The Secret Adversary

This is a book by Agatha Christie.

I have read many of Ms. Christie's books and liked some better than others. This is one of the better ones!

It was written a long time ago (1922) and was one of her first. The "modern" language (slang) of the book sounds a bit funny at times and at others is a bit hard to comprehend, but this is a very good story.

The basis may seem a little hard to accept today - early Red Terror - but the plot is well done. This was one of the few that I figured out before the "reveal", but I think it may have been just luck.

Lots of twists and turns. Give it a try if you like mysteries.

The Scent of Desire (A Book on Our Sense of Smell)

This book by Rachel Herz is subtitled "Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell". I heard an interview with her on the book recently and happened to see it at the public library, so gave it a try. Overall, the book is OK, so I recommend it if the topic appeals to you.

There are many interesting items brought up in the book - like how much our emotional well being depends on our ability to smell and how smell and taste are related. However, I did not like how the book was organized, and how it was tentative on conclusions in many spots - sort of left me feeling confused and unsatisfied in many places.

About a year ago, I wrote about another book on smell that I liked better - the Emperor of Scent I think it was called. It was more "scientific" than Ms. Herz's book, and I thought better organized, which made it a better fit for me perhaps. Note that these two books do not overlap completely on subject matter. There is value in reading both; it is the approach that differs.

Let me know what you think.