Tommy And Tuppence Classic Collection

 

tags: Agatha Christie, classics, detective, thriller

 The Tommy and Tuppence Classic Collection by Agatha Christie brings together some of her best work featuring the beloved sleuthing couple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. This collection includes the novel The Secret Adversary, where the dynamic duo first launches into the world of espionage and private detection. Here, they stumble upon a case involving political intrigue and a missing young woman named Jane Finn, setting the stage for their future exploits. Christie crafts a thrilling introduction to the world of Tommy and Tuppence, showcasing their blend of wit, courage, and teamwork.

Following The Secret Adversary, the collection offers Partners in Crime, a series of engaging short stories where Tommy and Tuppence take over the "Blunt's International Detective Agency." As part of their detective roleplay, they adopt the personas of famous fictional detectives while solving various cases. This adds a humorous element to the narrative, as the duo navigates each mystery with charm and humor. Key stories include The Case of the Missing Lady, Blindman's Buff, The Man in the Mist, The Crackler, and The Sunningdale Mystery. Each tale challenges them with new situations-from missing persons to mysterious deaths, and even elaborate swindles.

Christie's unique blend of suspense, humor, and the subtle interplay between Tommy and Tuppence's personalities keeps readers enthralled. Illustrated scenes add an extra layer of engagement, bringing to life the amusing, suspenseful, and sometimes romantic moments in the duo's detective career. Through Christie's storytelling, readers are immersed in the contrasting energies of Tommy's logical mind and Tuppence's quick wit and spontaneity.

For fans of light-hearted mysteries with a mix of adventure, romance, and classic Christie twists, this collection serves as a compelling journey into the detective escapades of Tommy and Tuppence. The Tommy and Tuppence Classic Collection captures Christie's mastery in creating engaging mysteries while portraying the charm of one of her most memorable sleuthing pairs.

 Novel

The Secret Adversary

Short stories

A Fairy in the Flat
A Pot of Tea
The Affair of the Pink Pearl
The Adventure of the Sinister Stranger
Finessing the King
The Gentleman Dressed in Newspaper
The Case of the Missing Lady
Blindman’s Buff
The Man in the Mist
The Crackler
The Sunningdale Mystery
The House of Lurking Death
The Unbreakable Alibi
The Clergyman's Daughter
The Red House
The Ambassador's Boots
The Man Who Was No. 16

The novel is very short at less than 300 pages and the short stories are really short. I like the novel and stories and also the 2015 TV series. There's an older TV show in black and white but I have yet to find where to watch them. 

The Seven Dials Mystery

tags: murder mystery, secret society

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

From Goodreads

When a practical joke involving eight alarm clocks turns into murder, the case is taken up by Bundle Brent and Jimmy Thesiger. With the help of Bill Eversleigh they discover that the Seven Dials Club is not only a nightclub but also the headquarters of a Secret Society.

Agatha Christie's murder mystery is quite different from her regular whodunnits in not following the usual steps/methods. The short novel has young people in their early twenties instead of older folks trying to solve 2 murders with the help of Scotland Yard Superintendent Battle. 

I read the first book in this series with Battle as the investigating officer, The Secret of Chimneys. I have yet to read the rest. Or maybe I have but forgotten. 

Lady Eileen Brent or Bundle to her family and friends, leads the investigation. Her parents who own the Chimneys are renting it to a Mr. Owen Coote and his wife Maria. Bundle wasn't at the party in that house when one of her friends died of overdose but is actually a murder. Another friend died a few days later from a gun shot wound. Bundle thought she ran him over with her car and the dying boy said a few words that made her start her own investigations with the help of her friends. 

I like the unexpected very enjoyable twist and also the humor throughout specially the brief appearances of Bundle's father. The part where an older man (late 20s or early 30s), Lord George Lomax, who works at the Foreign Office, suddenly thinks of Bundle as a wife material. His marriage proposal is so funny and awkward that reminded me of Mr. Collins asking Lizzy Bennet to be his wife. Bundle turned him down because she likes one of her friends. There certainly is some romance going on in this short novel. The theme (secret societies, international intrigues, theft) and young female character as main protagonist  have similarities to a few of Patricia Wentworth's stand alone novels.

I listened to the audio book and loved it. Highly recommended for Agatha Christie fans. 

They Came To Baghdad

tags: espionage, mystery, thriller

⭐⭐⭐⭐

From Goodreads

They Came to Baghdad is one of Agatha Christie's highly successful forays into the spy thriller genre. In this novel, Baghdad is the chosen location for a secret superpower summit. But the word is out, and an underground organisation is plotting to sabotage the talks.

Into this explosive situation stumbles Victoria Jones, a young woman with a yearning for adventure who gets more than she bargains for when a wounded secret agent dies in her hotel room. Now, if only she could make sense of his final words: 'Lucifer ... Basrah ... Lefarge ...'

I don't think I can rate any Agatha Christie's novel lower than 4 stars. I wasn't expecting much with this short story but surprised I really loved it. The story and writing are superb as usual.

The book is more of a spy thriller than a murder mystery. The main protagonist is Victoria Jones, a young woman who is bored with her low paying job as a typist. She meets and gets enamored with a very charming and handsome young man, Edward who is going to Baghdad in a few days. Victoria, on a whim, decides she wants to follow him without knowing his full name and with just 4 pounds in her pocket.

Victoria is a pathological liar who invents stuff without batting an eyelash and people believe her because she is resourceful, pretty, and charming herself. She succeeds in going to Baghdad armed with just her lies and meets Edward. Victoria gets to know a lot of people, some are famous personalities, who are also in Baghdad for some reason. She gets into dangerous situations and is able to get out of them, of course, and helps in preventing a crazy group of people from implementing their sinister plan during a summit with the American President and Russian Premier.

Highly recommended for Agatha Christie fans.