Agatha Christie Lovers discussion

Apologies incase I offend other Christie readers but... I chose to ignore their existence. In my world I have removed their involvement or inclusion as Christie's work.

The only one I have found interesting and of the same standard is 'Pricking of my thumbs'.

No offence taken :)

I enjoyed The Secret Adversary most. But Postern of Fate is probably among the least enjoyable of all Agatha Christie's books.

I have only read one of their books and honestly I didn't really care much for it but if given the opportunity, I would probably give them another shot.

To me they are definitely #3 favorite - Poirot, Marple and then Tommy & Tuppence. The other semi-series - Inspector Battle and Colonel Race are definitely behind Tommy & Tuppence to me.

i think they're very amusing ezcept for postern of fate which is too rambling and repetetive. i think her powers were failing when she wrote that one. I particularly like Partners in Crime where they try to copy various fictional detectives, that's great fun.

Louise wrote: "i think they're very amusing ezcept for postern of fate which is too rambling and repetetive. i think her powers were failing when she wrote that one. I particularly like Partners in Crime where th..."
I agree with you. Postern of fate leave me almost confused, it had some weird "jumps" in the narration, at least, that's how I see it :)

I haven't read that many of them so far but I hope to. I really enjoyed "Partners In Crime" and "By The Pricking Of My Thumbs." Tommy and Tuppence are fabulous and I always enjoy their banter.

The first Agatha Christie novel I read was The Secret Adversary, which is a Tommy and Tuppence story, and which I loved. But I was less than impressed with their other stories, except N or M?, which I enjoyed by and large. I found By the Pricking of My Thumbs pretty dull, and Postern of Fate is probably one of the two or three Agatha Christie books that is just objectively bad (as opposed to just not as good as her other more amazing books). I might have liked Partners in Crime more if I had been more familiar with the other detectives whose styles Tommy and Tuppence were mimicking.

So on the whole, I'm not too fond of T&T. They're a fun duo when they're young, but I think Christie made a mistake in letting them age in real time. She should have let them remain ageless like Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.

I've been slowly reading all of Agatha Christie's books, even poems and her autobiography. I read one Tommy and Tuppence and have been putting the off to the very end because I didn't like the book. I can't remember which one it was, but I didn't finish it. Thanks for the input. This will help give me a direction to start with and hopefully be able to finish all the books.

I love them! When it comes to Agatha Christie detectives, they are #1, then Poirot, then Miss Marple.

I love them. However I'm disappointed that Christie's editors didn't play a more active hand with Postern of Fate. It was clear, as many have observed, that some of her powers were fading a little. Not the originality and storytelling, but the attention to detail.

Postern of Fate is a very nostalgic book. In some ways it's a homage to Christie's younger days, which may be why she set the mystery as taking place pre First World War. Obviously it would have made far more sense, and been able to have "living villains" if she had set it before or during the Second World War. The original murderer might well still be alive.

The explanation of a "new generation of villains" isn't very plausible or satisfying. Past and present do not go on "interlocking impressively" as one reviewer claimed, instead it's a very clunky, awkward attempt to jam them together.

Christie remains my favourite writer but Postern of Fate, while perhaps sadly of interest as an example of the decline of old age, does her a grave disservice in its (lack of) editing.

I finished "El Misterioso Mister Brown" (the secret adversary in English I think) and it became in one of my favorites books of Christie! I love Tuppence, is one of the most interesting characters I ever read. I like soooo much characters like she, and there aren't so many like she...
And I shipp the couple very hard❤️
I wanna read more books with them

I like her too Clemen

I haven't read any of their stories yet, but I have By the Pricking of My Thumbs and Postern of Fate at home. So, eventually, I'll read them.

I would suggest reading them in order, but that's just me. The first one is The Secret Adversary. Also, if you can find the dramatized version with Francesca Annis and James Warwick, it's the best!

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "I would suggest reading them in order, but that's just me. The first one is The Secret Adversary. Also, if you can find the dramatized version with Francesca Annis and James Warwick, i..."

I agree. The first books are better written.

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "I would suggest reading them in order, but that's just me. The first one is The Secret Adversary. Also, if you can find the dramatized version with Francesca Annis and James Warwick, i..."

Thanks for the advice!
I'll take a look if local library has the first books.

☯Emily wrote: "Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "I would suggest reading them in order, but that's just me. The first one is The Secret Adversary. Also, if you can find the dramatized..."

I also agree. You get the story of their collaboration.

It is unusual that two young people suddenly get into do such thing.but i like that story

It's unusual that an old woman does too!

