This gets a 3.5 stars from me. I really like Tommy and Tuppence as characters and detectives.this collection of stories had some I really enjoyed, some I just liked and some that were just okay. Good collection overall.



adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
lighthearted mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Eine Sammlung von Kurzgeschichten rund um die Detektei von Tommy und Tuppence. Die Fälle sind ganz unterschiedlicher Art und die beiden peppen sie auf, indem sie sich jedes Mal einen anderen Detektiv-Klassiker der Literatur zum Vorbild nehmen.
Die Geschichten lassen sich schnell und einfach lesen und die beiden Hauptpersonen sind weiterhin sympathisch, auch wenn die Charakteren und persönlichen Geschichten keine so große Rolle spielen, wie im ersten Band der Reihe.

I think Tommy and Tuppence might be my favorite detectives.

"As the visitor left the office, Tuppence grabbed the violin and putting it in the cupboard turned the key in the lock. "If you must be Sherlock Holmes," she observed, "I'll get you a nice little syringe and a bottle labelled Cocaine, but for God's sake leave that violin alone."


Yep, case closed. They are.
adventurous funny medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Partners in Crime: Or, Twaddling Twosome of Annoyance

I'm just gonna straight out say it: I don't like Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. I think they are annoying, immature, ridiculously lucky, and meddling. They aren't cute or funny like Mrs. Marple or Poirot. They are just insufferable. I understand why Dame Kween Agatha wrote about these characters, but I just don't like them.

This collection of short stories was somewhat of a welcome relief from the last Tommy and Tuppence outing because at least I only had to deal with them in short bursts, but Dame Kween Agatha's strong point is her longer drawn out stories, not her quick, cheap easily solved cases. And especially not with the immature, illogical Tommy and Tuppence. Blah. Lucky me there aren't many volumes featuring this twaddling twosome -- so I won't have to suffer through much more. GET A REAL JOB TOMMY AND TUPPENCE! You aren't even good detectives!!

This is the second book about Tommy and Tuppence, after The Secret Adversary. And thing that’s always struck me about the Tommy and Tuppence books is the fact that the age through the years. They were once spunky youngsters in their first novel. And now they’re married, and while clearly in their early thirties, have already developed the comical give and take that married couples often have.

This book is also a short story collection, held loosely together by a rather flimsy front that Tommy and Tuppence have to pretend to be a detective agency because they’re on watch for some kind of evil Russian plot. I’m not going to say I followed it that well, but I don’t really need to. The point is that each chapter (or two) is another short story that they have to solve.

The thing that’s fascinating about this one is the fact that Agatha Christie was trying something very new here. She was trying to parody other famous detective novelists of the time -- including Arthur Conan Doyle and... herself. I wish I had a better understanding of each of the other writers’ styles she’s mimicked here, because I think I’d have a better appreciate of the work as a whole. It’s such a cool idea -- but unless you have a firm knowledge of vintage, British detective novelists, most of the references are probably lost on the modern reader.

Still -- the short stories mostly work. They’re, as usual, up to Christie’s standards as short mysteries. There were one or two that I was like -- uh, huh? But I chalk it up to the style she was trying to go for, and not necessarily bad writing. Mostly, Tommy and Tuppence are pretty charming throughout, even if Tommy’s stance on women and marriage are clearly from the 1930s. I do appreciate that Tuppence is having none of that -- and is pretty progressive for a woman of that time.

(As an aside - this whole thing reminds me a little of Disney’s The Rescuers, and Tommy and Tuppence channeling the mice Bernard and Bianca.)

All of it is a step up from some of her clunkier work from the late 20s (when she was clearly going through some personal stuff). It’s not her best - but it’s fairly solid.
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No