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Passenger to Frankfurt

3.17 of 5 stars 3.17 · rating details · 2,798 ratings · 185 reviews

In the airport lounge at Frankfurt a British diplomat meets a beautiful young woman in fear for her life, and together they enter a sinister world of intrigue and death...

Paperback, 363 pages

Published 2003 by Harper (first published 1970)

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Jun 14, 2012 Peter rated it 1 of 5 stars

"I hate to say it, but this was terrible. Dear Agatha was really losing it. Laughably, this is subtitled ""an Extraganza"", but it's more like a disaster.

Passenger is one of her thrillers, although the word hardly applies. Set in 1970, it starts out promisingly with unambitious diplomat Sir Stafford Nye accepting a daring proposal from the beautiful and enigmatic Countess Renata in the Frankfort airport. The next 100 pages are engaging as he tries to track down this woman, avoids some near death...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Eric Townsend rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first foray into the world of Agatha Christie, Passenger to Frankfurt was like stepping into a time machine back to a completely different style of writing and perhaps way of thinking as well. I found a few of Christie’s books in a book sale at a library nearby a few months back and decided that now was as good a time as any to read one. I have of course heard of how amazing she is, and being a character in Doctor Who is always a plus in my book, so I knew that I should find out for myself wh...more My first foray into the world of Agatha Christie, Passenger to Frankfurt was like stepping into a time machine back to a completely different style of writing and perhaps way of thinking as well. I found a few of Christie’s books in a book sale at a library nearby a few months back and decided that now was as good a time as any to read one. I have of course heard of how amazing she is, and being a character in Doctor Who is always a plus in my book, so I knew that I should find out for myself what her books are like.

I have no doubt that I started that journey in the right place with Passenger to Frankfurt as I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It took me a bit initially to get used to the different style of writing, one clear example being the back and forth of character dialogue without always specifying who was the speaker, but after I did I found myself in a fantastic tale. Though some scenes were a bit unrealistic (the car coming around the bend comes to mind) the overall story was thrilling. I haven’t read a good old-fashioned “spy novel” in quite some time and it certainly was refreshing.

The book does something with the way it was written, it actually assumes the reader can think for themselves. It forces you to both in figuring out parts in the plot, inserting other languages with no translations, and as I mentioned earlier, not specifying who is speaking at every turn. In short, it actually makes you comprehend what you are reading while you are reading it. There is no “re-reading” involved here, in order to understand sometimes you need to really think about what Christie is writing, and that art form is something lost in most books of today. To understand the plot, and the idiosyncrasies of the characters you have to focus and really pay attention, something that, again, seems to be lost on today’s generation of readers, most notably younger ones.

The book is fascinating, the characters engaging, especially Mary Ann who I found particularly intriguing. Though I’ve stressed this already I don’t know that I can enough, it is the writing that makes this amazing, the style, the word choice, everything. You just don’t see books like this anymore. I can’t wait to read another of hers soon.

Rating 5/5(less)

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Feb 03, 2012 Jessie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: rabid Agatha Christie fans

Shelves: fiction, library-book, science-fiction, political

Warning! Mild Spoilers!

An insouciant and debonair young diplomat, a beautiful girl in danger, Cold War espionage still raging amidst the turmoil of student unrest, economic volatility and political instability - and that's just chapter one. Throw in a world-wide conspiracy of anarchist youth, a mysterious cabal of business leaders, Adolph Hitler, and a miracle drug and you have "Passenger to Frankfurt."

