On the blog last week mention was made of Thomas Cook, and his first package tour from Leicester to
Loughborough in 1841. If I remember rightly, the company was taken over by Hays,
and it was around that time (2018??) that the Thomas Cook archive was deposited
at the Record Office for Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland. I believe
Thomas Cook is now part of eSky. Anyway, I think I also mentioned Agatha
Christie last week? So now seems like a good time to combine Cook and Christie!!!
While I was
reading all the Agatha Christie novels last year, I was struck by the number of
times ‘Cook’s’ was mentioned – and I may have missed some of them! Seems to me,
that throughout the appearance of Cook’s in the books, starting in 1924 in The Man
in the Brown Suit, to Cat Among the Pigeons in 1959, the company must
have been very well known, since in no instances does Christie expand upon what
exactly the business was about. Admittedly, such information is usually obvious
from the context in which the reference to Cook’s appears, so that makes it rather
interesting, and not unlike passing references to shops of the period, maybe
like Harrods, or Fortnum and Masons. The Mystery of the Blue Train
contains the most references, while most of the others contain only one.
So, here are
some extracts from the mentions I’ve found of Thomas Cook’s travel agency
business in Agatha Christie’s novels. The page numbers are taken from the
editions I read, which were published by Heron Books, c. 1976.
Today, you can follow a heritage trail linked to places connected with Thomas Cook - e.g. Loughborough railway station; on the entrance to Southfields Park; his birthplace in Melbourne; Leicester railway station, and a building on King Street and Welford Place, Leicester. The Loughborough ones are on the plaque trail on this blog. A new plaque was unveiled at Loughborough railway station a few years ago, too.
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| Thomas Cook at Leicester Railway Station |
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| New plaque at Loughborough Railway Station |
The Man in the Brown Suit, 1924, Chapter 1, page 9
An
anthropologist and his daughter are planning to travel to see a newly
discovered antique skull:
“There is not
time to be lost. We must be on the spot – there are doubtless incalculable finds
to be found in the neighbourhood. I shall be interested to note whether the
implements are typical of the Mousterian period – there will be the remains of
the primitive ox. I should say, but not those of the woolly rhinoceros. Yes, a little
army will be starting soon. We must get ahead of them. You will write to Cook’s
today, Anne?’
‘What about
money, Papa?’ I hinted delicately.
He turned a
reproachful eye upon me.
‘Your point
of view always depresses me, my child. We must not be sordid. No, no, in the
cause of science one must not be sordid.’
‘I feel Cook’s
might be sordid, Papa.’
Papa looked
pained.
‘My dear
Anne, you will pay them in ready money.’
‘I haven’t
got any ready money.’
Papa looked
thoroughly exasperated.
‘My child, I
really cannot be bothered with these vulgar money details …’”
The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928, Chapter 8, pg 59
Lady Tamplin
has invited her cousin, Katherine Grey, to visit her:
“[Katherine]
drew out from her handbag the letter she had received that morning from Lady Tamplin.
Katherine was no fool. She understood the nuances of that letter as well
as anybody and the reason of Lady Tamplin’s sudden show of affection towards a
long-forgotten cousin was not lost upon her. It was for profit and not for
pleasure that lady Tamplin was so anxious for the company of her dear cousin.
Well, why not? There would be profit on both sides.
‘I will go,’
said Katherine.
She was
walking down Piccadilly at the moment, and turned into Cook’s to clinch the matter
then and there. She had to wait a few minutes, The man with whom the clerk was
engaged was also going to the Riviera…”
Ditto, Chapter
9, page 60
“Derek
Kettering … strolled along deep in thought … He walked up St James’s Street,
across Picadilly, and strolled along it in the direction of Piccadilly Circus.
As he passed the offices of Messrs. Thomas Cook & Sons his footsteps slackened.
He walked on, however, still turning the matter over in his mind. Finally, he
gave a brief nod of his head, turned sharply, so sharply as to collide with a
couple of pedestrians who were following in his footsteps, and went back the
way he had come. This time he did not pass Cook’s, but went in. The office was
comparatively empty, and he got attended to at once.
‘I want to go
to Nice next week. Will you give me particulars?’
‘What date,
sir?’
‘The
fourteenth. What is the best train?’
‘Well, of course,
the best train is what they call ‘The Blue Train.’ You avoid the
tiresome Customs business at Calais.’
Derek nodded.
He knew all this, none better.
‘The fourteenth’
murmured the clerk; ‘that is rather soon. The Blue Train is nearly always all
booked up.’
‘See if there
is a berth left,’ said Derek. ‘If there is not –‘ He left the sentence
unfinished, with a curious smile on his face.
The clerk
disappeared for a few minutes and presently returned. ‘That is all right, sir;
still three berths left. I will book you one of them. What name?’
‘Pavett,’
said Derek. He gave the address of his rooms in Jermyn Street.
The clerk nodded,
finished writing it down, wished Derek good morning politely, and turned his
attention to the next client.”
