- N or M?
-
N or M? 
Dust-jacket illustration of the US (true first) edition. See Publication history (below) for UK first edition jacket image.Author(s) Agatha Christie Country United States Language English Genre(s) Crime novel Publisher Dodd, Mead and Company Publication date 1941 Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback) Pages 289 pp (first edition, hardback) ISBN 0-425-09845-1 Preceded by Evil Under the Sun Followed by The Body in the Library N or M? is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1941[1][2] and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November of the same year.[3] The US edition retailed $2.00[2] and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).[3]
The title is taken from a catechism in the Book of Common Prayer which asks, "What is your Christian name? Answer N. or M." [4]
The novel is the first to feature the mature versions of her detectives Tommy and Tuppence, whose previous appearances had been in the adventure The Secret Adversary (1922) and the short story collection Partners in Crime (1929).
Contents
Plot introduction
After the outbreak of the Second World War and many years after they worked for British intelligence, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford feel useless and sidelined. When Tommy is approached to go undercover once more, however, Tuppence decides to join him on his mission whether she is wanted or not.
The duo begin a search for a German agent who may have infiltrated British command. Another British agent that was following these Germans left a cryptic message on his deathbed: "N or M. Song Susie". Grant knew that "Song Susie" stood for Sans Souci, a hotel in Leahampton, and N and M were two German spies, one male and one female. Tommy is to go to Sans Souci to investigate whether N, M or both are at the hotel and to figure out their identities.
The plot of the book is filled with many plot-twists and an action-packed denouement.
Literary significance and reception
Maurice Willson Disher's review in The Times Literary Supplement of November 29, 1941 began by saying, "To believe that N or M? is not Miss Agatha Christie's best is difficult while the first fine anxious rapture of her latest story is still troubling the mind." He concluded, "The point is reached when you begin to fear for your own sanity on catching yourself wondering whether an ingratiating babe-in-arms might not be Herr Doktor in disguise. Yet such is Miss Christie's skill in conjuring up the ominous that even infant prattle sounds uncommonly like a code for the Fifth Column. In other words, as Mr. Robey has said before now, N or M? gets you."[5]
Maurice Richardson in a short review in the December 7, 1941 issue of The Observer said, "Agatha Christie takes time off from Poirot and the haute cuisine of crime to write a light war-time spy thriller. N or M is unknown master Fifth Columnist concealed in person of some shabby genteel figure in Bournemouth boarding-house. Mrs. Christie's bright young couple, now middle-aged but active as ever, are nearly trapped. Nice surprise finish and all-round entertainment."[6]
A short review by E.R. Punshon in The Guardian of December 30, 1941 ended, "Mrs. Christie shows herself as ingenious as ever, and one admires especially the way in which the hero snores himself out of captivity." [7]
Robert Barnard: "The Beresfords contribute their intolerable high spirits to the war effort. Less racist than the earlier thrillers (in fact, some apology is made indirectly) but no more convincing."[8]
References to other works
In the book there are references to the first Tommy and Tuppence book - The Secret Adversary. For example, in chapter 1 Tuppence remembers how they saved a girl, found the secret document... When Albert appears in the book, he remembers how he met Tuppence in The Secret Adversary.
Publication history
Dustjacket illustration of the UK First Edition (Book was first published in the US)
- 1941, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1941, Hardback, 289 pp
- 1941, Collins Crime Club (London), November 1941, Hardback, 192 pp
- 1947, Dell Books, Paperback, 191 pp (Dell number 187 [mapback]),
- 1959, Pan Books, Paperback, 188 pp (Great Pan G259)
- 1962, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 192 pp
- 1972, Greenway edition of collected works (William Collins), Hardcover, 224 pp ISBN 0-00-231567-X
- 1974, Greenway edition of collected works (Dodd Mead), Hardcover, 224 pp
- 1984, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, ISBN 0-70-891156-0
The novel's true first appearance was in the US in a condensed version in the March 1941 (Volume 76, Number 5) issue of the Redbook magazine with an illustration by Alan Haemer.
The UK serialisation was as an abridged version in seven parts in Woman's Pictorial from April 26 (Volume 41, Number 1059) to June 7, 1941 (Volume 41, Number 1065) under the title of Secret Adventure. All seven instalments were illustrated by Clive Uptton.
International titles
- German: Rotkäppchen und der böse Wolf (Little red riding hood and the bad wolf)
- Portuguese (Brazil): M ou N?
References
- ^ John Cooper and B.A. Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide: Second Edition (Pages 82 and 87) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
- ^ a b American Tribute to Agatha Christie
- ^ a b Chris Peers, Ralph Spurrier and Jamie Sturgeon. Collins Crime Club – A checklist of First Editions. Dragonby Press (Second Edition) March 1999 (Page 15)
- ^ A CATECHISM FROM THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, 1549, ENLARGED, 1637, REVISED IN THE BISHOP WHITE BOOK, 1785, NOW AGAIN REVISED AND ENLARGED
- ^ The Times Literary Supplement November 29, 1941 (Page 589)
- ^ The Observer December 7, 1941 (Page 3)
- ^ The Guardian December 30, 1941 (Page 3)
- ^ Barnard, Robert. A Talent to Deceive – an appreciation of Agatha Christie - Revised edition (Page 193). Fontana Books, 1990. ISBN 0006374743
External links
- N or M? at the official Agatha Christie website
Categories:- Novels by Agatha Christie
- 1941 novels
- World War II novels
- Thriller novels
- Works originally published in Redbook
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
