The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie

Heading to Chimneys separately, Victoria and Cade eventually reunite over the murder of a visiting nobleman, much to the annoyance of the owner of Chimneys, Lord Caterham. After meeting the infamous Victoria Revel, it soon becomes clear that the answer to all their problems lies at the stately home of Chimneys. He even wakes up one night in his hotel to find a waiter rustling through his suitcase.

However, his presence has not gone unnoticed and he is soon greeted by people who very much want the memoirs to fall into hands other than the publishers.

Leaping at the opportunity, Cade heads to London under the name of McGrath and sets about trying to pass the documents on to the right people. Cade is to return them to the woman in question so she can do what she wants with them. He also asks that a private bundle of letters be taken too – they are written from a lady to a gentleman and contain information that suggests the woman, Victoria Revel, is being blackmailed. McGrath offers Cade the chance to head back to England in his place and take the memoirs with him. These diaries, McGrath says, will contain great secrets that would do best to keep hidden, but nonetheless a publisher in London is willing to pay £1000 to the person hands them over. It seems that McGrath is in possession of the memoirs of a certain Count Stylptitch, a noble from the country of Herzoslovakia, which has recently gone through hell and back after the assassination of the king and queen and the introduction of a republic. Sensing that Cade wants to escape, McGrath offers him the very opportunity. However, the story starts in South Africa where Anthony Cade, a bored tour guide with a lust for adventure, meets his friend Jimmy McGrath.

While Poirot, Marple and the Beresfords are all absent, it does feature another recurring character of hers – Superintendent Battle, the stoic and incredibly efficient policeman of Scotland Yard. The Secret of Chimneys is one of Dame Agatha’s earliest novels dating from 1925. (I fear that Shakespeare will repeatedly appear on this blog in the future, however, due to the glut of new books I’ve picked up here.) Obviously, it would be more fitting if I was writing about Shakespeare, but Christie will have to do.

I write these words from Stratford-upon-Avon not my usual home, but a fitting place as any to write about one of the greatest wordsmiths in history. Always check your chimneys for rogue Dick Van Dykes.

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie