Passenger to Frankfurt
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
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| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Not known |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Spy novel |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
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Publication date
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September 1970 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 256 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 119946 |
| 823/.9/12 | |
| LC Class | PZ3.C4637 Pas PR6005.H66 |
| Preceded by | Hallowe'en Party |
| Followed by | Nemesis |
Passenger to Frankfurt: An Extravanganza is a spy novel by Agatha Christie first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1970 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at twenty-five shillings. In preparation for decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it was concurrently priced on the dustjacket at £1.25. The US edition retailed at $5.95.
It was published to mark Christie's eightieth birthday and, by counting up both UK and US short-story collections to reach the desired total, was also advertised as her eightieth book. It is the last of her spy novels. At the beginning of the book there is a quote by Jan Smuts, "Leadership, besides being a great creative force, can be diabolical ..."
It is one of only four Christie novels to have not received an adaptation of any kind (such as screen, stage or radio) and one of only five of her novels to have not received a screen adaptation - the others being Death Comes as the End, Destination Unknown, Postern of Fate and Crooked House.
Sir Stafford Nye's flight home from Malaya takes an unexpected twist when the bored diplomat is approached in an airport by a woman whose life is in danger. He agrees to lend her his passport and boarding ticket. Suddenly, Stafford has unwittingly entered a web of international intrigue, from which the only escape is to outwit the power-crazed Countess von Waldsausen who is hell-bent on world domination through the manipulation and arming of the planet's youth, which brings with it what promises to be a resurgence of Nazi domination. Unwittingly the diplomat has put his own life on the line. His Great-Aunt Matilda hints to him of a terrible world-wide conspiracy that has something to do with Richard Wagner and "The Young Siegfried". When Stafford meets the mystery woman again, he finds himself drawn into a battle against an invisible and altogether more dangerous enemy.
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Wikipedia