Reading this some what battered Crime Club copy - a first edition from 1951 - with its musty bookish smell helps one to remember it is a period piece and so Christie should not be judged too harshly for some of the prejudices this work betrays (that is not to suggest that we should excuse her entirely - just remember some ideas that are beyond the pale now were common currency then).
While the settling is Baghdad this is almost entirely a European story - of the main characters only 2 are non-western, one a paper thin stereotype of a comic hotelier, the other a fanatical but seemingly junior member of the organisation that is to be defeated.
It is a stange mix - the basic plot is more typical of Ian Flemming than Christie - with a secret global organisation set of establishing a new world order - it is a 'big' story but the main character, Victoria, the accidental detective is all Christie, breaking the global conspiracy by turns with fanstical lies and all the plucky 'jolly hockey sticks' gusto she can manage and so it is cut down to a light read.
Without one of her big name 'detectives' this is in many ways a refreshing outing with Christie although it would still be hard to argue against a charge of "formulaic".
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