The Secret Adversary

Agatha Christie's "The Secret Adversary," published in January 1922, introduces the iconic duo Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley. Bored and unemployed after World War I, they form 'Young Adventurers Ltd.' seeking excitement. Their first case plunges them into a perilous international conspiracy. They must find Jane Finn, a woman who possesses a secret treaty signed on the ill-fated Lusitania, before it falls into the hands of the elusive and dangerous criminal mastermind, "Mr. Brown." As Tommy and Tuppence navigate a world of espionage, deception, kidnapping, and betrayal, they race against time to recover the treaty and prevent it from destabilizing the British government and potentially igniting another war.

Reading ease score: 86.6 (6th grade). Easy to read.