The Secret of Chimneys

The Secret of Chimneys is a detective novel written by Agatha Christie and published in 1925.

Anthony Cade, a young man at a loose end in Africa, takes on what looks like an easy errand: deliver a dead man's memoirs to a London publisher and return a bundle of letters. Both packages turn out to matter a great deal to the politics of a small central European kingdom, and to several people willing to kill for them.

Lord Caterham, meanwhile, half-heartedly agrees to throw a weekend party at George Lomax's request, at his house, Chimneys. When one of the guests is found shot, Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard arrives to sort out an assortment of impostors, jewel thieves, and diplomats.

A series of characters appear in this book that will recur in other later novels, such as Lord Caterham, George Lomax or Superintendent Battle, as well as the Chimneys mansion itself.

"GENTLEMAN Joe!”
“Why, if it isn’t old Jimmy McGrath.”
Castle’s Select Tour, represented by seven depressed-looking females and three perspiring males, looked on with considerable interest. Evidently their Mr. Cade had met an old friend. They all admired Mr. Cade so much, his tall lean figure, his sun-tanned face, the light-hearted manner with which he settled disputes and cajoled them all into good temper.