I'm very fond of them, until Postern, which is indeed confusing and not very interesting--but I agree that better editing would have helped a lot! The Secret Adversary was one of the first Christie's I read (back in my pre-teen years), and one of my favourites at the time, and I continue to be fond of it, and also Partners in Crime, M or N, and By the Pricking...

Tommy & Tuppence are favorites of mine. I like the way they interact and complement each other. It was a refreshing change after Miss Marple and Poirot, who are more solitary in the way they solve crimes.
I think what I liked about The Secret Adversary, was that it was as much of a sweet young-love-romance story as it was of a crime-solver.
I always wished she had written more about the two throughout their lives, not 20 years apart (or whatever it was) for each story.

I agree Anne, I wish she would have written more book about them.

Well I don't like very much about Tommy and Tuppence stories. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. What a relief!
So far I only read two books: The Secret Adversary was my first book and, to be honest, I was enjoying seeing the both of them in trouble; the other was my recently reading, N or M?, and I quite enjoyed it. I was surprised by that! But that doesn't mean I started to like them.

Carla wrote: "Well I don't like very much about Tommy and Tuppence stories. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one. What a relief!
So far I only read two books: The Secret Adversary was my first book and, to..."

N or M? is my favorite of the T&T series, although I agree with you that the characters are not my favorite.

Edward wrote: "I love them. However I'm disappointed that Christie's editors didn't play a more active hand with Postern of Fate. It was clear, as many have observed, that some of her powers were fading a little...."

In fact the editors, and that included Max, her husband, DID have a huge hand in that one. They moved chapters and paragraphs around, deleted things, added things.

Christie was suffering from dementia at the time and this one does ramble a lot. And yes, her narrative grasp at the end did slip. But she was mid 80s so I take that into consideration. She deserved the right to indulge herself and that's what she did her - at least for the first 20-odd chapters!

I happen to think it's not her worst effort when you take into account her age. Nor do I dislike Passenger to Frankfurt, which people seem not to realize is a dystopian novel, not a thriller. It's a bit untidy at the end, but other wise it's one of her most original works and amazing that she could do it at aged 80!

As for T&T, I got onboard with them after seeing the FAITHFUL tv version of Why Didn't They Ask Evans? The two leads were very similar and in fact the same actors played the roles in a series called Partners in Crime.

N or M? is one her best, and By the Pricking of My Thumbs is yet another twist that we hadn't seen so much of from AC and a very creepy one as well.

Thom wrote: "Edward wrote: "I love them. However I'm disappointed that Christie's editors didn't play a more active hand with Postern of Fate. It was clear, as many have observed, that some of her powers were f..."

I recently watched Why Didn't They Ask Evans? and a few episodes of Partners in Crime. Both were enjoyable, although I felt that Francesca Annis was more believable as an adventure seeking Lady than a poor girl trying to make her way in the world.

Tara wrote: "Thom wrote: "Edward wrote: "I love them. However I'm disappointed that Christie's editors didn't play a more active hand with Postern of Fate. It was clear, as many have observed, that some of her ..."

I think many of us came to think of Annis based on the series Lillie and other roles she played wherein she was rich. She did play those roles very well. But I had seen her in other things before that including one of the Marple movies, b>Murder Most Foul where she played a starving actress and she was very good, so it didn't seem like a stretch to me. But I do agree she is very good in WDTAE.

I would've liked them to have made the other 3 books and to have seen both actors aged to fit the time periods. N or M? is one of Christie's best. And By the Pricking of My Thumbs a strange, creepy book. And although Postern of Fate is quite slow and meandering for the first part of it, it's a better book than many claim it to be.

I also enjoyed N or M? a lot, that's my favorite T&T book.

I've read Secret Adversary and By the Pricking of My Thumbs as well, but wasn't taken as much. I'd love to reread their adventures in order tho, would be an interesting experience to see how their characters evolve throughout the years.

Aravena wrote: "I also enjoyed N or M? a lot, that's my favorite T&T book.

I've read Secret Adversary and By the Pricking of My Thumbs as well, but wasn't taken as much. I'd love to reread their adventures in ord..."

I've read them in order and it is interesting to see them age. N or M is better than SA and Thumbs, but I still enjoyed them both.

I do wish her grandson would release AC's original version of POF, or at least remodify the book. I think Max was trying to improve it but it seems he only made it worse. I've been told by those who've seen the original that he actually added to the repetitive aspects to increase the word count. If they trimmed the early chapters (1-22) by about 10-15% in increments things would speed up a lot.