The Secret Adversary by Agatha ChristieMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep was so complicated that he himself couldn't figure out who killed the chauffeur. Yet it remains a classic on the strength of the characters.
On the other hand, some modern detective fiction these days seems to have success based not on complicated or unique characters, but on gripping plots and a sense that the reader could unpick the mystery themselves.
In The Secret Adversary, Agatha Christie's second book, she holds a clever balance between plot and character. When the plot gets thin - as it does in places, trying to explain secret Russian scheme to topple the government and incite a popular revolution by various means - the characters charm the reader along with British wit and brassiness. When the characters get thin, there's a daring scheme or a sudden turn of fortune that throws them into fresh peril.
One of the book's strongest suits, and which helps to gloss over any plot or character shortcomings, is the humour. I'm a sucker for dry British wit, and both the prose and the dialogue have a levity that kept the wind in my sails straight through to the end. It's a quick, light read, and one of the funniest books I've read in a long while.
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