They Came to Baghdad
Ratings31
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings31
Average rating3.8
E-book exclusive extras: 'Agatha Christie in Baghdad,' extensive selections from Agatha Christie: An Autobiography. Plus: Christie biographer Charles Osborne's essay on They Came to Baghdad.Agatha Christie first visited Baghdad as a tourist in 1927; many years later she would become a resident of the exotic and then open city, and it was here, and while on archaeological digs throughout Iraq with her husband, Sir Max Mallowan, that Agatha Christie wrote some of her most important works.They Came to Baghdad is one of Agatha Christie's highly successful forays into the spy thriller genre. In this novel, Baghdad is the chosen location for a secret superpower summit. But the word is out, and an underground organisation is plotting to sabotage the talks.Into this explosive situation stumbles Victoria Jones, a young woman with a yearning for adventure who gets more than she bargains for when a wounded secret agent dies in her hotel room. Now, if only she could make sense of his final words: 'Lucifer... Basrah... Lefarge...'
Reviews with the most likes.
They Came to Baghdad is not a murder mystery, it's a spy novel.
I think it's ingenious. Agatha was so clever!
It is a bit... well... how to say it. A pastiche? Parody? Hanging on the line between a parody and a non-parody. How Victoria just stumbles over a trouble and how she manages to get out of it, for example, she never needed to pay her hotel bill :-D I mean, I wouldn't mind having adventures like that.
But it was nevertheless thrilling.
I have been reading all of Christie's mysteries chronologically and this one was a breath of fresh air. It really isn't a mystery as much as a spy novel. The characters are likable and despite a relatively thin plot it is an enjoyable read. The plot revolves around an undercover group who plans to take over the world...which can only be stopped through secret messages and disguised operatives. All the same, I really liked it. It would have been fascinating to be in or read about Bagdad at the time it was written, though from our modern perspective it's quite different.
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