her golden age mysteries, my favorites. But I would definitely recommend this to AG fans and fans of spy novels.
November 26, 2016
Hilary Craven has lost everything that is dear to her and cannot contemplate life any longer. As she sets out to act on her despair, she is approached with a proposition...
I said it before and I say it again: Dame Agatha did not write good spy thrillers. This another proof of it. Although, Destination Unknown was not as outrageously bad as Passenger to Frankfurt - I mean really, not many books are as bad as that - this one was quite boring.
Maybe it was because the story was too slow paced, or maybe it was because the idea of merging Christie's signature twee style with a supposedly hard-boiled Cold War thriller just didn't work. Whatever the reason, I was so bored.
I said it before and I say it again: Dame Agatha did not write good spy thrillers. This another proof of it. Although, Destination Unknown was not as outrageously bad as Passenger to Frankfurt - I mean really, not many books are as bad as that - this one was quite boring.
Maybe it was because the story was too slow paced, or maybe it was because the idea of merging Christie's signature twee style with a supposedly hard-boiled Cold War thriller just didn't work. Whatever the reason, I was so bored.
May 21, 2016
I kept thinking, something is wrong! Then, I realized, something is missing. A murder.
Still, pretty enjoyed this book, although it's not really Christie's 'typical' book. But, still, contains many interesting characters! I know it's good, when I close the book, and say, 'Man! I feel I just came back from a journey.'
So yeah, not a master piece of Agatha, but still, easy, interesting read.
Still, pretty enjoyed this book, although it's not really Christie's 'typical' book. But, still, contains many interesting characters! I know it's good, when I close the book, and say, 'Man! I feel I just came back from a journey.'
So yeah, not a master piece of Agatha, but still, easy, interesting read.
July 14, 2022
Before The Ipcress File became a classic novel & film in the 1960s Agatha Chrisitie penned this 1954 spy story about missing scientists.
It all starts extremely well, when a young woman about to commit suicide is recruited as a spy. She assumes the identity of a missing scientist's wife & heads to Morocco to find him.
The second half of the novels lacks the suspense of the first half, although there are plenty of interesting characters. Some of the twists are a bit laughable, but perhaps Agatha Christie had her tongue firmly in her cheek while writing this one ?
It all starts extremely well, when a young woman about to commit suicide is recruited as a spy. She assumes the identity of a missing scientist's wife & heads to Morocco to find him.
The second half of the novels lacks the suspense of the first half, although there are plenty of interesting characters. Some of the twists are a bit laughable, but perhaps Agatha Christie had her tongue firmly in her cheek while writing this one ?
November 13, 2015
This was not a typical Agatha Christie book at all since it was more of a spy thriller than a detective story. While I think I definitely prefer her "classic crime solving", it was still interesting to see AC dipping her toes in a different genre. (I listened to this on audiobook btw.)
September 6, 2023
No estuvo mal, aunque el final me dejo un poco frio, se resolvió de manera asi, ¡¡voila!! ya esta todo solucionado... En fin...
Sinopsis: En los años cincuenta de nuestro siglo, nos encontramos de lleno en lo que se dio en llamar "La Guerra Fría". Un eminente científico británico, Thomas Betteton, desaparece misteriosamente después de un congreso celebrado en París. Al parecer, no se trata de un caso aislado, sino de la continuación de una serie de episodios parecidos que han sucedido reiteradamente en los últimos tiempos. Siempre se trata de hombres de ciencia que desaparecen sin ningún tipo de violencia y van a parar voluntariamente al otro lado del Telón de Acero.
Valoración: 5.5/10
#10- Un libro con una aliteración en el título. Reto Popsugar 2023.
Sinopsis: En los años cincuenta de nuestro siglo, nos encontramos de lleno en lo que se dio en llamar "La Guerra Fría". Un eminente científico británico, Thomas Betteton, desaparece misteriosamente después de un congreso celebrado en París. Al parecer, no se trata de un caso aislado, sino de la continuación de una serie de episodios parecidos que han sucedido reiteradamente en los últimos tiempos. Siempre se trata de hombres de ciencia que desaparecen sin ningún tipo de violencia y van a parar voluntariamente al otro lado del Telón de Acero.
Valoración: 5.5/10
#10- Un libro con una aliteración en el título. Reto Popsugar 2023.
