 Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition | |
| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ernest Akers |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | The Bodley Head |
Publication date | January 1922 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 320 (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
| Followed by | The Murder on the Links |
| Text | The Secret Adversary at Wikisource |
The Secret Adversary is the second published detective fiction novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in January 1922 in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head[1] and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in that same year.[2][3] The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6)[1] and the US edition at $1.75.[3]
The book introduces the characters of Tommy and Tuppence who feature in three other Christie novels and one collection of short stories; the five Tommy and Tuppence books span Agatha Christie's writing career. The Great War is over, and jobs are scarce. Childhood friends Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley meet and agree to start their own business as The Young Adventurers. They are hired for a job that leads them both to many dangerous situations, meeting allies as well, including an American millionaire in search of his cousin.
Reviews were generally positive on this adventure, which manages to keep the identity of the arch-criminal secret to the very end.
- ^ a b The English Catalogue of Books. Vol. XI A-L January 1921 – December 1925. Millwood, New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation. 1979. p. 310.
- ^ John Cooper; B.A. Pyke (1994). Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (Second ed.). Scholar Press. pp. 82, 86. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.
- ^ a b "American Tribute to Agatha Christie: The Classic Years 1920s". May 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2014.