By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie - Tommy and Tuppence #4
Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence, Still at it
By the Pricking of My Thumbs - A Book Review
By the Pricking of My Thumbs is a crime novel written by an English writer of both novels and short stories, Agatha Christie.
Published originally in 1968 as a late sequel to Christie's “N or M?” from 1941, “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” is the fourth and second to last instalment in the Tommy and Tuppence series, featuring the sleuthing antics of a pair of amateur detectives Thomas "Tommy" Beresford and his wife Prudence also known as Tuppence.
The Tommy and Tuppence series consists of four novels and one short story collection (Partners in Crime, 1929), and it shows its central characters ageing as it goes along.
“That's where all the trouble in life comes from. Thinking.”
Agatha Christie, By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)
In “By the Pricking of My Thumbs”, the reader meets the two central sleuths, Tommy and Tuppence, considerably more mature and settled than the earlier instalments of the series, visiting Tommy's old aunt in a nursing home.
Things seem at odds for the veteran adventurers, and when Tommy's aunt meets her maker only a couple of weeks later, the Beresford's are bequeathed a strangely familiar painting of a house.
In no time, their characteristic adventuring instinct leads Tommy and Tuppence towards unknown and surprising danger's, once again providing them thrilling close-calls, smugglers and all sorts of distractions to shake up the mundanity of grownup life.
“She was an expert in the exact amount of condolence which would be acceptable.”
Agatha Christie, By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)
Three novels and one short storylines collection into Christie's Tommy and Tuppence, I'm starting to feel that this plucky pair of adventurers might rank quite high among Christie's great detectives.
They are truly a team and take on what their adventures bring forth with such a great attitude that one can't but admire it.
Beyond its enchanting central pairing, “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” shows Christie very much in full swing, presenting a side of her writing that I have seldom encountered.
“By the Pricking of My Thumbs” is a mystery story, dancing on the thin red line between a thriller and mystery, eventually dipping more on the former's side with such skilled intensity that it begs to be applauded.
Admittedly, for those fans of crime writing with palettes tuned to modern stylings, “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” can feel just a tinge dated with its measured buildup, but personally, I often prefer that to the other available options.
In “By the Pricking of My Thumbs”, the sense of danger and intrigue is palpable even though no one gets gutted or snapped in half, so if that's your forte, this precious gem in Agatha Christie's bibliography might not be for you.
Tommy and Tuppence are such jolly good fun that nothing less of than a four-star review feels appropriate for Christie’s By the Pricking of My Thumbs".
“I daresay people have liked murderers,” said Tuppence very reasonably. “It’s like swindlers and confidence tricksmen who always look so honest and seem so honest. I daresay murderers all seem very nice and particularly softhearted. That sort of thing.”
Agatha Christie, By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968)