August 6, 2019
One of the best Christie novels. A fast paced spy thriller, it has all elements of international espionage and intrigue. And in true Christie fashion there is a twisted end. The story line is so gripping that you would want to finish it in one go. Superb reading
March 3, 2020
There are definitely highs and lows in this one-- overall, it was a Christie book written when she was still in top form, so it's a pleasant enough reading experience. I enjoyed Hilary & Peters, but aside from that, this feels pretty stuck in its time. Not a bad time, but not one of her best IMO
July 13, 2024
One of Dame Agatha's spy novels, reflecting the 1950s fears of defections to Russia among the scientific elite. It is very cloak and dagger, with numerous plots, a wealthy backer, a hidden lair in Northern Africa, lavish laboratories and a gilded prison for the defectors. Everything the budding evil genius requires.
Hillary Craven has gone to Casablanca to either find peace or rest in peace. Her ex-husband has remarried and her daughter is dead. Deciding that she has no reason to go on, she buys as many usleeping pills as she can and prepares to swallow them. Imagine her surprise when an English espionage agent interrupts her and offers a slightly more complicated way to commit suicide: impersonate the wife of a scientist who defected. Hillary is strangely drawn to the idea and transitions to her new identity, Olive Betterton. A new life, full of surprises begins at once. She reminds me of Victoria Jones, a Christie heroine from They Came to Baghdad. Both women end up in difficult situations in very foreign surroundings and rely on their wits and acting ability to see their way through.
I completely believed in Hillary's despair in the initial chapters. I would venture a guess that Christie channeled the emotions that she experienced when her first husband left her for another woman. At that time, she went off the rails for ten days, abandoning her car and checking into a posh hotel under the other woman's name. Pretty dramatic stuff.
This is an elaborate confection by a talented writer. In other hands it would seem frivolous, but with Christie's steady hand, it becomes quite entertaining. Espionage may not have been her strong suit, but it obviously intrigued her enough to write several of these thrillers.
Hillary Craven has gone to Casablanca to either find peace or rest in peace. Her ex-husband has remarried and her daughter is dead. Deciding that she has no reason to go on, she buys as many usleeping pills as she can and prepares to swallow them. Imagine her surprise when an English espionage agent interrupts her and offers a slightly more complicated way to commit suicide: impersonate the wife of a scientist who defected. Hillary is strangely drawn to the idea and transitions to her new identity, Olive Betterton. A new life, full of surprises begins at once. She reminds me of Victoria Jones, a Christie heroine from They Came to Baghdad. Both women end up in difficult situations in very foreign surroundings and rely on their wits and acting ability to see their way through.
I completely believed in Hillary's despair in the initial chapters. I would venture a guess that Christie channeled the emotions that she experienced when her first husband left her for another woman. At that time, she went off the rails for ten days, abandoning her car and checking into a posh hotel under the other woman's name. Pretty dramatic stuff.
This is an elaborate confection by a talented writer. In other hands it would seem frivolous, but with Christie's steady hand, it becomes quite entertaining. Espionage may not have been her strong suit, but it obviously intrigued her enough to write several of these thrillers.
August 22, 2022
Das Schöne an der #readchristie Challenge? Man greift immer mal wieder zu Christies, die man sonst vermutlich nicht gelesen hätte – wie zum Beispiel diesem hier:
Hilary Craven ist am Ende. Ihre Tochter ist tot, ihr Mann hat sie für eine andere verlassen. Obwohl sie noch recht jung ist, haben sie die Lebenskräfte verlassen. Deshalb beschließt sie, in ihrem Hotelzimmer in Casablanca Suizid zu begehen. Doch kurz, bevor sie ihren Plan in die Tat umsetzen kann, wird sie von Mr. Jessop gestört. Was er genau ist, weiß Hilary nicht. Sie tippt auf irgendeine Form von Geheimdienstler. Er ermittelt in einem Fall, der mehrere Nationen auf Trab hält: immer wieder verschwinden junge, aufstrebende Wissenschaftler scheinbar spurlos.
Er unterbreitet ihr ein Angebot: eine Reise, an deren Ende sie vermutlich ebenfalls tot sein wird. Aber der Weg dahin wird vermutlich aufregender, als das einsame Dahinscheiden in einem fremden Hotelzimmer. Auf geheimer Mission soll Hilary ausfindig machen, wohin die Wissenschaftler verschwunden sind. Wohin die Reise geht, weiß Mr. Jessop selbst nicht. Doch Hilary Craven hat nichts zu verlieren – und so macht sie sich auf den unheimlichen Weg…
_________________
Na, das war ja wohl mal ein Christie der ganz anderen Sorte! Nichts mit Cozy Crime, das hier ist ein echter Spionagekrimi. Mir hat die Thematik ganz gut gefallen, ich fand diese ganzen internationalen Geheimdienstler und ausgeklügelten Reisen echt spannend. Auch die hänsel-und-gretelesque Schnitzeljagd fand ich gut.
