Crooked Adam

by D.E. Stevenson, Eileen Walton (Illustrator)

1940 finds Adam Southey in a mood of bitter resentment: he cannot join up because he is lame. But at the school where he is teaching, the headmaster, Sam Cooke, is a brilliant scientist. And Adam suddenly finds that the battleground is not the only place to fight a war - for Dr. Cooke has developed a deadly secret weapon and enemy agents are after the plans. Adam and the doctor move to an engineering works in Scotland to build a working model of the weapon. Here, in the wild beauty of the Highlands, Adam is drawn into a desperate game of cat and mouse with the enemy - and he meets Brenda, who is young and beautiful and in terrible danger. . .

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Scotland, British Literature, War

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1940

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Dorothy Emily Stevenson was a best-selling Scottish author. She published more than 40 romantic novels over a period of more than 40 years. Her father was a cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson.

D.E. Stevenson had an enormously successful writing career: between 1923 and 1970, four million copies of her books were sold in Britain and three million in the States. Like E.F. Benson, Ann Bridge, O. Douglas or Dorothy L. Sayers (to name but a few) her books are funny, intensely readable, engaging and dependable.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll be honest, I was expecting to roll my eyes at DES’s attempt at a wartime thriller but I really enjoyed this! I should have known that she could pull it off. It’s obviously not her metier but her gift for excellent plotting and thoroughly likable characters made this a fun read. The plot is a lot more exciting and complex than it seemed at first and has some fun twists and turns. The circus part was especially amusing. The villains were well done too. The romance also had a twist that I didn’t expect but loved. Adam and Ebby (short for Ebenezer!) are such delightful characters. I love their partnership. So funny that this is set in Scotland and features a cave. Reminded me so much of Waverley by Sir Walter Scott, which I just read in August.

[Teri-K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Stevenson's Mrs. Tim books, and I've read a number of others by her, including the Miss Buncle stories. I enjoy the way she creates interesting characters out of ordinary people, neither perfect nor evil. I like her descriptions, too. But I had no idea that she's written a spy novel/thriller until it popped up on my GR feed. It's a genre I really enjoy in earlier books. So I had to track down a copy and give it a try.

According to my book jacket, "Initially published in the United States in 1942 when most of the world was at war and paper rationing was in effect, the first edition of Crooked Adam was exhausted within eighteen months and the publisher, literally out of paper, was unable to go back to press." (The book was reissued in 1970.) This detail adds a lot to a story that involves a deadly invention and German spies along the coastline of Scotland. When it speaks of the airmen who lives might be saved or lost, you can't help but remember they were flying - and dying - when the story was written, published, and first read. It adds a real immediacy to the book.

There seem to be two ways to write a thriller. One is with non-stop action that keeps the reader off balance and guessing. The other, maybe more difficult way, is to create a picture in the reader's mind of some horror that might be coming, then move back from that and send the MC fishing, say, or tramping around in the hills. That's the type of story we have here, and it really works for me. The delays in action left my heart pumping as I worried when the next problem would occur. Add in the fact that the reader really isn't sure even towards the end who to trust, worrying that our hero may be putting his and other's lives in the wrong hands, and you have recipe for real suspense.

As usual Stevenson created interesting characters, from high government officials to shepherds. It was canny of her to have two attractive young women to catch the hero's eye, and the very low-key romance was a nice touch. These characters spend a fair amount of time in the hills and valleys, and I was reminded of The 39 Steps, another old-fashioned thriller that covers a lot of Scottish ground.

Crooked Adam reminded me of Mary Stewart's romantic suspense novels, or the lighter books by Helen MacInnes or Alistair Maclean, all of which I quite enjoy. It's asking a lot for a book to stand up to that company, but this one did admirably. I've had trouble in the last few months focusing on even the best books, and it seems to take me a week or more to read one. I finished this in two days, and I wish I had more to follow. For me, Stevenson hit this one out of the park. 5 happy reading stars.

