Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

I continue to plow through my favorite series of 2020. Unlike the other two Tommy and Tuppence novels, which were based on a single crime, this one is a series of short stories involving the detective agency that the Beresfords set up in the first novel, The Secret Adversary. I think that makes it perfect for reading aloud since each crime is solved in two or three chapters. 

I am a fan of vintage literature so I loved Agatha Christie's nod to dozens of other mystery writers from the "golden age of detective fiction". In almost every chapter of Partners in Crime, Tommy decides which of these detectives he will try to imitate. Will it be Sherlock Holmes (by Arthur Conan Doyle), Father Brown (by G.K. Chesterton), Inspector Howard (by A.E.W. Mason) or Inspector French (by Freeman Wills Crofts)? She even pokes fun at her own creation, Hercule Poirot and his "little gray cells." I enjoyed the humor in that and it also made me want to investigate the dozen or so authors she mentioned who I haven't yet read - especially the story "The Old Man in the Corner" by Baroness Orczy (of Scarlet Pimpernel fame.)

Solving the mysteries is fun, but the real reason I enjoy these books is because of  the playful, affectionate banter between the protagonists. I highly recommend listening to this series. This book, Partners in Crime, is narrated by Hugh Fraser on YouTube.

If you prefer reading, I found all five novels for $1.99.

Blessings,