Man merkt auch richtig, dass dies einer der späteren, moderneren Christies ist. Bisweilen wirkt es sogar leicht wie Science Fiction.
Nicht so gut gefallen hat mir einerseits, dass (wie immer) die Kommunisten „die Bösen“ sind, während der Kapitalismus ja offensichtlich das beste aller Systeme ist und niemals angezweifelt werden darf.
Den anderen Schwachpunkt fand ich das Ende. Ich hab’s schon verstanden, aber es ging einfach sehr schnell und war dann teilweise etwas wirr. Hätte ein paar Seiten und Erklärungen mehr ganz gut vertragen.
Endgültiges Fazit: Spannende Lektüre, wenn man Agatha Christie mal von einer anderen Seite kennenlernen möchte. Schade, dass dieser Krimi vor allem in Deutschland so unbekannt ist.
Gelesen für die #readchristie2022 Challenge im August `22: A story set in a hot climate
Hilary Craven ist am Ende. Ihre Tochter ist tot, ihr Mann hat sie für eine andere verlassen. Obwohl sie noch recht jung ist, haben sie die Lebenskräfte verlassen. Deshalb beschließt sie, in ihrem Hotelzimmer in Casablanca Suizid zu begehen. Doch kurz, bevor sie ihren Plan in die Tat umsetzen kann, wird sie von Mr. Jessop gestört. Was er genau ist, weiß Hilary nicht. Sie tippt auf irgendeine Form von Geheimdienstler. Er ermittelt in einem Fall, der mehrere Nationen auf Trab hält: immer wieder verschwinden junge, aufstrebende Wissenschaftler scheinbar spurlos.
Er unterbreitet ihr ein Angebot: eine Reise, an deren Ende sie vermutlich ebenfalls tot sein wird. Aber der Weg dahin wird vermutlich aufregender, als das einsame Dahinscheiden in einem fremden Hotelzimmer. Auf geheimer Mission soll Hilary ausfindig machen, wohin die Wissenschaftler verschwunden sind. Wohin die Reise geht, weiß Mr. Jessop selbst nicht. Doch Hilary Craven hat nichts zu verlieren – und so macht sie sich auf den unheimlichen Weg…
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Na, das war ja wohl mal ein Christie der ganz anderen Sorte! Nichts mit Cozy Crime, das hier ist ein echter Spionagekrimi. Mir hat die Thematik ganz gut gefallen, ich fand diese ganzen internationalen Geheimdienstler und ausgeklügelten Reisen echt spannend. Auch die hänsel-und-gretelesque Schnitzeljagd fand ich gut.
Man merkt auch richtig, dass dies einer der späteren, moderneren Christies ist. Bisweilen wirkt es sogar leicht wie Science Fiction.
Nicht so gut gefallen hat mir einerseits, dass (wie immer) die Kommunisten „die Bösen“ sind, während der Kapitalismus ja offensichtlich das beste aller Systeme ist und niemals angezweifelt werden darf.
Den anderen Schwachpunkt fand ich das Ende. Ich hab’s schon verstanden, aber es ging einfach sehr schnell und war dann teilweise etwas wirr. Hätte ein paar Seiten und Erklärungen mehr ganz gut vertragen.
Endgültiges Fazit: Spannende Lektüre, wenn man Agatha Christie mal von einer anderen Seite kennenlernen möchte. Schade, dass dieser Krimi vor allem in Deutschland so unbekannt ist.
Gelesen für die #readchristie2022 Challenge im August `22: A story set in a hot climate
October 28, 2024
Disappointing.
February 7, 2024
OMG
...
...
October 20, 2021
Although Agatha Christie is my all time favourite author, I must admit that I prefer her murder mysteries to her adventure stories of plucky heroines and derring-do. However, this 1954 spy story does, indeed, contain a plucky heroine; although one who is lost when we first meet her. Hilary Craven has certain similarities with Christie's own past - she had one daughter (although in Hilary's case, her young daughter has died) and, like Agatha herself, Hilary's husband had left her for another woman. Lost and depressed, Hilary Craven is planning to commit suicide when Mr Jessop introduces himself and asks her to take part in a secret mission.
Scientists are going missing and Jessop asks Hilary to pose as Olive Betterton, the wife of a missing scientist, and discover his whereabouts. It is believed she was going to meet him and so, plunged again into life, Hilary sets off for an unknown destination. Of course, this novel was inspired by the defections of scientists to Russia, but this is a fairly light look at such events and Christie, as so often, manages to give her heroine a happier ending than that originally planned for her.
