Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie - Tommy and Tuppence #2
Merry Mysteries of Tommy and Tuppence
A Book Review
Partners in Crime is a detective novel by British author Agatha Christie, first published in 1929.
It consists of 15 detective short stories that feature the amateur sleuths Tommy and Tuppence Beresford in their second appearance since Christie’s “The Secret Adversary” from 1922.
Words are such uncertain things, they so often sound well but mean the opposite of what one thinks they do.”
Agatha Christie, Partners in Crime (1929)
In Partners in Crime, Tommy and Tuppence, now more or less happily wed to each other, find themselves accepting an exciting proposition from an old friend.
Consequently, they are whisked back into the world of mystery, intrigue and adventure they left behind at the end of “The Secret Adversary”.
They are invited to take over the ‘International Detective Agency’ for the benefit of some unnamed government agency and do their bit intercepting enemy messages that might pass through this establishment.
“Do you know what I’ve been thinking, Tommy?” “It’s impossible to say,” replied her husband. “You think of so many things, and you think of them all at once.”
Agatha Christie, Partners in Crime (1929)
As a cherry on top, Tommy and Tuppence are allowed to occupy their time by taking on their own investigations. True to their nature, this detective double act jump at the change.
When “Partners in Crime” was published, Christie had already eight novels under her belt, and if compared to the first instalment of the Tommy and Tuppence continuum, the experience shows especially in the way Christie carries these quick romps forward.
On the same note, though, I have to confess feeling quite glad to meet the same old Tommy and Tuppence on the pages of Partners in Crime, whose company I so enjoyed in The Secret Adversary.
Even though they have, like their creator, matured to a considerable degree, Tommy and Tuppence still have the adventuring spirit and penchant for a bit of detecting.
I found Partners in Crime every bit as fun and enjoyable as its predecessor in the Tommy and Tuppence series. Grouping a series of detective short stories together as detective stories within a detective novel is a fun idea and works surprisingly well.
It is a great advantage to be intelligent and not to look it.
Agatha Christie, Partners in Crime (1929)
At this stage, I feel it necessary to mention that an added feature that makes the actual cases of Tommy and Tuppence second stint as private investigators even more pleasurable for a fan of golden age detective fiction work is the way these fifteen short stories are written.
Each Tommy and Tuppence short story in Partners in Crime is written mimicking the style of some other crime writer of the period.
Naturally, the bulk of these allusions and homages have been obscured by time. Still, I found it very rewarding to pick out references to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and stylings reminiscent of G K Chesterton’s Father Brown stories.
Partners in Crime is a very worthwhile collection of detective short stories in a light-hearted and entertaining manner that fits very well as the Tommy and Tuppence series.
Understandably, some entries in the collection are stronger than others, but all of them are jolly good fun.
Partners in Crime gets staunch recommendations and a glowing four-star review from me.
Agatha Christie’s Tommy and Tuppence - Great Detectives?
