Reader discussion: The Secret of Chimneys

Public reader discussion about The Secret of Chimneys in the WeRead Catalog by Agatha Christie.

The worst Agatha Christie adaptation I can remember

By motionGoose

With Agatha Christie adaptations, I feel like you usually fall into one of two moods at the end: either you’re genuinely pleased, because of course the most unlikely people were behind it, or you’re annoyed because you have that “wait… what?” moment a bit too late. But with *Seven Dials* it didn’t go either way. The suspects stayed wildly, almost comically unlikely right up until the reveal, and those “hold on a minute” feelings didn’t hit only at the end—they popped up again and again throughout the whole thing. Every twist just kept getting more ridiculous, like the plot was trying to outdo itself.

Impressions of "The Secret of Chimneys"

By MatrixAtlas

I’ve just finished rereading this one, and honestly I could barely remember anything from the first time, which probably says it didn’t stick with me much back then. I did recognize a few bits as I was reading, so some of it came back. It’s one of her standalone books, and it feels way more like an adventure than a proper mystery. It’s almost 100 years old now and you can tell. There’s this whole thing with clever young people basically taking on violent criminals and an international gang more or less by themselves, which is pretty hard to buy. And yeah, it also has that old-school xenophobia stuff, plus antisemitism. The plot doesn’t really pick up until around the middle, and even then I was starting to think it might stay pretty boring. But then Christie throws in some pretty good twists near the end, and that’s what saves it for me. Not something I’d put on a must-read list, really, but probably worth it if you’re trying to read everything or you like adventure more than detective stories.

Checking out another Agatha location.

By ReadsReader27

Yet another Christie stop on our UK trip. We spent about an hour wandering around the grounds of Abney Hall in Cheadle, just outside Manchester. From what I read, it used to be Agatha’s sister’s place, so Agatha came by a lot. And it says she wrote “The Tale of the Christmas Pudding” and “After the Funeral” there. The house itself is offices now, which is a bit of a shame, but the grounds are still open to the public.

In honour of Chimneys, the setting for The Seven Dials Mystery -- some photos of Abney Hall, the real-life home of Agatha Christie's sister Madge (Mrs. James Watts)

By MintReason

Abney Hall’s in Cheadle, which is basically part of Greater Manchester now. It wasn’t one of those cases where they just upgraded some super old manor—apparently the spot used to be a print works, and then the Watts family bought the place a few years later, in the 1840s. I guess the Watts were “new money” type folks, since they came up as weavers and made their money during the Industrial Revolution. Later on (mid-20th century) the heir sold it to the local council, and they turned it into municipal offices, which makes sense if you think about how insane the upkeep would be on a big house. The grounds are open to the public, and the building is apparently visitable sometimes, but I’d definitely check before hoping to see inside. Also, it sounds like a bunch of the Watts furniture ended up in a couple local museums or National Trust places, so if you’re into Victorian decor, that’s probably where to look. Agatha seems to have had a lot of good memories there too, since her sister Madge was older and lived there once she was married. Agatha writes about Christmas dinners in her memoirs in a ton of detail, and any time a Christie book has one of those grand country-house vibes, this is one of the first places that pops into my head. And yeah, there’s also that big newer building in the aerial photo that’s probably the care facility (I’m linking it just in case, because it wasn’t obvious at first). The whole “using a country house for high-level negotiations/government stuff” thing has me thinking of Secret of Chimneys/Seven Dials type plots. People compared it to places like Chequers or Cliveden, so I get why Lord Caterham would be annoyed at random visitors showing up—but at the same time he probably feels stuck letting it happen. I did find a real-life example that’s more or less the same general idea, just in the US: Hickory Hill, which was a big house near DC where the Kennedys did a lot of hosting in the 50s and 60s. Jackie and JFK lived there before he was president, and then it became Robert Kennedy’s place. Because RFK’s family was huge, it worked out really well with all the bedrooms, and he apparently had colleagues and staff come there if they needed to work through things. They also hosted lectures and parties and stuff, even inviting some pretty shady-looking figures out of curiosity. It honestly sounds like the kind of setting where if Christie ever staged a gathering with awkward guests and a possible murder, it’d fit. At one point they had a ton of animals around too—horses, dogs, chickens and geese, plus all the reptiles and snakes and even a red-tailed hawk (which is wild), and Bobby Jr. apparently loved it. There’s also the “hotel” vibe from all the constant comings and goings. And the whole Bundle climbing out of a window thing feels like it could’ve happened there too, because their kids were definitely pulling off stuff like that. Sources I used are mainly the Abney Hall info links plus the Hickory Hill pages/videos, and a mention of American Values (2018) where RFK Jr. talks about growing up there.

