Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 A nice collection of short mysteries March 31, 2007
My oldest daughter started checking out Agatha Christie novels from the library. She says they are cool. She left a couple books in the van last week. I brought them in and started reading Partners in Crime.
Partners in Crime is a collection of short stories tied together with an overall story arc. The partners are a husband and wife team who solve mysteries. Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are asked by the Secret Service to take over a detective agency in an effort to flush out a master spy. The Beresfords agree. As detectives they have several adventures. Every chapter or couple chapters has a single mystery. With the last chapter being when they capture the master spy that no one else had been able to get a handle on.
The stories take place in the early 1900's in England. The mysteries happen at various locations and different levels of society. I figure my daughter is learning a little bit of history as she reads these stories.
They are fun. If you haven't read an Agatha Christie book before, this is a good place to start.
 Tommy Attempts To Use His 'Little Grey Cells' March 11, 2007
Partners in Crime is an enjoyable collection of mystery short stories involving the droll Tommy and his cheeky wife, Tuppence.
The stories are bound together by a main thread, in which the Beresfords battle against boredom by taking up a Detective Agency under assumed names. As they tackle each case, Christie lampoons various detective fiction by having them solve the case "in the style of" a popular fictional detective, starting with (of course) Sherlock Holmes.
A clever, rewarding device, especially since Christie finishes with having her characters poke fun at her own famous hero, Hercule Poirot.
As with the other Tommy & Tuppence book I've thus far read (I'm reading Christie's fiction in the order of publication, so I believe this is their second appearance), the writing is light and whimsical and just a lot of fun. You might think of Agatha Christie's novels as being one undifferentiated mass of mystery fiction wrtiting, but you'd be wrong: within her genre, Christie wrote all sorts of types of stories in many different styles. What sets Tommy & Tuppence apart is a light, ironic sense of humor about itself and mystery fiction, in general.
A fun read. Four stars.
Light Amusement With Tommy and Tuppence January 2, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Originally published in 1929, PARTNERS IN CRIME reunites Tommy Beresford and Prudence "Tuppence" Cowley, first created by Christie for the earlier novel THE SECRET ADVERSARY; they are now married and, although happy in the marriage, Tuppence finds herself bored with the routine of life.
Her wish for excitement is answered when intelligence agent Mr. Carter puts a proposal before the two. A London detective agency has been found to be involved in espionage and its owner has been picked up--but government authorities want to keep the agency open in hope of tracing its illegal activities. How would Tommy and Tuppence like to take on the task?
This set up provides the frame for a series of short stories in which Tommy and Tuppence handle various legitimate calls upon the detective agency even as they hope to make contacts that will break the spy ring. There is Lawrence St. Vincent, whose lady-love has agreed to marry him... but only if he can solve a unique riddle. There is a stolen pearl, the odd scam, and a few murders as well--and, of course, espionage constantly in the background.
Along the way, Tommy and Tuppence have fun by adopting the methods, with considerably varied result, of famous fictional detectives such as The Old Man In The Corner, Sherlock Holmes, and even (albeit briefly) the celebrated Hercule Poirot. It is all very light hearted, lightly written, and as always when Christie elects to trot out Tommy and Tuppence the great attraction are the characters themselves--sharp, witty, and having a good time.
This collection of short stories comes no where near the brilliance of THE TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS, featuring Miss Marple, or THE LABORS OF HERCULES, only slightly less fine and featuring Hercule Poirot. Nonetheless, it is an entertaining sort of thing, and most readers will enjoy Christie's comic touch with her material. Good fun!
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
 I despise Tommy and Tuppence September 21, 2005
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
I like Miss Marple, I like Hercule Poirot, Superintendant Battle, Mr. Satterwhite, et al, but I do not like the Tommy and Tuppence stories. Somehow their adventures just sound a false note to me.
Putting the fun into sleuthing July 5, 2004
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
No one does it better than Tommy and Tuppence. Amateur sleuths in their own way, they were not to be underestimated because both have their own ways to solve crimes, and even more interesting banters in between crime-solving. These shorties will make you love them and wish that the Queen would have written more of them in the past.
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