Throwback Thursday: They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

Published on by Margaret

Today I’m linking up with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for Throwback Thursday. It takes place on the Thursday before the first Saturday of every month (i.e., the Thursday before the monthly #6Degrees post). The idea is to highlight one of your previously published book reviews and then link back to Davida’s blog.

They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie is a standalone spy thriller. I first reviewed it on November 4, 2011.

My review begins:

I made copious notes as I read Agatha Christie’s They Came to Baghdad because it’s such a complex plot and there seemed to be so many significant events and people that I wanted to clarify what was happening. This is not one of Agatha Christie’s detective novels – no Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot,-  just Victoria Jones, a short-hand typist, a courageous girl with a ‘natural leaning towards adventure’ and a tendency to tell lies. Set in 1950 this is a story about international espionage and conspiracy. The heads of the ‘great powers‘ are secretly meeting in Baghdad, where if it all goes wrong ‘the balloon will go up with a vengeance.’ And an underground criminal organisation is out to make sure it does go wrong, aiming at ‘total war – total destruction. And then – the new Heaven and the new Earth.’

Click here to read my full review

The next ThrowbackThursday post is scheduled for December 1, 2022.

8 thoughts on “Throwback Thursday: They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie”

  1. Hi Margaret, I’m always up for an Agatha Christie novel but this one really grabs me because I’m currently reading State of Terror by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny. Do you know it? It too is all about international espionage and foiling a plot to avert total destruction. I’m not sure there’s any references to archaeological digs but Iraq features and I’ve just read a section which took place in a cave in Iraq covered in ancient paintings. I think I’ll make They Came to Baghdad my next Christie as it will be so interesting to compare these two books written 70 years apart. I’m glad you chose this one to feature today!

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    1. Hi Sandra, no I haven’t read State of Terror, but it sounds as though I should. Christie was such a good writer, I think. You might like her archaeological memoir, Come, Tell Me How You Live, if you haven’t read it already. It’s about what life was like when she accompanied Max on his excavations in Syria and Iraq in the 1930s. It’s such a contrast with what that area is like today.

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  2. One of my all time favourite Christies, I seem to like these books about plucky young women and their daring exploits. Christie really knew how to write such characters.

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  3. I’m so glad you enjoyed this one, Margaret, and very happy to see you’re revisiting it here. I agree with you that Victoria is a fantastic character; I think Christie did write some strong female characters, and she’s one of them. And of course, the setting is terrific, too. I’m glad to be reminded of it.

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