Passenger to Frankfurt

Passenger to Frankfurt
First edition (UK)
AuthorAgatha Christie
LanguageEnglish
GenreSpy novel
PublisherCollins Crime Club (UK)
Dodd, Mead (US)
Publication date
September 1970
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages256 (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN0-00-231121-6
OCLC119946
823/.9/12
LC ClassPZ3.C4637 Pas PR6005.H66
Preceded byHallowe'en Party 
Followed byNemesis 

Passenger to Frankfurt: An Extravaganza is a spy novel by Agatha Christie first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1970[1] and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year.[2][3] The UK edition retailed at twenty-five shillings.[1] In preparation for decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it was concurrently priced on the dustjacket at £1.25. The US edition retailed at $5.95.[3]

It was published to mark Christie's eightieth birthday and, by counting up both UK and US short-story collections to reach the desired total, was also advertised as her eightieth book. It is the last of her spy novels. At the beginning of the book there is a quote by Jan Smuts, "Leadership, besides being a great creative force, can be diabolical ..."

Sir Stafford Nye, a middle-aged diplomat, steps into the world of spies, double agents, and secret groups to effect a change in international power centres. He meets a woman who has selected him to aid her at a crucial point, when a weather delay changes where her and his aeroplane flight lands before proceeding to England. There is much commentary on the changes in the world, especially college age youth in Europe, the United States, and South America, in the late 1960s.

The novel received mixed reviews at publication[4][5] and in 1990.[6] In 2017, it was assessed favourably in an essay about speculative spy thriller novels by women.[7] It is one of only four Christie novels not to have received an adaptation of any kind, the others being Death Comes as the End, Destination Unknown and Postern of Fate.

  1. ^ a b Peers, Chris; Spurrier, Ralph; Sturgeon, Jamie (1987). Foord, Peter; Williams, Richard (eds.). Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions (2nd ed.). Dragonby Press. p. 15. ISBN 9781871122015.
  2. ^ Cooper, John; Pyke, B A (1994). Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (2nd ed.). Scholar Press. pp. 82, 87. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.
  3. ^ a b Marcus, J S (May 2007). "American Tribute to Agatha Christie: Twilight Years 1968-1976". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Iles1970 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Richardson1970 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barnard1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lassner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).