Scientists are going missing and Jessop asks Hilary to pose as Olive Betterton, the wife of a missing scientist, and discover his whereabouts. It is believed she was going to meet him and so, plunged again into life, Hilary sets off for an unknown destination. Of course, this novel was inspired by the defections of scientists to Russia, but this is a fairly light look at such events and Christie, as so often, manages to give her heroine a happier ending than that originally planned for her.
September 29, 2024
وای ایده ی این کتابشو خیلی دوست داشتممم
میتونست قشنگ داستانو گسترش بده ۶۰۰ صفحه درموردش بنویسه ولی کوتاهش کرد و تو ۲۵۰ صفحه جمعش کرد🥲
میتونست قشنگ داستانو گسترش بده ۶۰۰ صفحه درموردش بنویسه ولی کوتاهش کرد و تو ۲۵۰ صفحه جمعش کرد🥲
July 6, 2023
Libro más bien de aventuras que novela negra
Una mujer se hace pasar por otra para encontrar a su “marido”. Bastantes aventuras para llegar al destino, por medio de estratagemas consigue su fin.
Tiene un giro final pero tampoco aporta mucho
Libro corto y entretenido pero bastante flojo
Una mujer se hace pasar por otra para encontrar a su “marido”. Bastantes aventuras para llegar al destino, por medio de estratagemas consigue su fin.
Tiene un giro final pero tampoco aporta mucho
Libro corto y entretenido pero bastante flojo
August 28, 2023
A Good Idea, but Rather Blandly Executed
Destination Unknown is the first thriller by Agatha Christie that I have read, and unlike her mysteries, the thriller genre does not seem to be a place Christie was entirely at home in. The story focuses on Hilary Craven, a young mother whose child has died from meningitis and whose husband has left her for another woman, so that now she seriously contemplates suicide. However, when she is about to swallow a fateful dose of sleeping pills, a British secret service official enters her hotel room and tells her that if she wants to die, she can just as well do so in serving her country. Jessop, as this man is called, explains to her that for a while young scientists all over the western world have been disappearing and that they strongly suspect the Communists being behind all this. Tom Betterton is one of those promising scientists, and when his wife Olive makes preparations to go abroad, Jessop senses that the wife is going to join her husband. As Hecuba would have it, though, Olive dies in a plane crash and Hilary has the same shock of red hair as late Mrs. Betterton, and so Jessop intends to infiltrate Hilary into the secret organization that helps all these scientists go into hiding. If you manage to believe the two coincidences of the plane crash and Mr. Jessop coming across Hilary Craven with her red hair in such a dire situation in her life, you will definitely have no difficulty making the third leap of faith and finding it plausible that a desperate woman jumps at the idea of sacrificing her life in a suicide mission – with the prospect of being tortured and then killed in a more gruesome way than taking an overdose of sleeping pills.
The best thing that can be said of Destination Unknown is that the central idea is intriguing and allows to address a series of questions that have significance even in our day and age. For example, there is the question of the relation between science and politics, i.e. to what use the inventions and discoveries made by zealous scientists are put. Are scientists responsible for the consequences of their work? The novel features a range of scientists, who are also examples of national stereotypes, such as the Fascist German, the dreamy Scandinavian and the scheming Frenchman. The latter, a Dr. Barron, is only interested in his research, bacteriology, and can be baited by the secret organization with the promise of unlimited means for his work. He would not even shrink from letting a virus loose on the general population, just to see in what way infections might spread all over the country and how many people would fall victim to the new disease. Other scientists are not so apolitical but instead, they think that their work should contribute to instal a better, utopian system and end the chaos of the “muddle” as which they perceive the world in its present state, and to these Hilary wholeheartedly objects by saying,
In our world of rich philanthropists who claim that a whole-scale transformation is needed to ensure our survival and avert chaos and climate catastrophe, these words ring truer than ever.
Despite the interesting question the book raises, however, it is not really on a par with most of Christie’s other works that I have read so far. First of all, the characters are rather one-dimensional and seem to come from a James Bond movie, and this is also true of the heroine, who lacks the spirit and vividness Christie often manages to endow her female protagonists with. Of course, there is also a love story, but what with the cardboard quality of the characters, it seems very desultory and just put in as a “must”. The biggest let-down of the novel, however, lies in its lack of suspense: It seems quite easy for the “good guys” to hunt down the arch-villain, and never for a moment is the happy ending in abeyance, nor is there a situation of extreme danger which could conjure up a feeling of thrill to justify the thriller label.