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crooked Adam was very different from any D.E. Stevenson title that I've read so far (45!). I liked it primarily because DES has the most entertaining way of writing her novels. If it wasn't for that, I'm not sure I would have been as interested as I was in this slightly scientific/spy-like novel. (It had a flavor of R.C. Sheriff's The Hopkins Manuscript, even though the story is completely different.)

Luckily, "Crooked" Adam is a very likeable and intelligent character. He's a school teacher of French and enjoys the community he's a part of. A childhood affliction makes him walk with a limp and he is somewhat challenged by weakness, but he has such a positive attitude and strength of mind that no one who knows him ends up remembering his handicap.

Adam becomes involved in a secret "death ray" intrigue which involves many difficult and dangerous adventures. He does his best to help out his friend and school master, Sam Cooke, and other allies to conceal the "death ray" model until the right time.

Along the way, Adam meets all sorts of wild and interesting characters—while some of them become his lifelong friends (like the Ford brothers), some becomes enemies.

A small romance blossoms between Adam and a certain young lady, but it's towards the end of the book and I wish there was more of it. Both characters are so charming, courageous and clever that I wish there was a sequel with just the two of them (without any scientific elements or spy intrigue).

I'm not sure if I'll read this book again, but it was still decent and I think it's worth reading. This title is probably towards the end of my list for favorite DES books, but it's certainly not the worst.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

1942.

Today I realized something about my current state of mind. I have been on approximately a 98% no sugar/no dairy/few grains diet for a few years now. When I first began it I comforted myself by shopping for new clothes since I had lost weight. Lately I guess I have been comforting myself with sugar books.

D. E. Stevenson's books, so far in my experience, are good sugar books. Natural sugar of course as there are no harmful additives, yet neither are they too-sweetly saccharine and stupid that they make you sick. No garbage that will make my brain too lazy and fat, but nothing that's super energizing either ;) Just like a nice piece of banana bread or something. With walnuts.

This isn't the ordinary story-line. She tried to write a spy novel sort of like Buchan's wonderful "39 Steps" and did a charming job. I didn't say it was particularly fine. Just charming.

It was fun to read and without being very descriptive in words somehow this author puts you into the place, which is either good writing or that I have a good imagination (something I've never thought I did have wonderfully).

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stevenson wrote a WW2 thriller (during the war) and it was excellent!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this!

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant if not very suspenseful attempt at a WWII espionage novel.
Probably would've liked it more had I not read the author's awesome and hilarious Miss Buncle's Book first -- I suspect that her best and everything else will suffer by comparison. Still, this was painless entertainment and I liked Adam, the main character. I also appreciated that his disability was a real impediment to his actions in the story and not just a cosmetic detail to engender sympathy.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

My D.E. Stevenson online group recently started a readalong/discussion of a novel we've never covered in the 27 (!)-year history of the group: "Crooked Adam." I read the book all the way through on my own, and I'll count it as a re-read when we finish.

Goodreads lists "Crooked Adam"'s publication date as January 1940, while other sources say 1942. At any rate, it's one of several DES novels that are set in World War II Britain -- during the early days of the war -- and written while the war was still going on and the outcome very much uncertain.

"Crooked Adam" is Adam Southey, nicknamed as such by his schoolmates (and later, his students) because he is lame and walks with a limp. For that reason, he's not eligible to enlist, and is stuck teaching school at his alma mater -- and he's not happy about it.

But Adam soon learns there's more than one way to serve your country: the school's headmaster, Sam Cooke (! -- not the singer, obviously, lol), a brilliant scientist, has developed a secret weapon that will help the war effort. He's planning to take his work to a remote corner of the Scottish Highlands during the school's break, and build a working model of the weapon, and he invites Adam to come help him.

But enemy agents are after the plans... and Adam and Dr. Cooke are in danger.

A spy thriller/adventure novel is a bit of a departure for Stevenson from her usual family dramas and light romances -- although there are some romantic subplots here, and I was reminded in some ways of her 1936 novel "The Empty World." (Also, she was a second cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote "Treasure Island," among other classic novels, so perhaps it's not as much of a departure as one might think..!) As someone from my group observed, "The Empty World is Science Fiction with Thriller elements. And Crooked Adam is a Thriller with Science Fiction elements."

