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Rating: 
Summary: what a mess
Review: First off, let me say that i am a huge and dedicated fan of the great Dame Agatha Chrisite. I have read almost all her books, and i think she is the greatest mystery writer ever.However, this rather fantastical effort is a departure from her usual murder mysteries into the murky world of espionage and the discovery of an anarchistic conspiracy run by neo-Nazis. The net effect is an amateurish and boring plot burdened by superfluous characters and a lack of exposition. The main character seems to be likable Sir Stafford Nye, who is actually quite an interesting persona, until he is inexplicably dumped halfway through the book in favour of a fly-on-the-wall observation of various Cabinet meetings that are essentially redundant in telling the reader that the danger faced is very serious and mysterious. There are also long, abstract and irrelevant dialogues between mono-dimensional characters that make Agatha Christie seem at sea with a genre that is apparently too big for her. When the mastermind behind the conspiracy is uncovered, we see a brief flash of the old Christie, as the culprit is someone whom the reader never suspects. However, the epilogue, instead of explaining the culprit's motives or the fates of the various conspirators is instead a humorous yet unsatisfactory marriage between Sir Stafford and another character. Several times during the narrative, I found the courage and fortitude to continue only by telling myself that the ending would be as brilliant and fulfilling as all her previous novels, yet once again, I was thoroughly disappointed with this sad excuse for a novel
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