Sunday, October 09, 2011

The Secret Adversary

Tommy and Tuppence's first adventure is both a thrilling chase and comedy interspersed. Tommy's practical views and the intuition of Tuppence matches the villaniously shrewd brain of the antagonist as the Young Adventurers set upon to unearth a long lost secret threatening the future of an entire nation. The document seemed to have changed hands from a secret agent to a civilian but all traces to the latter apparently vanished with the sinking of the ship where both were travelling. Five years after as the Government tries hard to recover it the sinister Mr. Brown with his commonplace appearance seems to outwit the professionals at every stage. As Brown and his associates plans a coup it is upto Tuppence and Tommy to outwit the criminals. In this help comes from Julius Hersheimmer, the American cousin of Jane Finn, the civilian in whose possession the papers are allegedly kept and James Peel Edgerton K.C. But the young sleuths are not sure whom to trust and whom to not as murder happens in front of their eyes and each step they take seem to fall in one sort of trap or the other. As Tommy and Tuppence tries to uncover the true face behind each mask the countdown starts for the coup. An excellent twist, as always in these mystery novels, awaits the readers near the finale but the way it has been set up speaks highly of the master writer. Though the subtelity of her later novels is a bit missing but this one is sure to bring enjoyment to the readers. A baffling mystery with a touch of romance makes this story a welcome premiere for two new adventurers.

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