Book Club

Tommy and Tuppence Stories

Tommy and Tuppence provide a change of pace for Christie readers with their energetic exploits.  Discuss in detail their stories with others in the know - but beware spoilers. 

The best comments will be added to the Stories pages.

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Warning: These discussions may contain spoilers!

By the Pricking of my Thumbs

Jemma 25 Sep 09 at 4:07 p.m. GMT

Despite being of pensionable age, Tommy and Tuppence still yearn for adventure, particularly Tuppence. When Tommy's Aunt Ada dies in a nursing home and leaves them a painting, Tuppence is intrigued by it. She is also worried about the strange departure of one of the old ladies who also lived in the home. Tuppence puts herself in real danger pursuing these lines of investigation and at one point is even hospitalised. Fortunately Tommy is able to save her from certain death at the hands of someone who is defintely more mad than sane ... 

Did Christie do the right thing by giving Tommy and Tuppence such an adventure when they would be in their seventies and sixties by this time? Does it make for a credible story line? Is this perhaps a rebellion by Christie against the non-changing ages of Poirot and Marple?

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24 replies

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RAlleyn 26 Sep 09 at 1:19 a.m. GMT

If you can get hold of it watch "mon petit doigt m'a dit" the wonderful French version.

Very faithful to the book and with some wonderful humour.

I loved the book and found the ending very chilling and it always comes to mind when travellling by train in England.

go_leafs_nation 26 Sep 09 at 1:39 a.m. GMT

Mon Petit Doigt M'a Dit was very strange. Its black humour was wonderful, I agree, but it wasn't that faithful, It's updated, Mrs. Lancaster gets renamed (Rose Evangelista?), there was that weird thing with the dagger in the statue at the climax. I failed to be creeped out by it, but I was amused by its black humour.

For a creepier version, I recommend the Marple adaptation. Faithful? No. Entertaining? Yes. Dark and chilling? Yes!

Tommy_A_Jones 26 Sep 09 at 2:53 p.m. GMT

Of Course Agatha Christie was right to set Tommy And Tuppence up on such an Adventure, If she hadn't the people who are now chastizing her for having Upper Class Murderers would be saying she was ageist if she didn't let Tommy and Tuppence and Miss Marple still slueth, the book has it's faults but it is a Good Book.

aznm 28 Oct 09 at 6:21 a.m. GMT

I just finished this book, probably for the third time, as I read it when it was first released eons ago, and it was the first T&T book I read.  Sometime ago, I read the entire T&T series, and have just read it all again with just Postern of Fate left to re-read.

What I like about the T&T series is that they age accordingly, unlike Marple and Poirot who were elderly when we met them and barely aged at all throughout out their sleuthing careers.  I also like that T&T are a sleuthing couple.  I like the single Marple and Poirot, of course, but it's fun to have the T&T pairing as a nice change.

I loved By The Pricking of My Thumbs upon my first read about 1968 or 1969.  It held my interest then and it did so again this weekend.  My only disappointment was the denouement with Tuppence in the mystery house near the end.  I thought it could have been written more dramatically.  Other than that, I was wondering why no mention of Betty, the girl introduced in N or M, whom we were led to believe would be in T&T's future at the end of that book.  I am glad that Albert has remained an associate of the Beresfords for all those years.

I'd recommend By The Pricking of My Thumbs to everyone.

aznm 28 Oct 09 at 6:59 a.m. GMT

Why no section for Postern of Fate?  I'm reading it now.  Could it be added for discussion, please?

aznm 19 Jun 10 at 10:26 a.m. GMT

I just watched a video of the television production of By The Pricking of My Thumbs and must say, what they did to Tommy and Tuppence was awful.  If they had to insert Miss Marple into a Beresford mystery, why did they have to trash Tommy, and especially Tuppence, to do so?  They should be ashamed of themselves.  I'm sure Dame Agatha wouldn't be  happy about it.

While the film itself wasn't "terrible", it was painful to watch what they've to Dame Agatha's beloved characters.

I really enjoyed the book.  I loved reading about a mature Tommy & Tuppence, and loved their sense of adventure and crime detection skills were still intact.  Why has no one made a real movie about that book?  In fact, why haven't movies been made for N or M and Postern of Fate?  Surely there's a market for them.  I'd love to see Francesca Annis and James Warwick playing the darling detection duo again.  They're the proper ages now for the couple of the later novels.  Why not?

xrysoula 01 Jul 10 at 3:39 p.m. GMT

That book scared me more than anything else in my entire life!Oh, that Mrs Lancaster character and the way she reveals herself as the murderer of all those poor little ones at the end!Thoroughly, utterly, compeletely horrifying!Who could ever EVER possibly have seen it coming?

Undoubtedly one of AC 's VERY best.Deeply inspired,magnificently written and orchestrated, can 't let anyone down.

(Mrs Lancaster makes another short appearence in a different book, again offering a glass of milk, I think, but I can 't remember in which one.Can anybody help me out?)

MissQuin 01 Jul 10 at 3:52 p.m. GMT

Mrs Lancaster's in Sleeping Murder, she offers the glass to Gwenda when she goes to the place to find more about her father.

There's another Mrs Lancaster in a short story The Lamp, but I don't know that it's the same one.

xrysoula 01 Jul 10 at 4:47 p.m. GMT

Oh, of course!Thanks a lot MissQuin, you just saved me from a lot of searching!Pure Gwenda, bumping into Mrs Freak,what else could possibly happen to her?

