N or M? by Agatha Christie
Written and set 20 years after The Secret Adversary, Tommy and Tuppence are now middle-aged with grown children, and bored silly because the government thinks they’re too old for any fun war contributions. But then Tommy is asked to secretly investigate a potential Fifth Columnist spy who may be hiding in a genteel boardinghouse in the country, and off he goes, feeling at least a little guilty about leaving Tuppence behind. He forgets, though, that Tuppence is, above all else clever, and that her sense of smell is most finely tuned to adventure.
Like The Secret Adversary, Christie relies on buoyant spirits and conspiracy theories and reveals and double reveals and triple reveals and “oh wait, actually…” and does so well. I especially like how Tuppence is Very Put Out that Tommy thought he could successfully leave her behind (not that he tried, because he was ordered to, but because he thought he’d succeed) and their children’s “Mother and Father? But they’re old and boring and it’s so silly the way they talk about how they used to have adventures and isn’t it nauseatingly cute how they hold hands in public?” schtick, though that’s only fun because they’re doing it while Tommy and Tuppence are undercover and looking for Nazi spies.
I’m also amused at how it seems Tommy is always getting kidnapped. Actually, Tuppence gets captured, too, but for much shorter time periods. I can’t help but wonder if Christie just wants him out of the way for a while sometimes.
Like The Secret Adversary, Christie relies on buoyant spirits and conspiracy theories and reveals and double reveals and triple reveals and “oh wait, actually…” and does so well. I especially like how Tuppence is Very Put Out that Tommy thought he could successfully leave her behind (not that he tried, because he was ordered to, but because he thought he’d succeed) and their children’s “Mother and Father? But they’re old and boring and it’s so silly the way they talk about how they used to have adventures and isn’t it nauseatingly cute how they hold hands in public?” schtick, though that’s only fun because they’re doing it while Tommy and Tuppence are undercover and looking for Nazi spies.
I’m also amused at how it seems Tommy is always getting kidnapped. Actually, Tuppence gets captured, too, but for much shorter time periods. I can’t help but wonder if Christie just wants him out of the way for a while sometimes.