At first I thought "This is rather dated and not standing up well to the test of time." Then I...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Laurel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-year-of-agatha

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Apparently, in her old age Dame Agatha decided to be quirky! Truly, this novel is like nothing else in her canon, although it might be said to be in the same general family as her early spy thrillers and the sci-fi-flavored So Many Steps to Death. The quirkiness starts right at the beginning, with the subtitle "An Extravaganza". What on earth is Agatha Christie's idea of an "extravaganza"? She tells us in an opening note so pretentious that I choose to believe she was being tongue-in-cheek; I wo...more Apparently, in her old age Dame Agatha decided to be quirky! Truly, this novel is like nothing else in her canon, although it might be said to be in the same general family as her early spy thrillers and the sci-fi-flavored So Many Steps to Death. The quirkiness starts right at the beginning, with the subtitle "An Extravaganza". What on earth is Agatha Christie's idea of an "extravaganza"? She tells us in an opening note so pretentious that I choose to believe she was being tongue-in-cheek; I wouldn't put it past her--she knew her status as the Queen of Crime, and must have known that in 1970 she was at the very end of her long career and could do, if you will excuse me, whatever the hell she wanted. Hence, the words "The Author Speaks" announce the preface, and I started giggling out loud. The preface is, in essence, to the effect that she thinks the world of 1970 is an absolute mess and is going to offer a fantasy solution as to why that is and what the solution would be.

Spoilers ahoy: the solution is mass drugging of the impossible youth of today. Well...well. Yes, "Benvo" is quite outlandish, but I liked seeing Christie go back to her roots (she worked in a chemist's dispensary early in her career) and after all the poisons she has fictionally unleashed on the world, I can see a nice symmetry in proposing a chemical solution that would bring world peace instead. Also, I don't think that in 1970 it was unreasonable to be very, very afraid of a return of the horrors of WWII. I found the anxiety about a new Hitler believable, even if the solution was not.

Also, one can see traces of Christie's talent with characterization and human psychology here. No, I don't mean all the silly spy stuff with Sir Stafford Nye and the mystery woman with so many names. I mean Stafford's wonderful old great-aunt and the clever way she plays on an old school chum's fondness for her to help the protagonists. Christie is so, so good with elderly women characters; always has been, from Miss Marple onwards. And so there are characters here who remind me that this is Agatha Christie writing, albeit in a very unusual vein that combines nostalgia with bravado. I can't say I exactly admired it, but it was interesting to see her give the extravagant a go!(less)

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Aug 30, 2010 Colleen rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: whodunnit

Weird, weird, weird. You could tell based on the preface and the strange pleading to the reader that this COULD all happen and that Christie had stewed long and hard on this, but really it was her way outside her element. The book is like an old woman's paranoid treatise, so guess mildly interesting just for that odd window to Christie's view of 1970.

I kind of skipped thru the Benvo part, because it didn't really make sense and was a terrible idea. Then the revelation of Juanita (who I actually...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Kristopher Swinson rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was evidently somewhat out of Christie's genre--this was not localized mystery, but international espionage--and a poor introduction to her work, at that. I'll give her another chance some time, particularly as she had a finely honed quality which lingered between literary and contemporary. This was something like a very old woman's parting thoughts on the wildness of the times (see 71, 74-75, 140), and it was practically a satire. I had thought that her later work might be more refined. On...more This was evidently somewhat out of Christie's genre--this was not localized mystery, but international espionage--and a poor introduction to her work, at that. I'll give her another chance some time, particularly as she had a finely honed quality which lingered between literary and contemporary. This was something like a very old woman's parting thoughts on the wildness of the times (see 71, 74-75, 140), and it was practically a satire. I had thought that her later work might be more refined. On the main, however, it came across as absurd.

As an optimistic realist, I noted with some fondness that one character "had an incurable fund of optimism seldom justified by results" (170). You will recall Candide's definition of (what I consider as immoderate, untempered, unrealistic) optimism as "a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell." She also really put her finger on it in centering the plot around money being the driving force behind the world conspiracy, having a hateful wretch declare, "With money, if one knows, if one has the ability, if one has the discrimination, what is there that money cannot do?" (129). Nevertheless, the conspiracy itself, again, was absurd as worked out in detail, and the conclusion was positively tacked on.

