The secret of Chimneys, by Agatha Christie

 

In Agatha Christie's fifth mystery, down on his luck Anthony Cade travels from South Africa to London to deliver a manuscript memoir by a British diplomat to the fictional country of Herzoslovakia to a publisher in return for 1,000 pounds. Anthony also agrees to deliver a packet of letters to a woman whom he believes has been blackmailed. Once in London, it's clear that there are many people and organizations trying to prevent the delivery of the manuscript, and when one of them breaks into Anthony's hotel room, he steals the letters by mistake. Anthony is determined to get the letter back and deliver the manuscript, and he follows the clues to the country mansion Chimneys, where a man has been murdered. Once again, Christie has developed a plot that is so intricate and with so many twists and turns, that it's hard to summarize. I'll just say that Anthony stays one step ahead of the bad guys throughout the book, and he teams up with Superintendent Battle, from Scotland Yard, and a beautiful widow, presumably the author of the packet of letters, to solve the crime. Although not the main character in The secret of Chimneys, Superintendent Battle appears in four subsequent Christie mysteries. The fictional country of Herzeslovakia appears in two other Christie stories, and I was fascinated to see that there is a travel poster for this country available on Ebay.