Passenger to Frankfurt: An Extravaganza 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 ...". There is also an author's introduction on the writing of the story, which concludes, "This story is in essence a fantasy. It pretends to be nothing more. But most of the things that happen in it are happening, or giving promise of happening in the world of today. It is not an impossible story - it is only a fantastic one."
Sir Stafford Nye, a middle-aged diplomat, steps into the world of spies, double agents, and secret groups to effect a change in international power centres. He meets a woman who has selected him to aid her at a crucial point, when a weather delay changes where her and his aeroplane flight lands before proceeding to England. There is much commentary on the changes in the world, especially college age youth in Europe, the United States, and South America, in the late 1960s.
The novel received mixed reviews at publication and in 1990. In 2017, it was assessed favourably in an essay about speculative spy thriller novels by women. It is one of only four Christie novels not to have received an adaptation of any kind, the others being Death Comes as the End, Destination Unknown and Postern of Fate.
Plot summary Sir Stafford Nye's flight home from Malaya takes an unexpected twist, when a woman approaches him in the Frankfurt Airport. The woman claims that her life is in danger, and that she needs his help. Nye agrees to lend her his travelling cloak, passport, and boarding ticket. A colleague in London, Horsham of Security, tells Nye that his action in Frankfurt saved Mary Ann's life; Sir Stafford heard another name announced for her at the airport, Daphne Theodofanous. Nye has dinner with his friend Eric, worried for his professional reputation. Mary Ann returns his passport, taped into a magazine in his post. Nye advertises in the personals section of the newspaper for his mystery woman, signing himself as Passenger to Frankfurt. She replies with tickets to an opera, given at a discreet meeting on a bridge. His great-aunt Matilda hints to him of a terrible world-wide conspiracy, which uses a phrase of music from Richard Wagner, related to the opera Siegfried (1876). Matilda detects that he has a woman in his life now.
The opera is Siegfried, part of The Ring of the Nibelung by Wagner. The mystery woman attends only the second half, leaving Nye the tune for young Siegfried marked on a copy of the program, a motif for what she is doing. He attends an embassy party, given by the American ambassador and his wife, Sam and Mildred Cortman. Mary Ann is there, under her real name, Countess Renata Zerkowski. She offers Nye a ride home, but takes him instead to the home of Mr Robinson the financier, where they meet Colonel Pikeaway, Lord Altamount, James Kleek and Horsham. Nye is not seen for a while, as he has been accepted by the close-knit group of British intelligence to aid in accomplishing the tasks Mary Ann has taken on. They travel extensively. Mary Ann warns Nye that one among their own group is probably a traitor.
Some believe that near the end of World War II, Adolf Hitler went to a mental institution, met with a group of people who thought they were Hitler, and exchanged places with one of them, thus surviving the war. He escaped to Argentina, where he married and had a son who was branded with a swastika on his heel. This belief encourages those who want to resurrect the beliefs and ways of the Nazis. The Countess believes she has this boy with his swastika tattoo. The story is told to the Intelligence group by psychiatrist Dr Reichardt, but they know it is false. Hitler had no son. The British Intelligence group explains in several long expository chapters how drugs, promiscuity, and student unrest in the United States and Europe are caused by Nazi agitators. The agitators begin to bring about anarchy, attacking the American ambassador and the French Marshal. The goal is to re-build fascism. Meetings in Paris and London describe the movement of money and arms and their sources, and major players.
Nye's great-aunt, Lady Matilda, goes on her own trip, to visit her school mate, Countess Charlotte von Waldsausen, learning Charlotte's plans to be leader of the fascist world, which she then relates to her nephew. On her return, Matilda tells her friend Admiral Philip Blunt about the scientist Professor Shoreham, who invented something called Project B, or Benvo, which is a drug that makes people altruistic, but may cause a long-term change. Shoreham had a stroke, and he cannot communicate well. He had shelved Project B before his stroke. The Intelligence group meets at Shoreham's home, where he explains the limitations of his benevolent project. Kleek, traitor in the Intelligence group tries to kill Lord Altamount by poison and is blocked, so Miss Ellis the nurse to Shoreham shoots Lord Altamount, who dies of shock. Miss Ellis is recognized as Milly Jean Cortman, who had also killed her husband. The violent incident brings new energy to Shoreham, who resolves to restart work on his project. He will contact his colleague Gottlieb to restart Project Benvo and also arrange a memorial to Lord Altamount, the only politician he had ever trusted.
The final chapter is an epilogue, with Nye at Matilda's house preparing for his upcoming marriage to Mary Ann. The supposed son of Hitler has been brought to England for a more normal life and is about to become the organist at their church. Sybil, Nye's 5-year-old niece, will be the flower girl at the wedding. Nye forgets a best man, but asks Sybil to bring the panda, which he bought for her at the Frankfurt airport, as it has been "in it" from the beginning.
