"Crooked Adam" by D.E. Stevenson

My D.E. Stevenson fan group recently started its group readalong/discussion of a novel we've never covered in the 27 (!)-year history of the group: "Crooked Adam."  I started reading the book just before our discussion began on Nov. 3rd, and read all the way through on my own, as is my usual practice. (I re-read each chapter as it comes up for discussion in the group, and I'll count the book as a re-read when we finish in February.) 

Goodreads lists "Crooked Adam"'s publication date as January 1940, while other sources say 1942.  At any rate, it's one of several DES novels that are set in World War II Britain -- during the early days of the war -- and written while the war was still going on and the outcome very much uncertain. 

"Crooked Adam" is Adam Southey, nicknamed as such by his schoolmates (and later, his students) because he is lame and walks with a limp. For that reason, he's not eligible to enlist, and is stuck teaching school at his alma mater -- and he's not happy about it. 

But Adam soon learns there's more than one way to serve your country: the school's headmaster, Sam Cooke (! -- not the singer, obviously, lol), a brilliant scientist, has developed a secret weapon that will help the war effort.  He's planning to take his work to a remote corner of the Scottish Highlands during the school's break, and build a working model of the weapon, and he invites Adam to come help him. 

But enemy agents are after the plans... and Adam and Dr. Cooke are in danger.  

A spy thriller/adventure novel is a bit of a departure for Stevenson from her usual family dramas and light romances -- although there are some romantic subplots here, and I was reminded in some ways of her 1936 novel "The Empty World" (reviewed here and here). (Also, she was a second cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote "Treasure Island," among other classic novels, so perhaps it's not as much of a departure as one might think..!) As someone from my group observed, "The Empty World is Science Fiction with Thriller elements.  And Crooked Adam is a Thriller with Science Fiction elements."  

Unfortunately, there are a number of plot holes and weaknesses that marred the story for me. To name a few: 

• Characters are introduced (Dr. Cooke, Ford, Mr Brownlee and his pretty daughter Evelyn, etc.) and then fade into the background or disappear completely, while others come to the forefront (Ebby, Brenda). 
• Stevenson was obviously not a scientist, and a lot of the details about Dr. Cook's brilliant invention and how it works are glossed over ("you wouldn't understand...").  A certain amount of suspended disbelief is necessary. 
• There's a bizarre little tangent of a subplot involving a circus (!) that goes on for several chapters. 
• Adam is initially smitten with Evelyn, but quickly forgets her when he learns there's someone else in the picture -- especially when he meets the sad and mysterious Brenda (although I quite liked Brenda once we learned more of her story). 
• And I was irked by Adam's penchant for impulsive and risky behaviour: each time he finds himself in a pickle, he realizes he's been an idiot -- but once he survives that episode, he goes out and does something else that's equally or more risky and idiotic!

Still, we wouldn't have much of a story if he didn't -- and overall, this was a mildly entertaining romp through the Scottish Highlands.

A few people on Goodreads commented that this book reminded them of John Buchan's "The Thirty-Nine Steps." I haven't read the book but I have seen the 1935 movie several times, and I think it's a pretty apt comparison. "Crooked Adam" has a cinematic quality -- I could picture the scenes unfolding in my head, like a black-and-white 1940s movie, as I read.    

3 stars on both Goodreads and StoryGraph. 

This was Book #34 read to date in 2025 (and Book #1 finished in November), bringing me to 76% of  my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 4 books behind  schedule to meet my goal.  :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2025 tagged as "2025 books."