One advantage I often find to reading multiple books at once is the more rapid clicking of common themes. Then I scarcely even have to concentrate. (My friends refer to this as my "Beautiful Mind" moment.) Just as food for thought, I leave you with two comparisons, the first from Christie, 152-153, and the more meaningful, latter selection being the longer of the two:

Don't you remember in nineteen nineteen everyone going about with a rapt face saying Communism was the answer to everything. That Marxist doctrine would produce a new heaven brought down to a new earth. So many noble ideas flowing about. But then, you see, whom have you got to work out the ideas with? After all, only the same human beings you've always had. You can creat a third world now, or so everyone thinks, but the third world will have the same people in it as the first world or the second world or whatever names you like to call things. And when you have the same human beings running things, they'll run them the same way. You've only got to look at history.

From John Taylor, The Government of God:

No power on this side of heaven can correct the evil. It is a world that is degenerated, and it requires a God to put it right. . . . Nor do we turn with any better prospect to the Catholic religion. Of what benefit has it been to nations where it has prevailed the most? . . . I need not here refer to the history of the Waldenses, and Albigenses, and Huguenots, to that of the Crusades, wherein so many Christian kings engaged . . . .

What have the reformations of Calvin, Luther, and other reformers done for the world? . . . We see . . . the same ambitious, grasping, reckless disposition manifested, and consequently the same wars, bloodshed, poverty, misery, and distress; and millions of human beings have been sacrificed to their pride, ambition, avarice, and thirst for national fame and glory. . . .

As regards Communism, in the abstract, or on the voluntary principle, we will examine that briefly. Pick out a number of men in Paris, London, Berlin, or any other city, associated with all the evils and corruptions of those cities, and organize them into a community. Will the mere removal of them from one place to another make them better? Certainly not. If they were corrupt before, they will be after their removal; and if they were unhappy before, they will be after. . . .

Happiness and peace are the gifts of God, and come from Him. (15-17, 21-22, 24)

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Aug 20, 2011 Texbritreader rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries

A Cold War spy thriller/mystery from Agatha Christie and a perfect example of the author at her worst. After a far fetched but decent opening gambit, the first part of the novel descends to a catalog of the trouble with "young people" circa 1970, and a lot of improbable conspiracy theories about what was behind then current political and social movements. Christie was clearly at odds with the values and ideas of the era and it infects her book with a strange, paranoid flavor that seems very funn...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Sara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 100-in-2012

So, I am a die-hard Agatha Christie fan. My mom and I started watching the Joan Hickson Miss Marple series when I was a child. I have almost all of the Agatha Christie adaptations that are out on DVD. I have read almost all of her books. Passenger to Frankfurt was one that I had missed. Now I know why.

Christie is a crime queen. There is no denying that. She scripts an amazing who-done-it. She writes charming detectives. She is not, however, a master of the spy novel, which is what this book ost...more So, I am a die-hard Agatha Christie fan. My mom and I started watching the Joan Hickson Miss Marple series when I was a child. I have almost all of the Agatha Christie adaptations that are out on DVD. I have read almost all of her books. Passenger to Frankfurt was one that I had missed. Now I know why.

Christie is a crime queen. There is no denying that. She scripts an amazing who-done-it. She writes charming detectives. She is not, however, a master of the spy novel, which is what this book ostensibly is. Our protagonist, Sir Stafford Nye, is a bored, occasionally playful diplomat on his way home from a stint in Malay. At the Frankfurt airport he is approached by a seemingly familiar woman who begs for his help. Her life is in danger. The only way to save her is for her to fly to London on his passport, dressed as him. He, in turn, will stay in the departures lounge at Frankfurt under a sedative. The story will be that he was knocked out and robbed. She will be safe and he will be mildly inconvenienced.

Ok, so far so good. This is interesting, I think to myself. But that is the last event that occurs with clarity and speed. Sir Stafford returns to England. Some time passes. His clothes and passport are mysteriously returned to him. He meets his mystery lady again, but she is now an obscure Eastern European noblewoman. Or is she Mary Anne, the darling of the British espionage world? She seems to be several different people. And he, somewhat like a large puppy, follows along in her wake. She leads him to Bavaria where a repulsively fat Countess is trying to rekindle the Nazi order using youth uprisings.

