The Secret of Chimneys

The Secret of Chimneys is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, published in 1925. It introduces Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard and Lady Eileen Brent, known to everyone as Bundle, both of whom she used again.

The errand that starts the book is straightforward. Anthony Cade agrees to carry a manuscript to London for a friend who has two jobs for him, and the first of them takes him into an international quarrel over the memoirs and over what they reveal about a deposed royal house. There is a cache of letters inside the parcel that gives somebody a hold over a number of people, and the political stakes make the errand considerably more dangerous than it looked.

The second half of the story moves to Chimneys, the country house of Lord Caterham, who is persuaded to hold a weekend party there against his better judgement. A murder takes place inside the house, the guests include police officers as well as suspects, and the novel shifts from a treasure hunt into an investigation, with a family, a missing document and a foreign prince's death all in play at once.