Ping

Christie doesn't seem to have the same innate talent for thrillers as she had for detective stories at this point. It plays all its cards face-up, which actually works to forefront the real appeal of the story: the relationship between Tommy and Tuppence.

... Unfortunately they spend much of it separated. Oh well. Still, it's a fine little mystery, and I'm interested in the sequels if only for the knowledge that they are written so far apart that T&T age over them.

If anything's disappointing me on revisiting this series it's Trillian. She had little to do last time and gets even less here.

I think I unlocked a memory halfway through of not jiving with this one so much as a teen either. Very plotty, meandering between set pieces that mostly lead to dead ends, and also seems to have forgotten that the last book ended with a promise to go to the titular Restaurant. But the plot functions well enough as a Wit Delivery System that it's hard to mind so much.

I like the captain in the bath. He's got life figured out.

Revisited this for the first time since I was a teenager. I was a little worried it wouldn't be the same book I worshipped at time time but it mostly holds up! I have a better appreciation now for the focus on coincidence and probability as a theme and not just a joke delivery system. Also makes the aggressive atheism more interesting, probably.

The only part that lost some shine for me are the characters, and especially Arthur. Why did Ford choose to save him? "Because they're friends." Yes, and why are they friends? I get you need an audience-surrogate everyman but he just seems rather unpleasant. Or maybe he's just extremely English and I can't tell that apart from sarcasm.