The narrative switches from Sir Stafford, to his great-aunt, to various men in government. No one, including the reader (and possibly even the author) is sure of Sir Stafford’s motivations. The narrative skips around. Suddenly we’re at a music festival, then an embassy under attack. This book seems to be Christie’s attempt to write a “modern” (for 1970) spy thriller and not really knowing how to go about it. Christie wrote 82 books under the name Agatha Christie. I have read probably 70 of them. Thus far, this is my least favorite.

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Sep 21, 2010 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, bookcrossing

I read all Agatha Christies in my local library by the time I was 12, and then didn't touch them for a very long time again. Now it's been one or two a year, but this is the first non-classical Christie I remember reading.
Nor a murder story but a thriller. I guess a thriller? The era for writing them was perfect, however Christie is a bit unusual in thrillers. Much dialogue and talk over dinner tables and details on who's wearing what and who knows whom. If only Christie had read a few Ludlums....more

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Sep 01, 2011 Jean rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jean by: I had it in my collection.

Shelves: books-i-could-not-finish

This book by Agatha Christie was different from the murder mysteries. It was written in 1970 and reminded me of Buchan's "Thirty-nine Steps", in that it was an adventure story where the aims of the people involved were unclear to me, and therefore fairly meaningless. The best part of the book was the quotation by Jan Smuts preceding the story: "Leadership, besides being a great creative force, can be diabolical..." I thought that this quotation could be applied to quite a few diabolical leaders,...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Jason rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Honestly, in anyone else's hands this would be a one-star book. But because Christie was such a masterful writer, she makes even her strangest ideas (a return of fascism spread across the globe) tolerable.

My expectations for this book were low - her books from the late 60s and 70s are generally panned (with the exception of Sleeping Murder and Curtain which she had actually written years earlier). So I wasn't disappointed, but I admit I still wasn't impressed. It was just not a gripping concept,...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Lucy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels-of-mystery

Muddled and grim; overly grim, I would say. Not so much a story as a collection of thoughts, a snapshot of Dame Agatha's Mental Processes [and Fears for the Future] at Eighty. Yes, an Extravaganza.
On news media:
"He went out into the hall and got the morning paper. There was very little news in the paper. A political crisis, an item of foreign news which might have been disquieting, but he didn't think it was. It was merely a journalist letting off steam and trying to make things rather more impo...more Muddled and grim; overly grim, I would say. Not so much a story as a collection of thoughts, a snapshot of Dame Agatha's Mental Processes [and Fears for the Future] at Eighty. Yes, an Extravaganza.
On news media:
"He went out into the hall and got the morning paper. There was very little news in the paper. A political crisis, an item of foreign news which might have been disquieting, but he didn't think it was. It was merely a journalist letting off steam and trying to make things rather more important than they were" (22).

On people and ideology:
"Don't you remember in 1919 everyone going about with a rapt face saying Communism was the answer to everything. That Marxist doctrine would produce a new heaven brought down to a new earth. So many noble ideas flowing about. But then, you see, whom have you got to work out the ideas with? After all, only the same human beings you've always had. You can create a third world now, or so everyone thinks, but the third world will have the same people in it as the first world or the second world or whatever names you like to call things. And when you have the same human beings running things, they'll run them the same way. You've only got to look at history" (112-3).

On conflict resolution [speaking through Aunt Matilda]:
"...and all wanting to fight each other and nobody wanting to stop. They won't go to Paris or wherever it is and sit round tables and talk sensibly. Don't you think really, dear--I've been thinking it over and I thought it would be a very nice solution--couldn't you make a lot of football fields and then they could all go and fight each other there, but with less lethal weapons. Not that nasty palm burning stuff. You know. Just hit each other and punch each other and all that. They'd enjoy it, everyone would enjoy it and you could charge admission for people to go and see them do it. I do think really that we don't understand giving people the things they really want" (50-1).

