The Secret Adversary

Agatha Christie's The Secret Adversary introduces childhood friends Tommy Beresford and Prudence “Tuppence” Cowley in London after the First World War. Short of money and unable to find steady employment, they create the Young Adventurers, a partnership willing to accept unusual work. Their playful plan becomes dangerous when Tuppence uses the name Jane Finn and provokes an alarmed response from a prospective employer.

Jane was a passenger on the Lusitania and received a secret treaty to deliver to the American embassy before the ship sank. She survived, but both she and the document disappeared. British intelligence officer Mr Carter warns that publication of the treaty could damage the government, and that a hidden organizer known as Mr Brown will act to recover it.

Tommy and Tuppence also meet Julius Hersheimmer, Jane's wealthy American cousin, who has come to England to find her. The three allies follow uncertain identities, advertisements, and fragments of testimony through a conspiracy in which information is as dangerous as physical evidence. Christie mixes espionage with detective fiction and gives the investigation a lively partnership at its center. Tommy's caution and Tuppence's improvisation become complementary tools as they try to identify an adversary who works through other people.