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They Came to Baghdad

Agatha Christie

Start date: August 1, 2021

Finish date: August 31, 2021

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: The next title in our Assorted Christies challenge.
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* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
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What Members Thought

Dec 18, 2012 Rosario rated it really liked it

After the disaster that was my experience of reading The Body In The Library, I was almost afraid to pick up my next Christie. They Came To Baghdad restored my confidence a bit. I might find a couple of unexploded granades amongst Christie's books, but I'm thinking the majority will be more like this one... a couple of instances of "oh, those foreigners are a bit funny", but nothing to bother me overly.

This one's very definitely not a typical Christie. It's not a domestic mystery, but more of a After the disaster that was my experience of reading The Body In The Library, I was almost afraid to pick up my next Christie. They Came To Baghdad restored my confidence a bit. I might find a couple of unexploded granades amongst Christie's books, but I'm thinking the majority will be more like this one... a couple of instances of "oh, those foreigners are a bit funny", but nothing to bother me overly.

This one's very definitely not a typical Christie. It's not a domestic mystery, but more of a thriller. It's what I would describe as a caper, madcap adventure along the lines of some of Elizabeth Peters' standalones. It reminded me quite strongly of some of her titles, in fact, such as The Camelot Caper or The Dead Sea Cipher.

Our protagonist is Victoria Jones, a bored typist living in London in the early 1950s. One day, having just been fired from a job (that often happens to her), she meets an attractive young man in the park. They start talking and they seem to click, but unfortunately, the young man, Edward, is about to leave for Baghdad for his job. Impulsively, Victoria decides she must get herself to Baghdad as well.

She has nowhere near enough money to get there, but in a stroke of luck, she gets hired as a travelling companion to a lady who's broken her arm (even travelling by air, getting to Baghdad took days back then, including a couple of pit stops). The job ends once they arrive at their destination, however, so a couple of days later, Victoria is trying to sort out what she's going to do next and how she can get a job.

And that's when a mysterious man breaks into her hotel room one night, begs for her help and promptly dies, but not before uttering some cryptic words. Before she knows it, Victoria has a job: trying to get information on a mysterious international conspiracy which could lead to all-out war between the Americans and the Soviets.

I had an absolute blast reading this. Oh, the plot is complete nonsense (think of the more preposterous Bond villain plans and you'll be in the right territory), but that's not the point. It's all about following the delightfully plucky Victoria, as she gets into situation after situation where it looks like she might be in over her head, and then emerges triumphant. She is street-smart and resourceful, with a facility for telling the most outrageous lies, but a strong sense of right and wrong, and I loved her.

I realise she sounds like a bit of an idiot if you summarise the setup. I mean, going all the way to Baghdad, chasing after a man she met for all of 5 minutes? Reading the book, though, she doesn't come across as stupid for doing it. She tells herself she's chasing after him, but it felt quite clear to me that she was just bored of her life and thirsty for adventure. If it hadn't been Baghdad, she would have been off somewhere else a week later.

Christie is not known for her characterisation. Even her fans will admit it's the plotting she's good at, and characterisation her weak point. Well, this is the exception. McGuffin plot, brilliantly drawn protagonist. The other secondary characters are a bit more reliant on types, but there's still enough to make them come alive.

The other protagonist of the story is Baghdad itself. Christie spent quite a bit of time in Iraq, working in her archaeologist husband's excavations, so the setting comes alive and is drawn with fondness. I enjoyed the strong sense of place, but also the portrait of a time long gone, both in Iraq and the London right after World War II. Christie was obviously writing this as a contemporary, so she doesn't make a big song and dance about her own world, but there are details that stop the 21st century reader short. For instance, no mention is made of the fact that in 1950 London there was still some rationing going on, but the American lady Victoria accompanies to Baghdad gives her a pair of silk stockings as a parting gift, the assumption being that contemporary readers would have know just how impossible it would have been for her to get them on her own.

Anyway, this was a good one, not a typical Christie, but still great. We even get a nice little romance!

MY GRADE: A B+.

AUDIOBOOK NOTES: This was the version I listened to, narrated by Emilia Fox, who was just brilliant. I loved the voice she did for Victoria, and she was great with all the others as well, really brought out the humour. ...more

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Jan 25, 2021 Jen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

One of my favourite Agatha Christie novels! Really fast paced and intriguing with some interesting characters. The settings were very atmospheric.

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Nov 02, 2016 John Frankham rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-detective

Another splendid Agatha Christie adventure with a London shorthand typist winging it (ha ha) to Baghdad to meet a young man she flirted with on a park bench. International conferences, archaeological digs, spies, derring-do. Full of joie-de-vivre, excitement, mystery, and plot twists.

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Dec 25, 2014 Gary Vassallo rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2015

An enjoyable read but not my favourite Agatha Christie book.

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Apr 27, 2020 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-grp, mystery-classic, zchristie-challenge-2021, rread-2021, rread-2020

While the plot can't be taken seriously (world domination, a plethora of coincidences) this was a fun book. Christie gets to show off her archaeology skills in a sub-plot and the archaeologist is a wonderful minor character. ...more

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