On politicians [speaking through Aunt Matilda]:
"Yes, don't pass it on to just anyone. You can't trust people. Don't pass it on to any one of those idiots in the Government, or connected with government or hoping to be participating in government after this lot runs out. Politicians don't have time to look at the world they're living in. They see the country they're living in and they see it as one vast electoral platform. That's quite enough to put on their plates for the time being. They do things which they honestly believe will make things better and then they're surprised when they don't make things better because they're not the things that people want to have. And one can't help coming to the conclusion that politicians have a feeling that they have a kind of divine right to tell lies in a good cause. It's not really so very long ago since Mr. Baldwin made his famous remark--'If I had spoken the truth, I should have lost the election.' Prime Ministers still feel like that. Now and again we have a great man, thank God. But it's rare" (59).(less)

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Sep 16, 2012 Abhishek rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

By the time I finished the book I was astonished by the turn of events. This was the first novel by Mrs. Christie that hasn't gone well with me. And I think for that Mrs. Christie herself is to be blamed entirely. Firstly for choosing espionage as the center theme for this book. And secondly for writing this book.

Well if anything, one thing is assured and that's espionage is not Mrs. Christie forte. As much as I appreciate Mrs. Christie's work, this book fails to impress at all.

This book begins...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, speculative

"'Mad, mad, all mad - but we'll enjoy it all very much. Will our lives be long, Mary Ann?'

'Probably not,' said Renata.

'That's the spirit. I'm with you, my comrade, and my guide. Shall we get a better world as a result of our efforts?'

'I shouldn't think so, but it might be a kinder one. It's full of beliefs without kindness at present.'

'Good enough,' said Stafford Nye. 'Onward!'"

***

This book came at me quite strangely. It went beyond a who-dunn-it murder mystery (which I thought was what I was in...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Johara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 52-books-2012

This seemed more like an essay with some fiction in it, than fiction with a bit of essaying, to be honest. It's almost as if you're watching a play, except you only get to see the parts where the actors come in from the stage and get ready for their next bit, missing all the exciting action in the story and catching only the quick changes between sets. And man, do they wax poetic, going on and on about youth and changing tides and money.

Which is a shame, to be honest, as the characters mention...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Tali rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: christie-mysteries

I really hate to do this to an Agatha Christie novel, especially when I've enjoyed so much of her writing, but I just couldn't get into this book and I really didn't like it when I persevered with it. The main characters are not particularly interesting and just seem to float around talking mysteriously but actually not doing anything and midway through the story Christie abandons them to talk about some other not-particularly-interesting characters who aren't really doing anything interesting e...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: detective-fiction, goodwill-finds

Sir Stafford Nye isn’t exactly bored. And he doesn’t lead a dull life – take now for instance. He’s on his way home from a diplomatic visit to Malaya. It wasn’t very interesting, really, but it’s better than doing nothing. It was also better than waiting in a terminal for a re-routed flight to begin…

Suddenly Sir Stafford is jolted out of his apathy. A beautiful young woman is asking for his help. But rather than calling upon him to fight for her, she wants him to do a few simple things – leave h...more

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Mar 03, 2012 Scoats rated it 2 of 5 stars

This later Christie is rather weak. Her 80th book (if you do some double counting) published when she turned 80, seems to basically be a cash grab by her publisher.

The evil cabal plotting to take over the world was a plot Christie used several times (The Big Four, Destination Unknown), it was never a big success. This one basically a rehash of the Big Four but with 7 global conspirators. Everything else is supersized as well. This book probably could be been pared down to greatness, but at this...more

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Apr 23, 2013 Vesmé rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: agatha-christie

Agatha Christie meets James Bond.

Christie begins the book explaining that "it is not an impossible story- it is only a fantastic one."
So I set myself up to find it a bit unbelievable, more so than normal, but didn't really prepare myself for how fantastical it would get. I mean, I've read the Big Four, so maybe I should have known better.