Characters Sir Stafford Nye: English diplomat, age 45, with a sense of humour that marks him as unreliable to some in the diplomatic community. Mary Ann: Countess Renata Zerkowski, who is known as Daphne Theodofanous in various situations. She starts out a woman without a name when Nye first meets her in the Frankfurt airport. She is an active member of the group seeking to prove Countess Charlotte in the wrong, collecting information worldwide. Horsham says her mother was Greek and her father was German, and a grandfather was an Austrian subject (in the days of its Empire). The Intelligence group dubs her Mary Ann, reflecting her varied work for them. Panda: Nye buys a stuffed panda as a gift for his niece Sybil, when he is in the airport. Lady Matilda Cleckheaton: Nye's great-aunt who is well connected and has a mysterious past that left her with so many friends and contacts. She takes action to aid her nephew, with Lord Altamount and by her trip to Bavaria. She was schoolmate to the rich and powerful countess. Amy Leatheran: nurse and assistant to Lady Matilda. Gordon Chetwynd: Sir Stafford's acquaintance in the office, who tells Nye his story was in the newspaper. Henry Horsham: from the Security office, who pays heed to the incident of Nye at the airport, his passport taken. He is in the select group of Intelligence agents that meets at Robinson's home. Colonel Munro: works in the same office as Nye, and talks over Nye's incident at the airport, investigates it. Eric Pugh: Sir Stafford's acquaintance, school friend who is good at gathering information. They talk when he is in London, back from Malaya, and after his incident in the airport. Colonel Ephraim Pikeaway: heavy pipe smoker, retired, who is one of the select Intelligence group working to block an unwanted international movement. He is confident in Sir Stafford Nye. The character also appeared in two other novels: Cat Among the Pigeons (1959) and Postern of Fate (1973). Sir George Packham: the Minister who speaks with Pikeaway about Nye's incident at the Frankfurt airport. He worries about Nye. Sam Cortman: Ambassador of the United States to the United Kingdom, fictional. Days after the dinner, shot dead on the embassy steps in London, by his wife Mildred, as it was later learned. Mildred (Milly Jean) Cortman: wife of the American ambassador who hosts an embassy dinner. Mr Robinson: Financier, master of international money flows, both how to do them and how to learn who is doing them. He realizes that Shoreham did not burn his records of an important project, but put them in a safe somewhere. The character appeared in three other novels: Cat Among the Pigeons (1959), At Bertram's Hotel (1965), and Postern of Fate (1973). Lord (Edward) Altamount: retired from diplomatic service, serving as a consultant, and one of the select intelligence group. He dies of shock when Milly Jean Cortman wounds him with gunshot. Sir James Kleek: Lord Altamount's right-hand man, who recognizes patterns. He worked for Altamount for seven years, yet he is the traitor in the group, who tries to inject Altamount with strychnine but is stopped by Horsham in the meeting at Professor Shoreham's house. Further he tries to discredit Mary Ann as being Juanita, when Kleek knows the true Juanita. Countess Charlotte von Waldsausen: rich and powerful woman, very fat and with health problems that make walking difficult, who lives in Bavaria. She is also called Big Charlotte and she was a schoolmate of Lady Matilda. Matilda considers her to be like the character Brunhild in the opera Siegfried by Richard Wagner. She wants to change the world order, having been fond of the Nazi approach to life, an approach which was lost in World War II. The war ended 25 years before this story. Franz Joseph: young Siegfried under Countess Charlotte. Handsome, a skilled orator and musician. The one to lead the young in anarchy to break down the old en route to new, fascist ways. When the conspiracy is broken, Sir Stafford Nye brings him to England to play the organ at his Great-Aunt's local church.
Meeting in Paris Signor Vitelly: Prime Minister of Italy. He reports on upheavals in his country. Monsieur Coin: the Minister of the Interior for France. Meeting in Paris regarding violent social upheavals. Monsieur Grosjean: the President of France. Meeting in Paris regarding violent social upheavals in France and other European nations. The Marshal: charismatic military man of France, who insists he will face the armed groups of young people. He gets shot and wounded by the students.
Meetings in London Cedric Lazenby: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who wants to solve everything by a talk between him and the leader of another nation. Admiral Philip Blunt: an old friend of Lady Matilda. Considering the options. Professor Eckstein: a British scientist of high repute, nervous in this company of high government officials. He has a grim summary of lethal weapons, nothing helpful to the present situation. Herr Heinrich Spiess: the Chancellor of Germany, who meets with the Prime Minister and a few of the Intelligence group, so they hear the story of a German psychiatrist. Dr Reichardt: Psychiatrist at Karlsruhe during the war and after, he presents a story to the group that Hitler visited his hospital and let a patient who believed he was Hitler (a psychiatric disease) leave in his place. The patient left behind is soon removed by his family.