The Secret Of Chimneys

The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie - is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in June 1925 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It introduces the characters of Superintendent Battle and Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00. Plot summary When they meet up in Bulawayo, Anthony Cade agrees to take on two jobs for his friend James McGrath. Anthony heads for London to deliver the draft of a memoir to a publisher, and to return letters to the woman who wrote them. In England, politician George Lomax persuades Lord Caterham to host a house party at Chimneys. George's cousin Virginia Revel is invited, as is Hiram Fish, a collector of first edition books, along with the principals in a political scheme to restore the monarchy in Herzoslovakia – while assuring that newly discovered oil there will be handled by a British syndicate. On Cade's first night in London, the letters are stolen from his hotel room by his waiter. The publisher sends Mr Holmes to pick up the memoirs. These were written by the late Count Stylptitch of Herzoslovakia; now that oil has been discovered, the nation is in turmoil between republicans and royalists. On advice, Cade puts a dummy package in the hotel safe. The thief brings one letter to Virginia Revel at her home, as it is her name in the signature of each letter. Unaware she did not write the letters, he wants to blackmail her. On a whim, she pays, and promises more money the next day. When she arrives home the next day, she finds him murdered in her house, and Anthony Cade on her door step. Cade arranges to have the body discovered elsewhere by the police, to avoid a scandal and allow Virginia to proceed to Chimneys. At Chimneys, Prince Michael, presumed heir to the long-empty throne of Herzoslovakia, is killed the night of his arrival. Cade was at Chimneys that same evening, leaving footprints outdoors but not indoors. He boldly introduces himself to Superintendent Battle, explaining the story of the memoirs, and persuading Battle of his innocence in the murder. After seeing that the dead prince had posed as Mr Holmes, Cade pursues his own ideas in finding the murderer, while Battle leads the main investigation. The next heir to the throne, Nicholas, cousin to Michael, was raising money on his expectations in America. Cade checks out the governess, a recent addition to the household; he travels to France to speak with her prior employer.

What connects Chimneys, a formidable country estate nestled in the English countryside, with the small Balkan nation of Herzoslovakia?

A healthy young man dies in his sleep, despite the ringing of eight separate alarm clocks... Gerry Wade had proved himself to be a champion sleeper; so the other house guests decided to play a practical joke on him. Eight alarm clocks were set to go off, one after the other, starting at 6.30 a.m. But when morning arrived, one clock was missing and the prank had backfired with tragic consequences. For Jimmy Thesiger in particular, the words 'Seven Dials' were to take on a new and chilling significance...

The complete eBook collection of all five Tommy & Tuppence mysteries by the Queen of Mystery herself, Agatha Christie, including The Secret Adversary, Partners in Crime, N or M?, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, and Postern of Fate.

Romance, politics, mystery, and murder collide at a British country home In this lengthy annotated edition of the classic Agatha Christie novel, adventurer Anthony Cade returns to Britain to deliver a politician's memoirs and to rescue a woman from a blackmailing scheme. But when he arrives, he finds himself enmeshed in international intrigue and murder. The answer to these mysteries, as well as his pursuit of a beautiful spirited woman leads him to Chimneys, the country home. There, another murder puts him in the middle of the investigation that will require all of his wits and intelligence to keep him from the gallows. Meanwhile, the forces of Scotland Yard and the French Sûreté converge on Chimneys in pursuit of a master criminal, a missing British crown jewel, and the ultimate Secret of Chimneys. Published in 1925, "The Secret of Chimneys" was hailed as "a capital detective story," "bright and cleverly written" and "an engrossing and entertaining yarn." This new annotated edition, edited by Bill Peschel comes with more than 30,000 words in footnotes and essays that delves into the background of the story and the life of its author. Learn about Abney Hall, the inspiration of all of Christie's country homes, the real-life manor where major Hollywood productions are filmed, and the life of Agatha Christie during her most happiest time, before it all fell apart. "The Complete, Annotated Secret of Chimneys," the fifth book in Peschel Press' Complete, Annotated series, will entertain, educate, and enlighten you. You'll see an Agatha Christie at her wittiest and in a way you've never seen her before.

"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of World War I, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head on 21 January 1921. Styles was Christie's first published novel, introducing Hercule Poirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, and Arthur Hastings. The story is told in first person by Hastings and features many of the elements that have become icons of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, largely due to Christie's influence. It is set in a large, isolated country manor. There are a half-dozen suspects, most of whom are hiding facts about themselves. The book includes maps of the house, the murder scene, and a drawing of a fragment of a will, as well as a number of red herrings and surprise plot twists. "The Secret Adversary" is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head in January 1922. The book introduces the characters of Tommy and Tuppence who feature in three other Christie books and one collection of short stories written throughout her writing career.

After her father’s death, young Anne Beddingfeld moves to London with her meagre inheritance, hopeful and ready to meet adventure. She witnesses a fatal accident at a Tube station and picks up a cryptic note dropped by the anonymous doctor who appeared on the scene. When Anne learns of a murder at the estate that the dead man was on his way to visit, it confirms her suspicion that the man in the brown suit who lost the note was not a real doctor. With her clue in hand she gains a commission from the newspaper leading the search for the “man in the brown suit,” and her investigation leads her to take passage on a South Africa–bound ocean liner. On board, she meets a famous socialite, a fake missionary, a possible secret service agent, and the M.P. at whose estate the second murder occurred. She learns about a secretive criminal mastermind known only as the Colonel and of stolen diamonds connected to it all. During the voyage, she evades an attempt on her life, and in South Africa she escapes from a kidnapping and barely survives another attack on her at Victoria Falls. She falls in love, finds the diamonds, and discovers the truth about the two deaths in London that started it all. Finally, she confronts the mysterious criminal mastermind, the Colonel. Published in 1924 by the Bodley Head, The Man in the Brown Suit is Agatha Christie’s fourth novel. Unlike the classic murder mysteries that made her famous, The Man in the Brown Suit, like her second novel The Secret Adversary, is an international crime thriller. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

A slipcase containing five classic Agatha Christie novels, all sporting the stunning '21st Century' Christie livery and featuring the redoubtable Superintendent Battle. Superintendent Battle's impassive expression misleads many new aquantances into underestimating the determined lawman -- but it is not nothing that one of Scotland Yard's finest detectives is assigned the most volatile and mysterious cases of murder. In his first adventure, The Secret of Chimneys, the Superintendent is concerned with a missing packet of letters -- and their vital connection to murder and control of the throne of Herzoslovakia. In The Seven Dials Mystery Battle returns to Chimneys, the sprawling country house with a dark secret, to investigate the existence of a secret organisation and the numerous deaths linked to it. Cards on the Table is considered the best of Christie's 'closed-door' murders and centres on an evening of Bridge with four successful murderers and four crime experts. It's up to the Superintendent and Hercule Poirot to discover who exactly killed the host -- and why. The quiet, English, rural village depicted in Murder is Easy is shocked by a series of brutal murders -- and Superinte