Krishna
This has a different set of detectives – Tommy and Tuppence. Unlike brainy sleuths looking for the slightest clues, these two are young with a spirit of adventure and described as rather ‘plain and normal’ with youth’s own enthusiasm.
When Louisitania is bombed after the War (WW I, not the second) an American girl onboard is given important papers to safeguard by a stranger. If he does escape, he will place an advert in the Times for her to see (in code) but if not, she is to hand the papers to the US Embassy, as it has vital information for the Allies in the War.
That is the preamble. Tommy and Tuppence meet near Dover Street Tube. Tuppence (whose real name is Prudence Cowley) and Tommy are very young. Tuppence is the daughter of an Archdeacon in Suffolk county. Tommy is Thomas Beresford, an ex lieutenant in the army.
When they are desperate for money and a job, a Mr Edward Whittington approaches Tuppence and gives his card, asking her to meet him the next day at 10 so that ‘he could be of some assistance’.
She meets him and learns that she is to impersonate a young lady and to keep her American accent. It all seems suspicious so when he asks her what her name is, she gives the name as Jane Finch. He gets astonished and then angry, accusing her of knowing a lot more already and deceiving him. He gives her fifty pounds – a fortune – as advance and asks her to meet him the next day.
Tuppence realizes that the name came to her when Tommy overheard a conversation and repeated to her and they realize that it was Mr Whittington that Tommy overheard. They then decide that Tuppence will meet him the next day and ‘stall some more’ and Tommy should wait in the street and follow the man to find out more about the case. But to their shock, when they go to the office the next day, they learn that the man had run away.
Tuppence now boldly places an ad in the papers soliciting any information on Jane Finch.
Two people answer: one is a super sleuth from the government, who hires them formally once they hear their story. The other one is an old relative who is looking for Jane.
The whole story is a bit simplistic, you realize quickly. The mysterious Mr Brown is used like a password everywhere.
Meanwhile, Tommy and Tuppence track down Rita a dangerous and hard woman and they find Mr Whittington and another shady character leaving the house. Since Tuppence is known to Whittington, Tommy follows them. When they split up at a train station, Tommy calls for help from Mr Carter and follows the other man. Thus he comes into a building which seems to be the meeting place of the entire Mr Brown’s council.
Tommy even manages to gatecrash the building where the evil doers from all over the world meet.
Here is the old time novel rule : People who are craggy and furtive are surely bad. People who are well mannered may be good or bad – in other words, you should judge a book by its cover.
The dialog and the ‘themes’ are elementary. In today’s complex tale weaving world, it almost reads as a children’s story. Tommy goes right into the building by asking to see ‘Mr Brown’ and conveniently hides in an alcove-like hiding place behind the curtain so as to be able to see everyone and hear most of the conversation but no one else knew he was there. Super villains with such lax security? You get the picture, no doubt.
Even allowing for the simple times that the 1920s were, this is ridiculous. But then you realize that you have to read it in the spirit of the ‘adventure’ stories of the times and you settle in for the ride. You don’t even bat an eyelid when Tommy is hit on the head and falls unconscious.
Tuppence gets employed in Rita’s house through collaboration with an elevator boy who is fond of two penny pulp detective fiction.
When Rita is cornered by Tuppence after Rita is on to her, Rita is on the point of confessing when she takes great fright when Julius and Sir Edward arrive. At this point you kind of guess the secret but Tuppence is deceived – for all her cleverness.
When the unbelievably rich Julius – frankly he seems to be just throwing away his money when it comes to spending, a little impractical fictionalizing there – she refuses and later realizes that she said no to the dynamo of a young man with wealth (when it was her dream to marry one such) because she is in love with Tommy.
The story ends with a twist where first Tuppence and then Tommy display brilliant flashes of intuition and deductive reasoning to unmask Mr Brown. The twist is there and if you had not read a lot of Agatha Christie mysteries, may come as a surprise to you.
This is not a very great mystery and reads like a lighthearted fun ride. It does work and keeps you interested.
I have railed against unrealistic fiction in earlier reviews but then you should keep in mind the intent of the author and the times it was written. For the 1920’s when this was written, it definitely works and once you understand that this is not something you would analyze to death, you just go for the ride.
It is an interesting romp and an easy read, Satisfying.
6/10
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