Unfortunately, there are a number of plot holes and weaknesses that marred the story for me. To name a few:

* Characters are introduced (Dr. Cooke, Ford, Mr Brownlee and his pretty daughter Evelyn, etc.) and then fade into the background or disappear completely, while others come to the forefront (Ebby, Brenda).
* Stevenson was obviously not a scientist, and a lot of the details about Dr. Cook's brilliant invention and how it works are glossed over ("you wouldn't understand..."). A certain amount of suspended disbelief is necessary.
* There's a bizarre little tangent of a subplot involving a circus (!) that goes on for several chapters.
* Adam is initially smitten with Evelyn, but quickly forgets her when he learns there's someone else in the picture -- especially when he meets the sad and mysterious Brenda (although I quite liked Brenda once we learned more of her story).
* And I was irked by Adam's penchant for impulsive and risky behaviour: each time he finds himself in a pickle, he realizes he's been an idiot -- but once he survives that episode, he goes out and does something else that's equally or more risky and idiotic!

Still, we wouldn't have much of a story if he didn't -- and overall, this was a mildly entertaining romp through the Scottish Highlands.

A few people on Goodreads commented that this book reminded them of John Buchan's "The Thirty-Nine Steps." I haven't read the book but I have seen the 1935 movie several times, and I think it's a pretty apt comparison. "Crooked Adam" has a cinematic quality -- I could picture the scenes unfolding in my head, like a black-and-white 1940s movie, as I read.

3 stars on both Goodreads and StoryGraph.

*** *** ***

My D.E. Stevenson fan group recently concluded its group readalong/discussion of "Crooked Adam," one of several DES novels written and set during the years of World War II in Britain.

"Crooked Adam" is Adam Southey -- "crooked" because he's lame and walks with a limp. His disability has kept him out of military service, and he's stuck teaching school at his alma mater (and frustrated about it).

The school's headmaster, Sam Cooke, has developed a secret weapon that will help the war effort, and possibly even end the war -- and he enlists Adam's help to transport his work to a remote corner of the Scottish Highlands during the school's break, where a working model of the weapon will be constructed and tested.

But enemy agents are after the plans -- and Adam and Dr. Cooke are in danger.

A spy thriller/adventure novel is a bit of a departure for Stevenson from her usual cozy family dramas and romances. It's mildly entertaining (particularly the final section of the book, as the plot to steal the plans comes into clearer focus), with a cinematic quality to it (I could clearly picture some of the scenes -- in black & white, like a 1940s movie!). My enjoyment of the book was somewhat marred by a number of weaknesses, including meandering tangents and gaping plot holes (which I detailed in my original review). Chatting about the book with my fellow group members did help me to appreciate its merits more!

I originally rated this book 3 stars on both Goodreads and StoryGraph, and that rating still stands.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than I expected. While a WWII spy novel is not the author’s usual style, her ability to paint a scene and bring her characters to life still shine through. My main complaint was the abrupt ending. I really wish D. E. Stevenson had embraced the epilogue in her writing.

[Meta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was her first book and was printed in 1942 during the war years and appropriately was a spy/novel book.
I did like it especially her descriptions of the landscapes of Scotland.
I have read seven of her books now and will try to see if I can get any more of her old books.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I few years ago I discovered a D.E. Stevenson novel called The Empty World. It was her attempt at a dystopian story and completely unlike her cozy light novels. But I really liked it.

Crooked Adam is also unlike her normal fare since it is a spy novel set during WWII. There was a little too much melodrama and the writing was not on par with her other books. (Frankly, if I didn't hold Stevenson in such high esteem, I probably would not have finished it.) I assumed it had been written early in her career, but a little research showed that that was not the case. Still, this is a title I’ve heard about over the years and I’m glad I finally got to read it.

[Jannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fun. A bit different from her usual plot with an attempt to be more adventurous. Could be better

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

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."

Read my entire review here: http://libraryhospital.blogspot.com/2...

[Alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

A spy novel is not D.E. Stevenson's métier, and while it got a bit exciting in the last half, it wasn't terribly memorable.

[Classic reverie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love D. E. Stevenson's stories and this was a bit different from her mostly female centered characters, "Crooked Adam" is a suspenseful war read with a lame school teacher, Adam, published in 1940, that I devoured and looked forward to the spy like ending.

Story in short- Adam Southy, a school teacher travels with his head master who invented a laser destined to a secret location for tests, they worry about spies.


➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 68
It was the end of the summer term and Adam was not sorry, for he found it extremely galling to spend his time teaching
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 68
modern languages while his friends and contemporaries were taking active part in the war. The newspapers were full of accounts of battles on land and sea and in the air, the wireless announcers described heroic deeds ... and Adam Southey was spending his days cooped up in a classroom with a score of fourteen-year-old boys.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 102
‘I know you, Adam,’ Dr Cooke had explained. ‘You haven’t a degree, of course, but it is extremely difficult to get qualified masters at the moment and I feel sure you would be able to manage the work. I want someone who will not be snatched away by the Military Authorities when he has begun to get into the way of things.’
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 105
Adam had very nearly said: ‘So that’s why you’ve chosen a cripple!’ but he had managed to bite back the bitter words. A cripple – thought Adam, who was now ‘all worked up’ again – a man with one leg shorter than the other ... a man who was useless to defend his country ... ‘Crooked Adam’ – that was his nickname in the school.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 111
It was by no means the first time that Adam had heard the familiar footsteps going past in the night, and he wondered – not for the first time either – how on earth Dr Cooke managed to carry on without sleep, how he managed to run the school by day, to attend to all the perplexing business which his position entailed and work in the science buildings most of the night.
Highlight (Yellow) | Location 323
The sun was rising behind the tower of Rockingham when the door of the science laboratory opened and Dr Cooke and Adam Southey came out.


Highlight (Yellow) | Location 324
It was no wonder they were tired for they had been working all night; the small model which had taken years to build was now dismantled and the parts scattered ... the specifications were in Adam’s pocket. ‘Well, are you ready?’ asked Dr Cooke. Adam was ready. He locked the door and put the key on his chain and they walked up the avenue together.

❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert

I was wondering what Adam would do after being involved with Cooke and Brownlee, it was soon evident that he would stay but the Evelyn Brownlee issue; could he stay when he thinks he loves her, when he knows he is lame and that Evelyn is in love with Dick, her cousin. Adam decides to leave after a fishing trip but stays after he finds one of the men who tried to steal Cooke's laser plans. He ends up helping keep the laser safe and the plans that were stolen by Taylor who sold them to a German Baron but Ebby, Adam and Brenda saved the day. Adam and Brenda, Taylor's niece fall in love for a perfect ending.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published and set in 1942 England and Scotland where Adam Southey, lamed by a childhood accident is deferred from military duty and is unhappy to be teaching modern languages to adolescent boys rather than serving his country. However he gets caught up in protecting his headmaster’s science invention which has potential to change the course of the war. Here the novel becomes less like D. E. Stevenson’s usual novels, and takes on more spy/thriller aspects. These were not particularly believable or successful. Our “crippled” (his whinging words) protagonist is inventive when no one else has ideas, figures out and executes heroic actions, captures the enemies, and saves the day. Eh...

[Diane Shearer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s finally happened, sadly. I finally read a DES book that I didn’t enjoy. It’s a shame, really, because Crooked Adam is a really great character, but she used him in the wrong story. His love interest is tacked on at the end like an afterthought and ends with the girl still unconscious! Not very satisfying. The thing I love most about these books is her characters feel so real. That is missing here. The ending leaves a lot of loose threads, and an undiscovered German submarine off the coast of Scotland. What?? When I want this kind of story I’ll read Robert Ludlum. Meanwhile, diving back into the oeuvre, hoping this type of story was a one-off and not a trend.