Anyways, it was a good enough read. It was a bit annoying that all this bad stuff was happening in the world, and we were merely told about it, the book didn't...more

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Jan 23, 2009 Bettie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fraudio, mystery-thriller

When a bored diplomat is approached in a bleak airport by a woman whose life is in danger, he agrees in a moment of weakness to lend her his passport and boarding ticket. Suddenly, Stafford Nye's own life is on the line, for he has unwittingly entered a web of international intrigue, from which the only escape is to outwit the power-crazed Countess von Waldsausen who is hell-bent on world domination through the manipulation and arming of the planet's youth, which brings with it what promises to...more

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Jul 27, 2009 Elizabeth Tangora rated it 1 of 5 stars

Super, super weird, even for a Christie novel. For one: no mystery, just a bizarrely convoluted story of international 70s-style intrigue involving a well-born British guy who likes wearing capes, a nefarious plot to get students to overthrow all governments, Wagner's Ring symbolism, an evil Nazi blonde hunk, and (spoiler!) Hitler living a secret life in Argentina where I guess nobody recognizes him in even one instance over the course of 30 years. Oh, and a wedding at the end! (I won't say who,...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Narrelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

Christie attempts a James Bond style story, complete with outré villains and globe trotting protagonists. It's almost spec fic with its near-future revolutions and social engineering.

Sadly, it's overblown, vague waffle predicated on a premise of OMG YOUNG PEOPLE! and I BLAME NAZIS!! Most characters speak in almost the same voice, though Aunt Matilda and Stafford Nye manage to rise above the general mess. The villains may be outré but that's no substitute for actual characterisation.

Only a few...more

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Jun 23, 2009 Phayvanh rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, agatha-christie, reviews

This is the reason Madame Christie isn't known for her political intrigue novels. There is no suspense here. But not because she has no plot. But because she has no idea how international spies talk or act or think. Their conversations do not amount to anything. For this reason alone, the book sucks.

I got half way through before I realized that Christie was figuring out the story on the page. None of the original details that support her best works, none of the mind boggling twists and turns th...more

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May 16, 2012 Victoria rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: agatha-christie, mysteries

I highly recommend this book to anyone suffering from insomnia. I, for one, fell asleep everytime I picked it up. Consequently, it took me forever to read. This was a really disappointing offering from one of my favorite authors. The book just went on & on and people talked & talked, but nothing ever HAPPENED. All they did was talk about the stuff that happened "offstage." If the whole book had been like the last 10 pages, maybe it would have been good, but even when something finally di...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Christel rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a Agatha Christie fan, but I didn't like this book, written very late in her career.
It begins promising, with an funny thing that happened at the airport, but then she seems to lose the plot herself. A new Hitler, youth manipulated by powerfull and unscrupulous people, an invention that will make eveybody benevolent, and then suddenly an attempted murder out of the blue. What does it all mean?
Some characters are very funny and typical Agatha Christie, but at the end of the story I felt che...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Estefânia Botelho rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: livros-2012, livros-lidos-meus, oferta-asa, os-meus-livros, policial

