Customer Reviews

By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Tommy and Tuppence Mysteries)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

BY THE PRICKINGS OF MY THUMBS certainly offers the sense of adventure, wit, and charm we have come to expect from Christie's Tommy and Tuppence Beresford--but unlike their other outings, which might best be described light-hearted romps, this novel possesses a quietly chilling tone that intensifies as the story progresses.

The story finds Tuppence interested in a painting recently inherited from Tommy's aunt, a painting of a country house by a bridge. Convinced that she has seen the original subject, she decides to track it down--and when she does, she stumbles into stories of a series of unsolved child murders that occurred in the district many years before... and some one is displeased enough about her curiosity to become lethal.

This is the best of Christie's Tommy and Tuppence novels, a neat mixture of the characters' bright and witty personalities, an interesting story that takes several unexpected turns, and a surprisingly charged atmosphere that haunts the memory. While most serious critics dismiss the Tommy and Tuppence books, BY THE PRICKINGS OF MY THUMBS is the equal of any of Christie's best work, and long-time fans and newcomers alike should find it a thoroughly enjoyable--and unexpectedly disquieting--read.

By the Pricking of My Thumbs marked a wonderful return of Tommy and Tuppence (truly her novel, though) Beresford that captures them as older people but still with all of the charm of the characters they were during the era of the flappers. The big advantage of this chapter in their fictional lives over previous ones is that Agatha Christie does not have them embroiled in a rather weak political/spy drama, naive politics always being a flaw in her writing. This is actually one of better of Christie's mysteries with many wonderfully dark ideas throughout that provide more fun than the usual stock amount of red herrings. This book effectively combines the dark deeds of the author's later books with the sense of fun of the earlier ones which can sometimes be lacking in the later Christies.

By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968) marks the penultimate appearance of Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. It is one of the novels which I return to periodically because I find that the novel continues to provide a certain amount of entertainment.

In By the Pricking of My Thumbs, we have less the espionage element that might have characterized their earlier adventures, The Secret Adversary, N or M?, or even possibly Partners in Crime. Instead, this novel represents a novel later in Christie's career in which she began to explore alternative reasons for murder. I am reminded of the sort of ingenuity that Christie utilizes in a late Miss Marple Mystery, Nemesis, written around this same period.

The reader should be aware that this even-paced thriller belongs to the brand of mystery in which the reader will have to sit back and enjoy Tuppence's wanderings with only a mysterious painting as an initial clue. The couple is older and their concerns focus little on employment but on the reasons why a woman has disappeared from a nursing home.

I recommend By the Pricking of Thumbs to people who are looking for something a little different from the genre which ordinarily belongs to Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. While By the Pricking of My Thumbs is not as odd as Endless Night, I would place this work among her works which emphasize subtle yet insistent menace, drawing on the ordinary as a means of hiding past crimes.

I first read this book when I was 13. Eleven years later it is still one of my favorites. The mysteries of the house involved and the murders surrounding it still bring shivers to my spine. The pages of the paperback copy I own are tattered and worn from numerous readings. It remains a "sleeper" agatha christie; especially since Tommy and Tuppence are often seen as passe by many diehard christie fans. Don't be put off. It peaks volumes about the darkest of human emotions. Well done!

stumble upon yet another sinister criminal network.

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, first introduced as young adventures in post WWI England (THE SECRET ADVERSARY) have appeared from time to time as since: as young marrieds (PARTNERS IN CRIME), then as middle aged parents of grown children (M OR N?) and now somewhat older but still active.

The story opens as the Beresfords decide to pay a duty call on Tommy's rather difficult Aunt Ada. Tuppence is banished by the old lady and retreats to the nursing home's sitting room where she meets another old woman, Mrs. Lancaster. The two chat quite happily for a while until the old lady asks Tuppence "Was it your poor child?". Even allowing for the older woman's age and possible senility Tuppence finds the whole thing rather unsettling.

Still weeks pass and the whole matter begins to be forgotten until, while settling Aunt Ada's affairs after her death, Tuppence finds herself again dealing with Mrs. Lancaster. This time though, it is the woman's absence rather than her presence that is disturbing.

