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I think i didn"t like them as much because they are younger caracters. Funny saying this, but i like Miss Marple the most because she is old. I find it so amusing the way she finds out things by playing the dithering old lady. I also like Poirot because of his age. The way he always takes care of dressing warmly enough to prevent chest colds.
There is nothing wrong with Tommy and Tupence, but I personnaly prefer the relaxing "atmosphere" i get from reading Poirot or Miss Marple.
When I read a Poirot mystery, i feel transported in a world of luxory and calm intellect.
With Miss Marple, it's a world of small victorian houses, fancy tea sets, fluffy whool and artrhitis which i find very entertaining and relaxing.
When i read a Tommy and tuppence mystery, i find they are a bit more "jumpy" and more modern. Also once in a while they reffer to other detective stories which i am never familiar with...
All AC detectives are good, but my favorites are Poirot and Miss Marple because the personnal lives of those caracters have a slower pace.
I've only yet read The Secret Adversary with Tommy and Tuppence, but I really enjoyed the book. Although T&T may not have as distinct personalities as the tidy, methodical Poirot, and shrewd, observant Miss Marple, there's something very human and realistic about them... I also appreciate having two detectives (one of each gender) working together in a Christie novel.
I think Tommy and Tuppence have very distinctive personalities, they both have common sense but Tommy is more sensible as he gets older whereas Tuppence lets her imagination run riot and is the instigator of the sleuthing.
Tuppence is definitely the more impulsive, the more enthusiatic of the two, but Tommy has his adventurous side, thankfully. Someone does have to real Tuppence in once in a while, doesn't one? Tommy is just the one to do it.
I enjoy their lighthearted banter, their affection for each other, their wit, and their adventurous spirits. People say Agatha Christie's characters are undeveloped but I think her detectives, esp. Poirot, Marple, and T&T are quite developed. We can read their stories and know what they'll be doing to catch the rat. We know them well enough to appreciate their skills.
With T&T, I especially like how they work together, care about each other, and play along the way. They have great analytical minds in most adventures, and they've dealt with international spies. I also like their settings of after WWI, then the 1920s, the WWII years, and then into the 1960s+. It's great watching them advance, grow more mature, and do it with the times. We never see this with Poirot and Marple, as they were both senior citizens when we first met them.
I like their personalities just fine. They are like a bunch of fresh air. However, I find that the plotting of stories with them isn't that good. I easily guessed the villains in "The Secret (not-so-secret, really) Adversary" and "N or M?", and "By The Pricking of my Thumbs" left me so confused, I can't even remember the plot.
Besides, I can't really take the threat from the one-dimensional eeevil commmiez which is a central theme in "The Secret Adversary" and "Partners in Crime" seriously.
biscotteI think i didn"t like them as much because they are younger caracters. Funny saying this, but i like Miss Marple the most because she is old. I find it so amusing the way she finds out things by playing the dithering old lady. I also like Poirot because of his age. The way he always takes care of dressing warmly enough to prevent chest colds.
There is nothing wrong with Tommy and Tupence, but I personnaly prefer the relaxing "atmosphere" i get from reading Poirot or Miss Marple.
When I read a Poirot mystery, i feel transported in a world of luxory and calm intellect.
With Miss Marple, it's a world of small victorian houses, fancy tea sets, fluffy whool and artrhitis which i find very entertaining and relaxing.
When i read a Tommy and tuppence mystery, i find they are a bit more "jumpy" and more modern. Also once in a while they reffer to other detective stories which i am never familiar with...
All AC detectives are good, but my favorites are Poirot and Miss Marple because the personnal lives of those caracters have a slower pace.
I agree with every word of this post. it's like biscotte has said everything I ever wanted to say about Miss Marple, Poirot and T&T!
The problem with T&T is that AC hardly feels "at home" writing about them. Her best books are country house murders, I'd say. Thrillers aren't really in her line, but I did love By The Pricking of My Thumbs.
I like the Tommy and Tuppence characters, a lot. However, like many of you pointed out, the stories are just not that interesting. I think that Partners in Crime was my seventh or eighth book that I read of AC's (which is about 2 years ago now) and I haven't picked up another T&T book since :0(.
I love Tommy and Tupence I believe they are fantastic characters, what i like most are their personalities I only had the possibility to read two stories about them and I have recently watched a film called By the Pricking of My Thumbs which was adapted in 2005 by the French director Pascal Thomas with the title Mon petit doigt m'a dit.... The movie casts André Dussolier and Catherine Frot as Bélisaire and Prudence Beresford. The action is transposed to Savoy. A second movie Le crime est notre affaire based on "Partners in Crime" came out in 2008
Mon petit doigt m'a dit was a rather strange film. I prefered the McEwan version, to be honest. The update didn't work too well in the French version, although I must admit "Mrs. Lancaster's" (now renamed "Rose Evangelista") voice was amazing.
I thought it was Hillarious that Characters clothes colour coordinated the Rooms they were in and I thought Patrick Barlow was funny but it is a pity the only way we could see the Book being Dramatized is by it being part of the Marple Series.
It's hard to compare T&T to the other detectives. They're really not the same sort of stories. Marple and Poirot are generally used in standard detective stories, whereas T&T stories tend to be more thrillers than mysteries.
I will say, though, that I found Partners in Crime a bit disappointing. The stories were too short; there was really no time to develop the plots, and the solutions came across as amazing coincidences more than anything else.
The Stories in Partner's in Crime were short because they were short stories, I liked them, I also like the way Agatha Christie managed to make sure Tommy and Tuppence could brush up their skills with the help of other Litrerary Detectives and Managed to get their Prey in the end with the Help of Hercule.
I must admit that I always have had a soft spot for T&T. Partners in crime was the first AC I ever read at age 14, followed by The Secret Adversary. I also love the television series with Francesca Annis & James Warwick. They were just perfect for the roles.
As to the length of the stories, I agree that some of them now seem a bit on the short side. But then of course on the other hand, some of the detective that she uses for the short stories are fairly unknown now, apart I would say Father Brown.
belgian_inireland Father Brown is one of tghe More wellknown ones (Or is it me) I had never heard of the Oakewood Brothers or Inspector French or that lone man (Can't remember his name, ( iam re-reading The Secret Adversary and can't wait to read Partners in Crime
Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to a lonely mansion on Soldier Island by a host who, surprisingly, fails to appear.
When the wealthy patriarch, Aristide, is murdered, suspicion falls on the whole household. ...
Travelling on the Orient Express, Poirot is approached by a desperate American. Afraid that someone plans to kill him, Ratchett asks Poirot for help ...
Masthead Photography: Joan Hickson image © BBC
MURDER MOST FOUL © Turner Entertainment Co. A Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. All Rights Reserved.
AGATHA CHRISTIE® POIROT® MARPLE® Copyright ©2009 Agatha Christie Limited. All rights reserved.
I love all the books i read until now, except for the tommy and tuppence stories.