{"id":21396,"date":"2022-12-20T14:22:15","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T19:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=21396"},"modified":"2024-02-05T21:06:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T02:06:56","slug":"the-secret-of-chimneys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21396","title":{"rendered":"The Secret of Chimneys"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Secret of Chimneys<\/a><\/em> (1925) Agatha Christie<\/a> (Superintendent Battle)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Honestly, I have absolutely no memory of this book. <\/p>\n

I read only a handful of the Poirot books, and I remember some of the Tommy & Tuppence books, but this? And Superintendent Battle? The only thing that was familiar was the title (and I actually thought it was a Tommy & Tuppence story).<\/p>\n

Anthony Cade is some kind of scoundrel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy does he call you Joe, then?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOh, just because it isn\u2019t my name.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why Gentleman Joe?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe same kind of reason.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He ends up taking a handwritten memoir and a packet of letters to England for a friend, who is off the check a claim to a gold mine and doesn’t have the time to do so himself, despite there being a thousand dollars for whoever hands in the memoir.<\/p>\n

Only, it seems people are willing to cheat and kill for the memoir, and the letters don’t seem to be precisely what they seem at first glance.<\/p>\n

Oddly, I found parts of the story rather prescient:<\/p>\n

It is most important that the oil concessions should be granted to a British company. You must see that?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI get you,\u201d said Anthony. \u201cMichael was backed by England, Nicholas by America. In both countries a group of financiers are anxious to obtain the oil concessions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is thirty-some years before the Iranian coup, yet you can see the lengths the governments are willing to go for control over those oil fields.<\/p>\n

But let’s get something important out of the way: holy cats<\/em> there is a ton of casual racism on this story. I’ve recently reread all the early Miss Marple mysteries so this was unexpected. So beware of that.<\/p>\n

Second, I was surprised by some of the turns of phrase.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get you,\u201d said Mr. Fish.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI get you,\u201d said Anthony. \u201cMichael was backed by England, Nicholas by America. In both countries a group of financiers are anxious to obtain the oil concessions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I did not think that phrase hearkened back to before WWII.<\/p>\n

Secondly, this was a bit of a surprise.<\/p>\n

Mr. Eversleigh recovered his dignity. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand at all, Virginia,\u201d he said severely. \u201cMen\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAre polygamous! I know they are. Sometimes I have a shrewd suspicion that I am polyandrous.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And lastly, from a modern standpoint, this was amusing.<\/p>\n

And whatever you may imagine from reading detective stories, doctors aren\u2019t such magicians that they can tell you exactly how many hours a man has been dead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As far as the mystery, I have a suspicion I must have read this at some point, since I was pretty certain in my mind about some details. But parts of the story felt a bit all over the place at times. But that’s possibly because Anthony Cade never quite felt reliable. <\/p>\n

So interesting, but certainly not a comfort read like the Miss Marple stories.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Open Road Media<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Secret of Chimneys (1925) Agatha Christie (Superintendent Battle) Honestly, I have absolutely no memory of this book. I read only a handful of the Poirot books, and I remember some of the Tommy & Tuppence books, but this? And Superintendent Battle? The only thing that was familiar was the title (and I actually thought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,292,33,8],"tags":[228,546,658],"class_list":["post-21396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-agatha-christie","tag-interwar-period","tag-superintendent-battle"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5z6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21473,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21473","url_meta":{"origin":21396,"position":0},"title":"The Secret Adversary","author":"Michelle","date":"January 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Secret Adversary (1922) Agatha Christie (Tommy & Tuppence) The Great War is over, but things aren't easy for those who served. I went out to France again, as you know. Then they sent me to Mesopotamia, and I got wounded for the second time, and went into hospital out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Secret Adversary","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/The-Secret-Adversary.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21527,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21527","url_meta":{"origin":21396,"position":1},"title":"By the Pricking of My Thumbs","author":"Michelle","date":"February 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968) Agatha Christie (Tommy & Tuppence) We first met Tommy & Tuppence at the end of the Great War. Mr. Beresford had once had red hair. There were traces of the red still, but most of it had gone that sandy-cum-grey colour that red-headed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"By the Pricking of My Thumbs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/By-the-Pricking-of-My-Thumbs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/By-the-Pricking-of-My-Thumbs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/By-the-Pricking-of-My-Thumbs.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21413,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21413","url_meta":{"origin":21396,"position":2},"title":"The Seven Dials Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"December 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seven Dials Mystery (1929) Agatha Christie (Superintendent Battle) As threatened at the end of The Chimneys Lord Caterham has let Chimneys to those who would like to stay there. While Sir Oswald and Lady Coote were there, one of their visitors, Gerald Wade, died unexpectedly, at the same time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Seven Dials Mystery","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/The-Seven-Dials-Mystery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21495,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21495","url_meta":{"origin":21396,"position":3},"title":"Partners in Crime","author":"Michelle","date":"January 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Partners in Crime (1929) Agatha Christie (Tommy & Tuppence) A set of intertwined Tommy & Tuppence short stories. A Fairy in the Flat A Pot of Tea The Affair of the Pink Pearl The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger Finessing the King The Case of the Missing Lady Blindman\u2019s Buff\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Partners in Crime","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Partners-in-Crime.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21504,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21504","url_meta":{"origin":21396,"position":4},"title":"N or M?","author":"Michelle","date":"February 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"N or M? (1941) Agatha Christie (Tommy & Tuppence) It's 1940 and both Tommy & Tuppence feel useless. \"Well, come on, out with it. Nothing doing?\u201d \u201cNothing doing. They don\u2019t want me in any capacity. I tell you, Tuppence, it\u2019s pretty thick when a man of forty-six is made to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"N or M?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/N-or-M.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21460,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21460","url_meta":{"origin":21396,"position":5},"title":"Towards Zero","author":"Michelle","date":"January 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Towards Zero (1944) Agatha Christie (Superintendent Battle) This one I remembered bits and pieces of. \u201cIt may be just by being somewhere\u2014 not doing anything\u2014 just by being at a certain place at a certain time\u2014 oh, I can\u2019t say what I mean, but you might just\u2014 just walk along\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Towards Zero","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Towards-Zero.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Towards-Zero.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Towards-Zero.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}