What’s your favorite Agatha Christie book?

By faintLynx

I’m almost done with my current Agatha Christie read, and now I’m already itching to start another. Curious what everyone’s favorite Christie novel is? Like, which one do you really like and why? I’d love a few suggestions so I can decide what to read next—thanks!

Just finished The Secret of Chimneys and The Seven Dials Mystery (mini-reviews)

By VioletHeron15

Since Seven Dials is getting put on Netflix, I figured I should actually read the books first for once, or at least listen to them, since I’ve done pretty much all my Christie stuff the other way around before — watched the movie or series first, then read the book after. A few thoughts. I liked Chimneys as more of an action/mystery/thriller kind of thing, and I didn’t even clock who Bundle was from the Seven Dials trailers until I was about halfway in, since she shows up kind of late and I was mostly thinking Virginia Revel was the main girl. The ending threw me a bit, because it seemed like a bunch of stuff just got dropped on me out of nowhere. I probably need to go back to it and see if I was just missing the signs with Lemoin or Genevieve Brun, especially since she’s barely in it, or that Anthony was really prince Nicholas. That reveal honestly had me staring for a second. Still, it was a fun, easy read, and I really liked getting Battle and Bundle introduced. Seven Dials felt a lot like an episode of Jeeves and Wooster, except with murders in it. I kept picturing Bertie and his hopeless rich friends stumbling around in some spy plot, but without a smart valet to get them out of trouble. I actually laughed out loud at a few parts, especially when Lomax really asked to marry Bundle!! And then the ending somehow got me again. I think Christie got me with a bunch of the fake-outs, because I did not see Jimmy as the one behind it, or Lorraine helping him. That twist felt easier for me to accept than the Chimneys one, at least for now until I reread it, and overall I liked Seven Dials more and rated it higher. I’m still pretty interested in the Netflix version, even though I expect they’ll change quite a lot. I’m fine with Freeman as Battle, although I do agree with some of the other comments that Battle should be a bigger, more solid kind of guy. Freeman usually plays the guy who gets pushed around, while Battle in the books, even in Cards on the Table, seems more like he’s in charge, just not quite at Poirot level. McKenna-Bruce does seem like a really good Bundle to me. She’s got that energetic thing going on, and I’m noticing the aggressive driving from the trailers too. I’m less sure about Bonham-Carter, not because she can’t act, because obviously she can, but just because if she’s playing either a totally new Lady Caterham or basically a gender-swapped Lord Caterham, then it might as well be a new character anyway from what the trailers show. Either way, I’m sure there’ll be lots to nitpick, but I still think it’ll probably be a fun adaptation.

The Secret of Chimneys

By bottle

I picked up Agatha Christie’s murder mystery, **The Secret of Chimneys**, on **Nov 9, 2025**, and I’m pretty much at the end now. 😊📚

The Secret of Chimneys

By amberfrog40

I’m getting ready to start “The Secret of Chimneys.” I’m pretty sure I read it ages ago, maybe back in the ’80s when I was in high school and borrowing my mom’s Agatha Christie books, but I honestly don’t remember anything about it. Lately I’ve been leaning more toward Miss Marple than Hercule Poirot, even though I still enjoy him. I know this one isn’t a series book, so I’m hoping I end up liking it!

Chimneys

By Stone_Brown1977

I just started The Secret of Chimneys for the first time and I’m getting major Postern of Fate vibes. Feels like late Christie but with all the fancy war/spies business. Is it actually worth pushing through, or does it get better and kind of redeem itself?