All in all, this novel is quite tame and uneventful, but the ideas behind it are still worth discussing – even more so today.
Destination Unknown is the first thriller by Agatha Christie that I have read, and unlike her mysteries, the thriller genre does not seem to be a place Christie was entirely at home in. The story focuses on Hilary Craven, a young mother whose child has died from meningitis and whose husband has left her for another woman, so that now she seriously contemplates suicide. However, when she is about to swallow a fateful dose of sleeping pills, a British secret service official enters her hotel room and tells her that if she wants to die, she can just as well do so in serving her country. Jessop, as this man is called, explains to her that for a while young scientists all over the western world have been disappearing and that they strongly suspect the Communists being behind all this. Tom Betterton is one of those promising scientists, and when his wife Olive makes preparations to go abroad, Jessop senses that the wife is going to join her husband. As Hecuba would have it, though, Olive dies in a plane crash and Hilary has the same shock of red hair as late Mrs. Betterton, and so Jessop intends to infiltrate Hilary into the secret organization that helps all these scientists go into hiding. If you manage to believe the two coincidences of the plane crash and Mr. Jessop coming across Hilary Craven with her red hair in such a dire situation in her life, you will definitely have no difficulty making the third leap of faith and finding it plausible that a desperate woman jumps at the idea of sacrificing her life in a suicide mission – with the prospect of being tortured and then killed in a more gruesome way than taking an overdose of sleeping pills.
The best thing that can be said of Destination Unknown is that the central idea is intriguing and allows to address a series of questions that have significance even in our day and age. For example, there is the question of the relation between science and politics, i.e. to what use the inventions and discoveries made by zealous scientists are put. Are scientists responsible for the consequences of their work? The novel features a range of scientists, who are also examples of national stereotypes, such as the Fascist German, the dreamy Scandinavian and the scheming Frenchman. The latter, a Dr. Barron, is only interested in his research, bacteriology, and can be baited by the secret organization with the promise of unlimited means for his work. He would not even shrink from letting a virus loose on the general population, just to see in what way infections might spread all over the country and how many people would fall victim to the new disease. Other scientists are not so apolitical but instead, they think that their work should contribute to instal a better, utopian system and end the chaos of the “muddle” as which they perceive the world in its present state, and to these Hilary wholeheartedly objects by saying,
”’Why do you decry the world we live in? There are good people in it. Isn’t muddle a better breeding ground for kindliness and individuality than a world order that’s imposed, a world order that may be right today and wrong tomorrow? I would rather have a world of kindly, faulty human beings, than a world of superior robots who’ve said goodbye to pity and understanding and sympathy.’”
In our world of rich philanthropists who claim that a whole-scale transformation is needed to ensure our survival and avert chaos and climate catastrophe, these words ring truer than ever.
Despite the interesting question the book raises, however, it is not really on a par with most of Christie’s other works that I have read so far. First of all, the characters are rather one-dimensional and seem to come from a James Bond movie, and this is also true of the heroine, who lacks the spirit and vividness Christie often manages to endow her female protagonists with. Of course, there is also a love story, but what with the cardboard quality of the characters, it seems very desultory and just put in as a “must”. The biggest let-down of the novel, however, lies in its lack of suspense: It seems quite easy for the “good guys” to hunt down the arch-villain, and never for a moment is the happy ending in abeyance, nor is there a situation of extreme danger which could conjure up a feeling of thrill to justify the thriller label.
All in all, this novel is quite tame and uneventful, but the ideas behind it are still worth discussing – even more so today.
July 17, 2025
I guess you know what I think about Christie's thrillers at this point: Slow, boring and lack the magic of her murder mysteries. At least, I can check yet another Christie book from the list!
