Written by Agatha Christie
SUMMARY:
Released in both the U.S. and the U.K. in 1941, N or M? is Agatha Christie’s third novel depicting married British adventurers Tommy & Tuppence Beresford. Among its subsequent reprints, Penguin Group, Inc.’s Signet imprint released N or M? as a mass market edition in 2000. In terms of the franchise’s continuity timetable, N or M? is set approximately twenty years after the episodic events of Partners in Crime.
Note: The “Tommy & Tuppence” series also consists of: The Secret Adversary (1922); Partners in Crime (1929); By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968); and, lastly, Postern of Fate (1973).
Aside from successfully raising twins, Derek and Deborah, into adulthood, it isn’t revealed what else Agatha Christie’s patriotic detective couple has pursued in the interim. With World War II raging on in Western Europe, Tommy & Tuppence Beresford (now in their mid-forties) have been rejected from the British war effort, essentially due to age discrimination. With a new generation (including their own children) fighting this war, Tommy and Tuppence find they have too little to do fulfilling their ‘empty nest’ phase in life.
A British spy’s unsolved homicide necessitates a back-channel invitation to Tommy to rejoin British Intelligence. Aware that the Nazis are systemically infiltrating the United Kingdom to organize a subsequent invasion, the British Secret Service’s upper echelon senses it, too, has likely been breached.
Needing a trusted face who has been ‘off the grid’ for years, the Service’s Mr. Grant sends in an undercover Tommy to probe a low-key seaside village, Leahampton. It is suspected that two shadowy Nazi conspirators dubbed ‘N’ and ‘M’ (one man and one woman) are somehow linked to the local Sans Souci Hotel. Covertly overhearing what Grant and Tommy intend to do, Tuppence opts to make this mission a joint invitation.
Posing separately as the widowed ‘Mrs. Blenkensop’ and widower ‘Mr. Meadowes,’ the Beresfords infiltrate the middle-class Sans Souci Hotel. Their new neighbors include: a middled-aged couple – The Cayleys; an embittered German refugee – Carl von Deinim; Mrs. Sprot and her playful toddler, Betty; crochety Major Bletchley; a spinster – Miss Minton; and the hotel’s manager, Mrs. Perenna, with her outspoken daughter, Sheila. All too predictably, the hotel’s residents exhibit varying degrees of patriotic antipathy towards Germany. Also, living nearby is retired Commander Haydock, who gladly shares tales of how his cliffside home had once housed a German spy ring.
Accumulating evidence of ransacked rooms, eavesdropped phone calls, a woman’s violent death, and a missing girl, Tuppence and Tommy uneasily conclude that their sting operation is rattling their unknown adversaries. More so, it’s apparent that eliminating pesky nuisances is a task that neither ‘N’ or ‘M’ have any qualms with. After Tommy ominously disappears from sight, a worried ‘Mrs. Blekensop’ must rely upon an old friend for some emergency help. With time now running out, Tuppence redoubles her efforts to bring the Sans Souci enigma to a definitive end.
REVIEW:
N or M? initially presents an intriguing whatever-happened-to-Tommy & Tuppence? premise. More so, this storyline is consistent with the Beresfords’ established personalities, as to why they would jump at the chance to rejoin British Intelligence, if and when called upon. Amidst wartime spy games, Christie has imbued the middle-aged Beresfords with a plausible sense of real-time evolution. It’s a commendable literary trait that neither of Christie’s most famous creations, Hercule Poirot and Ms. Jane Marple, ever attained.
Yet, the Beresfords are hampered by a surplus of unsurprising irony. Spry, tongue-in-cheek entertainment emanating from the couple’s youthful, post-World War I escapades remains timeless – a century ago, Tommy & Tuppence became the genre template for romantic detective duos. After stoking a few promising chapters, N or M?, unfortunately, initiates their franchise’s slide towards midlife tedium.
Such disappointment mostly lies with N or M’s far too methodical take on espionage capers. The plot’s machinations, in other words, unnecessarily unfold at a tortoise’s pace. One could argue that Christie’s patient storytelling isn’t cheating her readers, as opposed to churning out a fast-paced, shallow potboiler leaving no impact. The problem is really more such dull execution of this mystery where long stretches go by with little to no progress.
For instance, far too much ink is allotted to the Beresfords’ cover identities: how many times does Christie really need to address Tuppence by her ‘Mrs. Blenkensop’ alias? Or how often must Tuppence discuss her cover story’s fictional sons with various Sans Souci housemates? For that matter, how many jabbing reminders of the Beresfords as restless empty-nesters are sufficient? Aside from the British Intelligence contact, Mr. Grant, an absence of interesting suspects merely exacerbates a slow read.
One component, however, that N or M? excels at is depicting Tuppence’s remarkable competence as a veteran detective. Her undercover sequences subtly deploying traps baiting Sans Souci’s possible moles implies someone with formal spy training. The same applies to a late sequence where she grimly stares down the threat of excruciating torture by a Nazi captor. The fact that she is the same Tuppence previously defined by flighty impulsiveness, intuitive reasoning, and a flamboyant hat collection makes such scenes a treat to read. As the novel’s MVP, Tuppence’s climatic heroism compensates for her husband’s bland characterization and minimal plot contributions.
Lastly, in addition to a nice introduction, Christie ensures that readers are bookended by a satisfying climax and conveniently happy epilogue. It just leaves one with a shrug or sigh that a lackluster mystery is stuck in between them. For that reason, the middling N or M? makes a practical bedtime read, as far as facilitating drowsiness.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES:
There is a sparse, single-page Christie bio.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 4 Stars
