They Came to Baghdad

About “They Came to Baghdad”

Agatha Christie's 1951 novel They Came to Baghdad is set in the Middle Eastern city of Baghdad. The story follows Victoria Jones, a young woman who becomes involved in a secret spy operation after a wounded agent dies in her hotel room. The agent's last words—'Lucifer... Basrah... Lefarge...'—draw her into a dangerous mystery. The novel takes place against the backdrop of a secret summit involving superpowers, with an underground organization planning to disrupt the talks. Christie wrote the book during her time living in Baghdad and while accompanying her husband, Sir Max Mallowan, on archaeological digs in Iraq. The novel is part of her work in the spy thriller genre.