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July 10, 2022
Σχεδόν δυο χρόνια πέρασαν από την τελευταία φορά που διάβασα βιβλίο της Άγκαθα Κρίστι, δεν μπορώ να καταλάβω γιατί δεν διαβάζω συχνότερα βιβλία της, έχω τόσα πολλά στα αδιάβαστα (και με περιμένουν ακόμα περισσότερα για να αγοράσω από εκδόσεις Ψυχογιός και Λυχνάρι) και εννοείται ότι μου αρέσει σαν συγγραφέας. Τέλος πάντων, επέλεξα να διαβάσω αυτό, που μόλις επανακυκλοφόρησε στα ελληνικά στην πανέμορφη σειρά των εκδόσεων Ψυχογιός, γιατί ήθελα κάτι πιο περιπετειώδες, πιο ταξιδιάρικο, όχι μια κλασική ιστορία μυστηρίου με πρωταγωνιστή τον Πουαρό ή τη Μις Μαρπλ. Πολύ μου άρεσε τούτο το βιβλίο, ήταν ακριβώς όπως το περίμενα, κατάφερε να μου κρατήσει το ενδιαφέρον από την πρώτη μέχρι την τελευταία σελίδα, χάρη στη μυστηριώδη ατμόσφαιρα, τα ωραία σκηνικά και την όλη αγωνία για την κατάληξη της ιστορίας. Μάλιστα, διαθέτει και στοιχεία κατασκοπευτικού θρίλερ και οφείλω να πω ότι άνετα θα μπορούσε να γίνει ταινία από τον Άλφρεντ Χίτσκοκ. Όσον αφορά τη γραφή, είναι πολύ καλή, άκρως ευκολοδιάβαστη και εθιστική, με ρεαλιστικές περιγραφές και φυσικούς διαλόγους, αλλά αυτό είναι κάτι που ισχύει για όλα τα βιβλία της Κρίστι, οπότε δεν χρειάζεται να το επαναλαμβάνω κάθε φορά!
March 6, 2018
A delightful meaningless romp.
The queen of mystery took a break from Poirot and Marple to produce a post-war action/adventure thriller story about the mysterious disappearance of scientists all over the world and the unlikely spy who cracks the case. Always moving (to a destination unknown), along the way there is murder, adventure, mistaken identity, and even love, all with that Agatha Christie tongue-in-cheek humor and charm in a decidedly more Hitchcockian vein.
Destination Unknown is Tommy & Tuppence meet “The Lady on the Train.” Good clean fun. I’m surprised it’s never been turned into at least a made-for-tv movie. Recommended for a palate cleaning reading break or a rainy afternoon.
The queen of mystery took a break from Poirot and Marple to produce a post-war action/adventure thriller story about the mysterious disappearance of scientists all over the world and the unlikely spy who cracks the case. Always moving (to a destination unknown), along the way there is murder, adventure, mistaken identity, and even love, all with that Agatha Christie tongue-in-cheek humor and charm in a decidedly more Hitchcockian vein.
Destination Unknown is Tommy & Tuppence meet “The Lady on the Train.” Good clean fun. I’m surprised it’s never been turned into at least a made-for-tv movie. Recommended for a palate cleaning reading break or a rainy afternoon.
August 14, 2018
Destination Unknown kind of anticipates Passenger to Frankfurt, in my opinion, and that's enough to explain why I couldn't enjoy nor stand it.
April 21, 2024
The blurb sounded intriguing, but it just didn't capture my attention.
Kidnapping the group of scientists at one go, rather the individually from their place or work or home was something different. For me, there were far more valleys than peaks and one of the reasons for my low rating.
The ending did nothing for me either, similar to another of my 1 star rating, Passenger to Frankfurt. Oh well, all her books cannot be gems - right?
Kidnapping the group of scientists at one go, rather the individually from their place or work or home was something different. For me, there were far more valleys than peaks and one of the reasons for my low rating.
The ending did nothing for me either, similar to another of my 1 star rating, Passenger to Frankfurt. Oh well, all her books cannot be gems - right?
November 24, 2021
Destination Unknown, first published in 1954, is a standalone by Christie that falls firmly into her thriller category, in fact even more so than some of her other thrillers I have read/reread recently as we have no murder mystery at the start (as for instance, in The Man in the Brown Suit, They Came to Baghdad or The Secret at Chimneys), but more of a spy plot. I read this as the November pick for my Goodreads group challenge reading lesser known Christies this year.
The book opens with a couple of secret agents Wharton and Jessop who are dealing with the problem of top scientists going missing, having possibly ‘crossed the Iron curtain’. Thomas Betterton, a scientist who has worked on some important technology, has like these others, recently disappeared. His wife, Olive, claims she knows nothing about his disappearance and looks suitably worried, but the agents are convinced she knows more than she is letting on. Parallelly, we meet Hilary Craven, a woman whose marriage has broken up (her husband has remarried), and who has lost her only child to an illness. Heart-broken and in deep despair, she tries first to escape her past by travelling to Morocco, and when she realises this will cure nothing, by attempting suicide. But also in Morocco, is agent Jessop who is on the trail of Olive Betterton. When Olive dies in an accident, Jessop convinces Hilary who is a lot like Olive in appearance to take her place and help them track down the missing scientists.
