The Secret Adversary

The Secret Adversary is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head in January 1922 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in that same year. The book introduces the characters of Tommy and Tuppence who feature in three other Christie books and one collection of short stories written throughout her writing career. Reunited in 1919 London, demobilised soldier Tommy Beresford and nurse Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley, out of work and money, form the "The Young Adventurers, Ltd." planning to hiring themselves out as "adventurers … willing to do anything, go anywhere … no unreasonable offer refused." They are overheard by a Mr. Whittington who offers Tuppence a comfortable position, but he is shocked when she randomly gives her name as "Jane Finn", a name Tommy in turn had overheard him use and mentioned during the same conversation.