[Leticia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Higher on treachery and derring-do than the usual D.E.S. It's fun, but the thrills, characters and moral conundrums are barely more complex than an Enid Blyton adventure novel. All the spies and chases are charmingly novel at first, but they don't leave enough room for humour and well-drawn side characters. Or perhaps it's that, while Adam is a nice enough chap, he doesn't have the subtlety and observational skills of DES's female protagonists, which means such things don't come through in his point of view.

I enjoyed this as a connoisseur of D.E.S, sampling the full range of her wares, rather than in and of itself.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

D. E. Stevenson took a page from her father's cousin, Robert Louis Stevenson, and wrote an adventure / spy novel. It's quite different from her usual Scottish village novel, but it really grew on me. I didn't care about it until about 60% through, and then I was all in.

I am not a stalwart intrepid type. Several times in the plot Adam Southey went *into* the lion's den; as I'm reading, I'm inwardly screaming "Get out of there! Run! DON'T listen at the keyhole!!"

I would enjoy a re-read in a few years, when the details have evaporated from my memory. And I might even give it four stars then.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 starts rounded up, because as always D.E. Stevenson describes characters I'd like to meet as well as making me want to visit Scotland.
This book is told from the POV of Adam, and is very male centered. This means something I've really loved about other Stevenson novels - a community of women - isn't here. And as a spy novel, I think it could be improved. The bad guys are cartoonish, for example.
It is also a love story, but that also could be improved. I did like how the character of Evelyn is a red herring.
It's still well worth reading, and I particularly liked a lot of the secondary characters like the fishermen and the pilot.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book to read, because as I read, I saw it playing out before me as a black and white WWII spy thriller, pretty much a mix of every one I've ever seen. I even thought about which 1930s/1940s actors I could see playing the various roles, although Stevenson wrote this before some of them were made. It must have been something in the general wartime atmosphere. There are some plot points that were hard to believe, but on the whole I found it an interesting artifact, and the second half definitely kept me reading.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adam is unhappy with his lot in life for he is a cripple. His back is crooked, and one leg is shorter and weaker than the other. He wants to fight for his country, but he cannot. So he teaches languages in a boys' school. The headmaster is a scientist, an inventor. Shadowy people are interested in his inventions. Suddenly, on school break, Adam is helping the war effort along with shepherds and fishermen against German spies and traitors in northern Scotland. Wait! Is that an enemy sub?

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was much more engaged on this, my second reading. (First read a few years ago on my own; this time with the DES book group.) I think it must have been a DNF for me before, because I didn’t remember the ending, and I found the last few chapters quite suspenseful.

I also found that it really picks up in the second half—no surprise, really, since isn’t everything better in Scotland?

Quite enjoyable, and I’m glad I stuck with it.

[Shatterlings · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is completely ridiculous fun, from the heat ray … don’t worry about the science you won’t understand it… to the circus… to the highlands… to the castle… to the damsel in distress … to the nazi submarine… to the shootout in the library. It does romp along and Adam is an enjoyable chap, but it is hilarious and it’s not intended to be.

[Shell McConville · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel may appear slow to those who are more used to fast-paced thrillers written in more recent times but it is still a good story. There are all the elements of a good spy story including ingenious disguises, selfless heroism, life and death chases and the exposure of traitors. I found it very enjoyable.

[Virginia B · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the style of John Buchan, set in WW2 instead of 1, not as gripping, not as many chases, but not bad, characters a little awkwardly drawn.

[Leonie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2ndWW propaganda novel that tries to be a Neville Shute or John Buchan style adventure but for me felt more like the script for a B-movie. I love DES’s usual style - I shall be returning to it!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different than a typical D E Stevenson - a WW2 spy novel!

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which D. E. Stevenson attempts to be John Buchan. Methinks John Buchan is better at being John Buchan.

[Inhabiting Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrator, Richard Attlee, is excellent.