Soon Tuppence, in her typical manner, is hot on the trail with Tommy in pursuit, in his typical manner. As always, Albert is there to keep an eye on the pair.

Christie made the decision to age this pair of sleuths more or less in 'real-time', they were in their early to mid twenties in the opening books (written in the mid to late 1920's), mid to late forties during WWII and seem to be about 60 in this 1968 novel. This marks a departure from her treatment of Poirot and Miss Marple who age very little from their first appearance to their last.

It is always good to see this delightful pair and find out what they have been up to. The plot of the novel is very much in keeping with the ones before, and, like all Christie novels the clues are all fairly laid out for the reader to follow. Of course there is the 'Christie twist' at the end that the reader never saw coming. Like many of her later works, this one is rather sinister as opposed to the light hearted romps of her earlier works. Still, I gave this one four stars not five because I felt it dragged a bit at times. Perhaps Tommy and Tuppence would have been more at home in the action packed madcap
adventures of their earlier books despite their advancing years. I know that I would have been.

I hate to be so repetative of the many other reviews on here, but I am in agreement with most of you by saying that this is probably the most chilling novel Agatha Christie wrote in her whole career. It starts off with a batty old woman in a nursing home who askes Tuppence Beresford a very odd question. "Was it your baby?" Mrs. Lancaster asks, asking her if her child was buried in the fireplace. After leaving the nursing home, Tommy and Tuppence discover that some relative (or guardian) has whisked her away to another nursing home without giving a forwarding address. This sets Tuppence off on a quest to find Mrs. Lancaster and her guardian,but discovers along the way a very tangled web of gangs, murders, thefts and attacks. The funny thing about this book is that you might feel sorry for the culperate. There is a deep psycological root as to why all these things happened. This perhaps is the most chilly thing of all.

Okay I'm only 13 and I didn't find this book confusing at all. So I'm surprised some adults found it hard to follow. I thought it was really good and the ending surprised me. I recommend this book to everyone!

This has to be my favourite of all the five T&T books. And they're all damn good!

This one is slightly unusual (well, most of Christie's books have something a little unusual in them, to set them apart from all the others.) in that we are not even certain there is anything to investigate, almost all the way through the book. There are practically no bodies, only the shady disappearance of an old lady, which could very well all be exaplained quite rationally.

Nonetheless, not only is this her best T&T, it is one of her best full stop. The duo may not have quite as much youthful vigour as they did in the first three novels (they are much older now) but their spirit is still there, and the way Tuppence goes haring off across the country on a mere unfounded suspicion is quite typical of them in their younger days!

The characters are good, and the plot is very original, with a solution you will NOT be able to guess. The very nature of the solution comes as a great shock to the reader, as it's completely unexpected. (It's rather similar in style to "Crooked House"'s solution.) A great, disturbing, malevolent evil is uncovered from undera guise you will never expect. As with all the best CHristie books, the ending shocks more than most.

The entire novel, in fact, carries an underlying tone of omnipresent evil, foreboding and fear, which serves to create a wonderful atmosphere, for what is one of her most perfect stories.

A definite must-read.

I am a recent college grad who has just discovered the addicting Agatha Christie collections. By the Pricking of My Thumbs was the third Christie book I read and the first to feature the lesser known detevtive's Tommy and Tuppence. In my opinion this is one of her best novels, it is unusually chilling with a climax that will leave you breathless with surprise. It has a darker edge to it simply because it deals with murders of the truly innocent. A must read for any mystery fan and especially any Agatha Christie fan!

While her husband Tommy is away, Tuppence tries to track down an eldery woman who disappeared from a nursing home. She finds she's in over her head as she finds the disappearance is connected to a gang of thieves and to a series of murders of children years ago. When Tuppence doesn't return home, Tommy has to track down his wife, just as Tuppence had to track the old woman. As other reviewers have stated, this is rather one of the more chilling of Christie's stories, mostly because of the psychological nature of the villain.