Hilary agrees and so begins her adventure where at first, she must travel to different destinations in Morocco following Olive Betterton’s itinerary; here she meets other British and American travellers, and waits to see what happens. She almost begins to believe it a pointless exercise, but then, she is contacted by someone, and with that begins another journey, which takes her not quite to the place she was expecting to be taken, and where she finds things very different from what she had thought, as well.
As I always write when I review Christie’s thrillers, these are no where near the same level as her traditional mysteries but if one suspends disbelief a little (in some cases anyway), they can be a fair bit of fun for she does have likeable characters (and mostly very spunky heroines) and builds up the suspense very well; and of course, there is always a twist one doesn’t see coming.
So was the case with this one. Destination Unknown has in fact surprised me each time I read it—this was the third or may be even fourth time I read it. When I had read it previously, I had forgotten whodunit and was in for a good surprise while on this read, I remembered who but what exactly was done I couldn’t quite remember, so once again I had fun reading it. While in the initial parts of the story one is involved in Hilary’s story and the sorrow she has had to bear, once the adventure, and her journey as Olive begins, one really begins to get pulled into that thread wondering just where we are going, and what we will find there. Like many of the other heroines in Christie’s thrillers, Hilary too, is spirited and doesn’t let anything faze her.
The missing or rather defecting scientist plot is something I think was a valid concern at the time the book was written (the Wikipedia entry for the book mentions scientists from Los Alamos who vanished), and something that has been explored by other authors as well, including if I remember right, Enid Blyton, in one of the Famous Five books. The plot touches on issues of politics (at least the characters different political beliefs), science and scientists’ need for freedom to do their work, and also the related moral considerations. Alongside we have another plot that is moving along, and another mystery, which is revealed only towards the end, but to which we realise we have been given clues all through, and which I certainly didn’t see coming the first time around.
We also have a romance thread, more than one character with secrets or hidden identities, and some local colour which we encounter during Hilary’s travels in Morocco.
All in all, this made for a fun revisit. 3.75 stars
The book opens with a couple of secret agents Wharton and Jessop who are dealing with the problem of top scientists going missing, having possibly ‘crossed the Iron curtain’. Thomas Betterton, a scientist who has worked on some important technology, has like these others, recently disappeared. His wife, Olive, claims she knows nothing about his disappearance and looks suitably worried, but the agents are convinced she knows more than she is letting on. Parallelly, we meet Hilary Craven, a woman whose marriage has broken up (her husband has remarried), and who has lost her only child to an illness. Heart-broken and in deep despair, she tries first to escape her past by travelling to Morocco, and when she realises this will cure nothing, by attempting suicide. But also in Morocco, is agent Jessop who is on the trail of Olive Betterton. When Olive dies in an accident, Jessop convinces Hilary who is a lot like Olive in appearance to take her place and help them track down the missing scientists.
Hilary agrees and so begins her adventure where at first, she must travel to different destinations in Morocco following Olive Betterton’s itinerary; here she meets other British and American travellers, and waits to see what happens. She almost begins to believe it a pointless exercise, but then, she is contacted by someone, and with that begins another journey, which takes her not quite to the place she was expecting to be taken, and where she finds things very different from what she had thought, as well.
As I always write when I review Christie’s thrillers, these are no where near the same level as her traditional mysteries but if one suspends disbelief a little (in some cases anyway), they can be a fair bit of fun for she does have likeable characters (and mostly very spunky heroines) and builds up the suspense very well; and of course, there is always a twist one doesn’t see coming.
So was the case with this one. Destination Unknown has in fact surprised me each time I read it—this was the third or may be even fourth time I read it. When I had read it previously, I had forgotten whodunit and was in for a good surprise while on this read, I remembered who but what exactly was done I couldn’t quite remember, so once again I had fun reading it. While in the initial parts of the story one is involved in Hilary’s story and the sorrow she has had to bear, once the adventure, and her journey as Olive begins, one really begins to get pulled into that thread wondering just where we are going, and what we will find there. Like many of the other heroines in Christie’s thrillers, Hilary too, is spirited and doesn’t let anything faze her.
The missing or rather defecting scientist plot is something I think was a valid concern at the time the book was written (the Wikipedia entry for the book mentions scientists from Los Alamos who vanished), and something that has been explored by other authors as well, including if I remember right, Enid Blyton, in one of the Famous Five books. The plot touches on issues of politics (at least the characters different political beliefs), science and scientists’ need for freedom to do their work, and also the related moral considerations. Alongside we have another plot that is moving along, and another mystery, which is revealed only towards the end, but to which we realise we have been given clues all through, and which I certainly didn’t see coming the first time around.
