It’s been a while since I’ve read an Agatha Christie novel. While I don’t think this is a favorite, it still had all of the elements of a good Christie novel - a defective, twists and a cast of interesting side characters.

This book was meh... I have been feeling that way about these Agatha Christie books that are published posthumously. I liked the twist. I was invested in the story. But I didn’t feel anything more than this was a nice way to pass my time and what am I going to read next. Hopefully when I read Miss Marple later this year, it be feel more like “And Then There Were None” or “A Mysterious Affair at Styles”

The Secrets of Chimneys is a book published originally by Agatha Christie on June 1925.

It introduces the characters of Superintendent Battle and Lady Eileen Brent.

I've read almost all of Christie's books and I'm sad to say this one isn't one of her best works.

At times the story feels forced, Battle doesn't have the charisma and magnetism of Hercule Poirot.

All in all is a fine read but not a masterpiece as some of her other books.

My first Agatha Christie and it won't be my last! Despite my rating, I quite enjoyed it, though I'll admit I was expecting more mystery. I enjoyed the writing and characters, though, and I can see why Christie has such a devoted following. I think I'll try some of her Poirot books next.

Not one of my favorites from Agatha Christie. I love the Poirot and Miss Marple books that I've read, so I was surprised that I had such a hard time following this one. The storyline of Anthony Cade, whose task of delivering memoirs to a publishing company takes many twists and turn, jumps around a lot. Except for Virginia Revel, I kept losing track of the characters.

I've become a huge lover of Agatha Christie this past year and this book was definitely not a disappointment! I loved the twists and turns, the wonderful, witty characters, and the complex writing style that makes this book so undoubtedly a Christie book!

This is one of those books I just had trouble getting into. I should have known! I just had trouble keeping the characters straight and the storyline was difficult for me to follow.

Agatha Christie at her finest. This book doesn't feature Poirot or Miss Marple and is a great country house mystery. I particularly liked the espionage aspects. I highly recommended it.

Other than Murder on the Orient Express, this is the first Agatha Christie novel that I've read since I was a teen. It took me a while to get used to the way they speak but once I did, it moved along and I enjoyed it very much. There's a wonderful cast of characters (many of whom have a great sense of humor), a murder plot that kept me guessing and a bit of a love story.

Thanks to The Book Club Girls and NetGalley for this copy of The Secrets of Chimneys. I highly recommend it.

Agatha Christie is a timeless master for a reason. Another great novel from her. One that is worth reading again to collect more of the clues as it progresses. She is very good at hiding things in plain site for you to piece it together with the characters.

This was really a delight i you love Agatha Christie. First time I met Superintendent Battle and it was a pleasure.
The plot takes us on a journey of a manuscript and some old love letters, and ties all the characters together though them. If you are a Agatha Christie fan, this is like meeting an old friend.

This Agatha Christie novel was very good. I thought I had read them all but this was new to me. Anthony Cade is asked by a friend to deliver a manuscript to a publisher and also return a packet of letters to a woman. He sets off from Africa and travels to London to perform the tasks. What ensures are many twists and turns, as different groups/people are trying to get both the manuscript or the letters.

Agatha Christie is timeless for a reason. This mystery was gripping and full of misleading clues and twists. Even the pieces I managed to predict I only got partially right. A classic whodunnit story of prices, murder, treasure, and of course love. Anthony Cade agrees to take over a job for an old friend that turns out to be far trickier than he first imagined. This story is full of detectives - both professional and amateur and Anthony must race to figure out the multitude of mysteries first.

Unfortunately, this is one that I started, but couldn't get into so I stopped reading. I'm sure Agatha Christie fans would love it, but I really couldn't get into it. Too many characters to keep straight. I tried!

Classic Agatha Christie mystery- how can you go wrong? Although in today’s era, I am concerned about the history of racism in her books, honestly.

So I had a really hard time with this one. I love mysteries and have read all sorts of novels set in older times. We aren’t really told the timeframe of this story, but the writing style indicates a time long past. The story follows Anthony Cade who has been given the task of handing over some memoirs to a publishing company. This simple task spins out of control when someone attempts to take the memoirs, and then there are 2 different murders. There seems to be someone who really wants to know what secrets the memoirs hold. A unique cast of characters sets out to solve these mysteries. The storyline jumps around a lot without much investment in individual characters. So I did find myself a little lost at times trying to pin down which characters are who and what role they have. I really enjoy the character of Virginia Revel, she is sharp and witty and independent. I did have an issue with continuity on the storyline and I did get lost easily. This dragged a little for me, I had a hard time getting into it. Unless you are a die hard Agatha Christie fan I might advise passing on this one. Review posted to Goodreads, Litsy, Amazon, LibraryThing, and Facebook

For some reason, I have never read an Agatha Christie book. Of course, I know who she is, but I don’t believe I have ever picked up one of her books. What a delight this book was to read! She is a very clever writer, and one of the things I am most impressed with is that this book was written almost 100 years ago.

The story starts with the main character, Anthony Cade, willingly doing a favor for a friend. He loves adventure and leaving Africa to head to England to deliver a dead count’s papers sounds easy enough. Little does he know that he will be at the center of murder, mayhem, and mystery.

Who doesn’t love a good whodunnit mystery? Especially if the tale involves romance, interesting characters, and surprise around every corner. I found it fast-paced and enjoyed the setting at Chimneys, an English country estate.

According to my kindle, The Secret of Chimneys takes right under seven hours to read. It took me a few days because I don’t believe I could ever sit that long!

Special thanks to Book Club Girl, Netgalley, and William Morrow for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Anthony Cade meets up with his friend James McGrath in Africa. McGrath asks a favor of Cade, to go to England and deliver the late Count's papers to the publisher while at the same time returning letters to Virginia Revel at Chimneys Estate. Anthony jumps at the chance to return to England. First under the guise of McGrath, where he is repeatedly harassed for the papers. Then as he tries to return the letters, they are stolen and so as Cade he meets up with Mrs. Revel and she invites him to Chimneys.
And so the adventure continues with murder, politics, kidnapping, a jewel thief and not everyone being who they say they are. There are red herrings galore and romance.
I forgot how delightful a period Christie story could be, so thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for this e-copy of "The Secret of Chimneys".

The first appearance of Superintendent Battles happens in this book. Many indicators that this is not written in a politically correct time era show up but there are some interesting characters. The story is more light hearted then expected and not so much a classic murder mystery.

This was my introduction to Superintendent Battle, although he really isn’t featured in this story he is definitely present and Agatha Christie did write four more books in which he is included.

This is one of my favorite formats ala Christie, big country house, odd assortment of characters and of course a murder or two. This is a mystery with secret identities, stolen items, missing people and lots of suspects who just all happen to be in the same place at the same time!

My timing for reading this book could not have been more perfect for me. It’s a time of needing the familiar to wrap yourself into and find a little peace and comfort there. I’ve been a Dame Agatha Christie fan since I was ten or eleven and discovered there were more than just Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys solving crimes in literature.

First and foremost, I loved the way she played games with character names. As Lord Caterham stuffed ham in his mouth, or something like that, you just know there are going to be a few laughs in this story and there are. This contributes to the enjoyment of reading a very classic mystery story written by The Queen of Mystery.

Thank you to The Book Club Girls, Netgalley, William Morrow and, of course, to Agatha Christie.