MissQuin 05 Jul 10 at 4:21 p.m. GMT

That's ok. Mrs Lancaster makes another cameo in The Pale Horse as well.

xrysoula 05 Jul 10 at 7:11 p.m. GMT

I haven 't read that one yet.Some of them are completely unavailiable in Greek.Perhaps I should try ordering them fron this site in the prototype version.The translation isn 't always that succesful and I think it effects my final opinion on some of the novels.

Anita_Clue 18 Jan 11 at 6:41 p.m. GMT

I loved the characters of Tommy and Teppence.  I wish Dame Christie would have written more stories with them.  Reading this book, in particular, I had great difficulty putting it down.  I kept me at the edge of my seat. 

I agree with everyone about the Marple television production.  They butchered it.  Worst of all, they made Tuppence into an alcoholic.  This was completely unnecessary.

grosfi3canada 24 Jan 11 at 1:30 a.m. GMT

I absolutely loved Tommy & Tuppence...they were so entertaining

ChristieFanBlogger 31 Jan 11 at 1:46 p.m. GMT

xrysoula

That book scared me more than anything else in my entire life!Oh, that Mrs Lancaster character and the way she reveals herself as the murderer of all those poor little ones at the end!Thoroughly, utterly, compeletely horrifying!Who could ever EVER possibly have seen it coming?

Undoubtedly one of AC 's VERY best.Deeply inspired,magnificently written and orchestrated, can 't let anyone down.

(Mrs Lancaster makes another short appearence in a different book, again offering a glass of milk, I think, but I can 't remember in which one.Can anybody help me out?)

xrysoula

That book scared me more than anything else in my entire life!Oh, that Mrs Lancaster character and the way she reveals herself as the murderer of all those poor little ones at the end!Thoroughly, utterly, compeletely horrifying!Who could ever EVER possibly have seen it coming?

Undoubtedly one of AC 's VERY best.Deeply inspired,magnificently written and orchestrated, can 't let anyone down.

(Mrs Lancaster makes another short appearence in a different book, again offering a glass of milk, I think, but I can 't remember in which one.Can anybody help me out?)

The Pale Horse - Mrs. Lancaster is encountered by the hero in that story too.

ChristieFanBlogger 31 Jan 11 at 1:51 p.m. GMT

Call me confused. I think there were two mysteries here that had nothing to do with each other, but for some reason converged in this little town in the country. There was the main story of the old lady in the nursing home, Mrs. Lancaster, who turned out to be a psychotic child killer in her younger days. But then there was also the attorney/robbery mastermind, Mr. Eccles. Were they connected or not?

Too many cooincidences for my taste.  Tuppence stumbles upon the grave hiding loot, Lily Waters, but is hit on the head for another reason.  The boat in Mrs. Lancaster's painting is named Waterlily - the grave with robbery loot is Lily Waters.  For no apparent reason.  Why did the Perrys give Tuppence the doll full of diamonds?  Didn't they know what it was?  The house is hiding robbery loot AND Mrs. Lancaster?

I would really like to like Tommy and Tuppence.

NightRayDuck 08 Apr 11 at 6:50 a.m. GMT

hi ChristieFanBlogger - I think, in fact, you are quite correct about this story being two mysteries that had nothing to do with each other. The way I see it is there are:

Crime A: Mr. Eccles the attorney, who has many clients with various secrets to hide, pockets a lot of fees advising the clients how to cover tracks by lending out empty houses in a very confusing way. I am not sure if he's the mastermind in actually where to rob, but he'll have to be a high-ranking consultant to the gang of robbers about where and when to stash the loot. I'd think it quite likely that Mr. Eccles also advises in "how to manage a secret love affair", "how to conceal a family member whose revelation would cause a scandal", and other stuff.

Crime B: "Mrs. Lancaster" had, in her first youth, become a "gun molly" to a gang of robbers but she was "in it for the killing"; after she got married, she focused on children as her targets; after she got put into nursing homes, she switched her focus to women who were possibly mothers of murdered children and suspecting her as the murderer. (Personally, I think "Mrs. Lancaster" was simply looking for excuses to kill people, after she got retired from being a gangster. I think one of Tommy's friends / investigators mentioned that Killer Kate was too violent and became disruptive to the gang which wanted to focus on robbing a lot of valuables and getting away safely with it.)

NightRayDuck 08 Apr 11 at 6:51 a.m. GMT

So, yes, the main huge string of coincidences in this story is that, Killer Kate had ancestors in this town, had worked with robbers, had married someone in this town, had to be hidden away for fear of scandal and imprisonment, AND HAD BEEN HIDDEN AWAY IN HER ANCESTRAL HOUSE WHICH ALSO HAPPENED TO BE A LOOT STASH LOCATION. (I am not sure whether that stash came from the gang that she worked with, either. It is, as you say, a lot of coincidences; or maybe they are details that Tommy and Tuppence didn't bother to verify and let the readers know.)

I think the Perry couple only knew they were hiding Mrs. Lancaster. I should think it very doubtful that the lodgers in any of those near-abandoned houses were allowed to know of the robbery loot. A lot of the other events seem to stem from irrational worries.

springsparkles 21 May 11 at 2:39 p.m. GMT

Of course!What's wrong with them? They are still adventourous and amusing. I was really scared by Mrs Lanacster in the last chapters .But most of all I loved the story.

ErkutSoyer 14 Jul 11 at 2:47 p.m. GMT

I'm sorry about I can't read this book.I live in Turkey and there isn't English version and Turkish version of this book.Can I buy its English version on eBay?

SilverTyne 14 Jul 11 at 9:26 p.m. GMT

I think this is a Turkish copy for sale:

http://www.superalsat.com/pembe-evdeki-olu-agatha-christie_V0JJurunZ631685