Ditto,
chapter 10, page 77
Katherine
Grey awoke during the middle of the night on the train, so decided to walk
along the carriage
“She looked down
the long, dim line of the corridor and saw, to her surprise, that a man was standing
with his hand on the door of the compartment occupied by the lady in the mink
coat. That is to say, she thought it was the compartment. Probably, however,
she was mistaken. He stood there for a moment or two with his back to her,
seeming uncertain and hesitating in his attitude. Then he slowly turned, and
with an odd feeling of fatality, Katherine recognised him as the same man whom
she had noticed twice before – once in the corridor of the Savoy Hotel and once
in Cook’s offices. Then he opened the door of the compartment and passed in,
drawing it to behind him.”
Ditto,
Chapter 12, page 96
Following the
murder of one of the passengers, Katherine remembers her nocturnal wander:
“But suddenly
Katherine remembered a small fact … She had certainly thought that she had seen
a man going into that particular compartment, but she realised that she might easily
have been mistaken. It might have been the compartment next door, and certainly
the man in question could be no train robber. She recalled him very clearly as
she had seen him on those two previous occasions – once at The Savoy and once
at Cook’s office. No, doubtless she had been mistaken, He had not gone into the
dead woman’s compartment, and it was perhaps as well that she had said nothing
to the police. She might have done incalculable harm by doing so.”
Evil Under
the Sun, 1941, Chapter 1, part 2, pg 3:
“Mrs Gardener
was saying: … all I want now is to get to some quiet spot by the seaside and
just relax. That’s what I said, wasn’t it Odell? Just relax. I feel I must
relax, I said. That’s so, isn’t it Odell?
Mr Gardener,
from behind his hat murmured:
“Yes darling.”
Mrs Gardener
pursued the theme.
“And so when
I mentioned it to Mr Kelso, at Cook’s – He’s arranged all our itinerary for us
and been most helpful in every way. I don’t really know what we’d have
done without him! – well, as I say when I mentioned it to him, Mr Kelso said that
we couldn’t do better than come here [Leathercombe Bay]. A most picturesque
spot, he said, quite out of the world, and at the same time very comfortable and
most exclusive in every way.”
Destination
Unknown, 1954, Chapter 2, page 46:
“[Hilary
Craven, in disguise as Mrs Olive Betterton] had already inquired at the desk
[in the hotel], but there had been no messages or letters for her there. The
first steps in her new role had to be taken very much in the dark. Olive
Betterton might perhaps have been told to ring a certain number or contact a certain
person at Casablanca. As to that, there was no clue. All the knowledge she had
to go on was Olive Betterton’s passport, her letter of credit, and her book of
cooks’ tickets and reservations. These provided for two days in Casablanca, six
days in Fez, and five days in Marrakesh. These reservations were now, of course,
out of date, and would have to be dealt with accordingly. The passport, the Letter
of Credit and the accompanying Letter of Identification had been suitably dealt
with. The photograph on the passport was not that of Hilary, the signatures on
the Letter of Credit was Olive Betterton in Hilary’s handwriting. Her credentials
were all in order. Her task was to play her part adequately and to wait. Her
master card must be the plane accident and its resultant loss of memory and
general haziness.”
Ditto page
48:
“The evening
so far had been quite indecisive. The two women who had talked to [Hilary] had
been such well-known travelling types that she could hardly believe that they
were other than they seemed. Tomorrow, she decided, if she had received no word
or communication of any kind, she would go to Cooks, and raise the question of fresh
reservations at Fez and Marrakesh.”
4.50 from
Paddington, 1957, Chapter 18, pt 2, page 177
Inspector
Craddock is questioning Cedric Crackenthorpe about his arrival in England from Iviza:
“… ‘You told
me, Mr Crackenthorpe, that you left Iviza on 21st December and arrived in England
the same day?’
‘So I did. Em!
Hi, Em!’
Emma
Crackenthorpe came through the adjoining door from the small morning-room. She
looked inquiringly from Cedric to the inspector.
‘Look here,
Em. I arrived for Christmas on the Sunday before, didn’t I? Came straight from
the airport?’
‘Yes,’ said
Emma wonderingly. ‘You got here about lunch time.’
‘There you
are,’ said Cedric to the inspector.
‘You must
think us very foolish, Mr Crackenthorpe,’ said Craddock pleasantly. ’We can
check on these things, you know. I think, if you’ll show me your passport –‘
He paused
expectantly.
‘Can’t find
the damned thing,’ said Cedric. ‘Was looking for it this morning. Wanted to send
it to Cook’s.’”
Cat Among
the Pigeons, 1959, Chapter 19, pt 2
Inspector Kelsey
is trying to trace a woman called Mrs Upjohn.
“Easier said
than done,’ said Kelsey. ‘We’ve been trying to get in contact with Mrs Upjohn,
but the whole thing’s a headache! When the child said a bus, I thought she
meant a proper coach tour, running to schedule, and a party all booked together.
But that’s not it at all. Seems she’s just taking local buses to any place she
happens to fancy! She’s not done it through Cook’s or a recognised travel
agency. She’s all on her own, wandering about. What can you do with a woman
like that? She might be anywhere!”
____________________________________
Posted by
lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for
typos which are all mine!
_______________________________________________
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(2025). Christie and Cook. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/08/christie-and-cook.html [Accessed 24 August 2025]
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