We also have a romance thread, more than one character with secrets or hidden identities, and some local colour which we encounter during Hilary’s travels in Morocco.
All in all, this made for a fun revisit. 3.75 stars
December 31, 2021
This 1954 novel is, by my count, Christie’s third foray into the realm of ‘spy thriller’, following what I felt to be the relative failures of The Big Four and They Came to Baghdad. I find it somewhat surprising that a writer with such refined skills in the detective genre of the murder mystery and the psychological drama of the ‘straight’ novel could show herself so weak in the realm of international intrigue. There are several problems:
- The heroine, Hilary Craven, is much more an ‘acted-upon’ rather than a forceful figure in charge of her own destiny. From her early rock bottom remorse through her rather over enthusiastic embrace of her infiltration mission to her sense of fearful apprehension when imprisoned in The Unit, she continually seems to somehow lack any real sense of personal credibility. This is very unlike the highly attractive heroines of Christie’s earlier adventure stories without one of her staple detectives, such as The Man in the Brown Suit.: maybe Christie at middle age no longer had the fervour of youthful energy she presented in the earlier works.
- Again, the forces arrayed against the heroine are so powerful, so ill-defined, so insidious and, above all else, so nebulous as to lack any real sense of credibility. Are they communists? Are they fascists? Are they minions of a megalomaniac with an awful lot of money? These issues are eventually resolved, but for a long while this mist enveloping the opposing force made for another unsatisfying part of the whole puzzle.
- Although I never doubt any story involving the extreme obscenities associated with excessive wealth, the use to which the mastermind behind the Unit wants to put it and the means which he proposes to make his new product marketable are both so very out-there as to be almost laughably implausible.
- The cobbled together murder/revenge/concealed identities/true love story which Christie chose to end this book with highlights, I believe, her own distrust in the weight of the overwhelming majority of the story which preceded it; it is as if she too thought it was simply not strong enough. However, the appended solution made it worse, not better.
Christie’s dominant strengths are in characterization and plotting. The look in a person’s eye or the bend of their mouth speaks volumes, as do the time at which the tea service was unaccountably left on the hallway table. Such minutiae truly show her amazing attention to detail. When she attempts such a wider geopolitical conception, I feel she truly loses touch with that which made her such a great writer: her knowledge of specific people and places.
Nonetheless, not a total waste of time. There is some suspense in wondering about the fate of the heroine, just as there is in watching one of her sleuths solve the seemingly elusive murder. However, the intensity of the suspense is far lower.
Not recommended.
- The heroine, Hilary Craven, is much more an ‘acted-upon’ rather than a forceful figure in charge of her own destiny. From her early rock bottom remorse through her rather over enthusiastic embrace of her infiltration mission to her sense of fearful apprehension when imprisoned in The Unit, she continually seems to somehow lack any real sense of personal credibility. This is very unlike the highly attractive heroines of Christie’s earlier adventure stories without one of her staple detectives, such as The Man in the Brown Suit.: maybe Christie at middle age no longer had the fervour of youthful energy she presented in the earlier works.
- Again, the forces arrayed against the heroine are so powerful, so ill-defined, so insidious and, above all else, so nebulous as to lack any real sense of credibility. Are they communists? Are they fascists? Are they minions of a megalomaniac with an awful lot of money? These issues are eventually resolved, but for a long while this mist enveloping the opposing force made for another unsatisfying part of the whole puzzle.
- Although I never doubt any story involving the extreme obscenities associated with excessive wealth, the use to which the mastermind behind the Unit wants to put it and the means which he proposes to make his new product marketable are both so very out-there as to be almost laughably implausible.
- The cobbled together murder/revenge/concealed identities/true love story which Christie chose to end this book with highlights, I believe, her own distrust in the weight of the overwhelming majority of the story which preceded it; it is as if she too thought it was simply not strong enough. However, the appended solution made it worse, not better.
Christie’s dominant strengths are in characterization and plotting. The look in a person’s eye or the bend of their mouth speaks volumes, as do the time at which the tea service was unaccountably left on the hallway table. Such minutiae truly show her amazing attention to detail. When she attempts such a wider geopolitical conception, I feel she truly loses touch with that which made her such a great writer: her knowledge of specific people and places.
Nonetheless, not a total waste of time. There is some suspense in wondering about the fate of the heroine, just as there is in watching one of her sleuths solve the seemingly elusive murder. However, the intensity of the suspense is far lower.
Not recommended.
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