The story was first serialized in Le Soir Jeunesse, children's supplement to Belgium's leading newspaper Le Soir, from 11 June 1942 to 14 January 1943 before being published in book form later that year. The Secret of the Unicorn is the first volume in a two-part adventure concluded inRed Rackham's Treasure (1944).
Written while Belgium was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II, The Secret of the Unicorn is the first book in the series to avoid political themes, instead focusing purely on an adventure story, and has been described as being the first book in Hergé's middle period. It is also known for being one of only two books in the series set entirely in Belgium.
Hergé heavily researched the background to his story, ensuring that the various ships, buildings, and other features illustrated in it were based upon real life counterparts. The Secret of the Unicorn was Hergé's favourite Tintin adventure until he made Tintin in Tibet (1960). The story has had adaptations including a radio series (1992), two animated television series, Hergé's Adventures of Tintin (1959–63) and The Adventures of Tintin (1991), and the film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011).
Whilst browsing in a market in Brussels, Tintin purchases an old model ship which he wishes to give to his friend Captain Haddock as a gift. Two strangers, the model ship collector Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine and a mysterious figure known as Barnaby, then unsuccessfully try to independently convince Tintin to sell the model to them. Returning with the model to his flat, Snowy knocks it over and its mainmast is broken. Repairing it, and showing the ship to Haddock, the latter is amazed that it is actually a model of theUnicorn, a 17th-century warship captained by his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock. The model ship is subsequently stolen, and it is revealed that Sakharine owns an identical model of the Unicorn, although this was soon stolen. Returning to his flat, Tintin discovers a rolled-up parchment hidden under furniture, on which is a part of a riddle that points to the location of treasure, and he realises that this must have been hidden in the mast of the model which Snowy had broken.
Informing Haddock about the riddle, the captain tells him of how Sir Francis Haddock battled with the pirate Red Rackham somewhere in the West Indies, before killing him in single combat and blowing up his ship. Haddock gets somewhat carried away in his telling of the story: destroying his flat while re-enacting the battle scenes. He also reveals that three models exist in total.
Barnaby then turns up at Tintin's doorstep but is shot down by unknown assailants. Later Tintin is kidnapped by the perpetrators of the shooting. They are revealed to be the Bird brothers, two unscrupulous antique dealers who own a third model of the Unicorn. They are behind the theft of Tintin's model and Sakharine's parchment, knowing that only with all three parchments can the location of the treasure be found for the following book Red Rackham's treasure. Tintin escapes from the Bird brothers' country estate, Marlinspike Hall, whilst the Captain arrives with the police officers Thomson and Thompson to arrest them. However, it is found that they do not have two of the parchments. These are found to have been stolen by Aristides Silk, a kleptomaniacspecialising in wallet-snatching. As the pickpocket is cornered, his cache of stolen wallets is found, amongst which are the Bird Brothers' wallets containing the missing two parchments. By combining the three parchments, Tintin and Haddock discover the coordinates of the hidden treasure, and begin to plan for an expedition to find it. The story ends where it started, leading Tintin to the rest of the treasure.
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