Razões da escolha do livro: Oferta Editora Asa e desafio do mês de Setembro.
Proveniência: Editora Asa/ a minha biblioteca.
A minha Opinião:
“Esta história é na sua essência uma fantasia. Não pretende ser mais do que isso. (…) Mas a maioria das coisas que nela se passam acontece (…) no mundo de hoje. (…) Não é uma história impossível, apenas fantasiosa”.p.15
Este é um livro diferente do que Agatha Christie nos habituou: não é um policial, é antes um thriller de suspense e espionagem.
Esta leitura nã...more Razões da escolha do livro: Oferta Editora Asa e desafio do mês de Setembro.
Proveniência: Editora Asa/ a minha biblioteca.
A minha Opinião:
“Esta história é na sua essência uma fantasia. Não pretende ser mais do que isso. (…) Mas a maioria das coisas que nela se passam acontece (…) no mundo de hoje. (…) Não é uma história impossível, apenas fantasiosa”.p.15
Este é um livro diferente do que Agatha Christie nos habituou: não é um policial, é antes um thriller de suspense e espionagem.
Esta leitura não me cativou porque espionagem não é o meu género preferido. Contudo, a linguagem e as descrições elaboradas pela escritora são sempre excepcionais!
O livro tem aventura e suspense e é apropriado para lermos Agatha Christie num registo diferente do que o policial.
O melhor: O toque único nas descrições e na criação de suspense de Agatha Christie.
O pior: Ser um livro de espionagem.
O Autor:
Agatha Christie nasceu Agatha May Clarissa Miller, em Torquay, na Grã-Bretanha, em 1890. Durante a I Guerra Mundial, prestou serviço voluntário num hospital, primeiro como enfermeira e depois como funcionária da farmácia e do dispensário. Esta experiência revelar-se-ia fundamental, não só para o conhecimento dos venenos e preparados que figurariam em muitos dos seus livros, mas também para a própria concepção da sua carreira na escrita. Com o seu segundo marido, o arqueólogo Max Mallowan, Agatha viajaria um pouco por todo o mundo, participando activamente nas suas escavações arqueológicas, nunca abandonando contudo a escrita, nem deixando passar em claro a magnífica fonte de conhecimentos e inspiração que estas representavam.
Autora de cerca de 300 obras (entre romances de mistério, poesia, peças para rádio e teatro, contos, documentários, uma autobiografia e seis romances publicados sob o pseudónimo de Mary Westmacott), viu o seu talento e o seu papel na literatura e nas artes oficialmente reconhecidos em 1956, ano em que foi distinguida com o título de Commander of the British Empire. Em 1971, a Rainha Isabel II consagrou-a com o título de Dame of the British Empire. Deixando para trás um legado universal celebrado em mais de cem línguas, a Rainha do Crime, ou Duquesa da Morte (como ela preferia ser apelidada), morreu em 12 de Janeiro de 1976. Em 2000, a 31st Bouchercon World Mistery Convention galardoou Agatha Christie com dois prémios: ela foi considerada a Melhor Autora de Livros Policiais do Século XX e os livros protagonizados por Hercule Poirot a Melhor Série Policial do mesmo século.
A minha classificação: 4 – Interessante.
Período de Leitura: De 1 a 5 de Setembro de 2012.
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Jun 21, 2010 Colin rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is not a standard Agatha Christie, it is probably more a modern thriller type book. The main thing I have noticed is that is weird/chaotic. Some narrative sections have the characters talking about something you have little knowledge of. However this just adds to the overall mystery. My favorite passage is a poem

Boys and Girls come out to play,

The moon doth shine as bright as day,

Leave you supper and leave your sleep,

And shoot your playfellow in the street,

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Dec 13, 2012 Christina rated it 1 of 5 stars

Among Agatha Christie's worst, if not the worst she's written. It's possible that I enjoyed this book so little because I'm used to wonderful stuff from her, but I thought this book was boring, overly complicated, and disjointed. She is clearly making some kind of political commentary on the fall of modern society, but it is very muddled and her "solution" is not only unconvincing and contrived, but downright problematic. Unfortunately, this book puts her in the company of second-rate (if not th...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Vera rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I love Agatha Christie's mysteries. They generally glue me to the book, until I'm finished reading then.

Not this one, though it had its moments.
The gist of it: Stafford Nye an excentric and "failed" diplomat, decides to save a woman's life. During a delayed flight in Franfurt, he meets a mysterious woman, who asks him to let her take his identity. He agrees, and they fabricate a story of how he lost his passport, and drank drugged beer.
Obviously, the entire government is up in arms about it, tho...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Paul Haspel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: germany

Passenger to Frankfurt is not what many readers might expect from an Agatha Christie novel; it is not a whodunit, and Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are nowhere to be found. Rather, Passenger to Frankfurt is a spy novel whose main character, a British diplomat named Sir Stafford Nye, impulsively helps a mysterious woman at Frankfurt Airport by giving her his passport and cloak, and is thereby plunged into the proverbial web of intrigue and deception. At times, Passenger to Frankfurt seems like a...more

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About Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born in Torquay, Devon, England, U.K., as the youngest of three. The Millers had two other children: Margaret Frary Miller (1879–1950), called Madge, who was eleven years Agatha's senior, and Louis Montant Miller (1880...more

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Books by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express (Hercule Poirot, #10)

The Mysterious Affair At Styles (Hercule Poirot #1)

Murder at the Vicarage (Miss Marple, #1)

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