The Secret of Chimneys
- 258
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Secret of Chimneys” shows Agatha Christie in 1925 writing something as close to a thriller as to a detective puzzle, and writing it briskly. The plot ranges widely and keeps wrong-footing the reader, and this is the novel that introduces Superintendent Battle. Some readers find it less polished than her later work, with reveals signalled too early, or lose patience with a long-winded opening.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Secret of Chimneys is a mystery novel by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in June 1925 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. It introduces the characters of Superintendent Battle and Lady Eileen "Bundle" Brent. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.
Reading order · Superintendent Battle
Full order & progress →- The Secret of ChimneysThis book
7.57.5 / 10 - The Seven Dials Mystery
7.57.5 / 10 - Murder Is Easy
7.47.4 / 10 - Towards Zero
7.67.6 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.4 across 108 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 42% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Crime & mystery average of 7.6. That is how 7.5 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.7 | 19 | 18% |
| Hardcover | 7.1 | 89 | 82% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Secret of Chimneys?
It has 258 pages — shorter than 91% of the ranked books in Crime & mystery.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Crime & mystery — and a score of 7.5, the closest to this book.
