Tommy and Tuppence Books In Order

Publication Order of Tommy and Tuppence Books

Publication Order of Tommy & Tuppence Short Stories/Novellas

The married couple that star in the “Tommy and Tuppence” series (written by the famous mystery novelist Agatha Christie) have the full names Prudence “Tuppence” Beresford (her maiden name is Cowley) and her husband Thomas Beresford. They first appeared in a Christie novel as accidental blackmailers. They are the lesser known of all the Christie main characters. The couple finds that doing detective work can be pretty lucrative for them, making them change careers. They age with time, in the different novels they appear in, by the end being in their seventies. At the beginning of the series, they are bright young things in their twenties of the upper middle class. This is unlike most of Christie’s lead detectives. There is also quite some time that went by in between novels, so it is easier to see the changes that the couple goes through. There are novels and short stories to this series. The last novel in the series, is also the final novel that Christie ever wrote.

Tuppence has charisma, intuitive, and is prone to be impulsive. She has a black bob hair style, and is one of many children sired by a conservative archdeacon. Tuppence keeps things modern and is stylish. Tommy has less imagination. Tommy fought in the Great War on the British side of things and was wounded multiple times. An early adversary summed Tommy up by saying that it is difficult to blind him to the truth, even though he is not a clever man. These things make them a great duo while investigating cases.

Throughout the series, they are both secret agents and private detectives.

The couple got together when they met up after the war (World War One), and they realized that although they were friends for most of their lives but had fallen for each other. Over the course of the series, they raise three kids, including one that they adopted (named Betty) and twins named Deborah and Derek. In the last book, they have a dog that they have named Hannibal.

All through the series, the couple has hired help in Albert. In the first novel, he helps them as a lift boy. Later he is an assistant at a private detective agency. While a married pub owner, he provides much needed help in one novel. By the final novel, he is their butler and his wife has died.

“The Secret Adversary” is the first novel in the “Tommy and Tuppence” series by Agatha Christie that was released in the year 1922. It is after the Great War, and there are few jobs to be had. Tommy and Tuppence decide that they will open up The Young Adventurers, their own business. The ad that they took out says that they are willing to do anything and go anywhere. Their first job puts them in more danger than anything that they could have imagined. The job starts out when they try to find out about someone named Jane Finn, and later agree to work for someone named Carter, a man high up in British intelligence. He tells them that she was aboard a ship called the RMS Lusitania and was given a treaty that she was supposed to deliver to the American embassy in London. This treaty would hurt things inside the British government. Jane lived but no one has seen her or the treaty since the ship sank.

Fans of the novel found that it was an entertaining read that held their attention the whole way out. It is great too for the readers as they meet the bad guy, and then spend the rest of the book trying to find out which character he is. This one is a quick read that can be read all the way through in the span of a single afternoon, but is quite a fun ride all the way through. It is too bad, some feel, that Christie only wrote five books about these characters, as this is quite the series. She really knew how to write mystery novels.

“N or M?” is the second novel in the “Tommy and Tuppence” series by Agatha Christie that was released in the year 1941. At the start of World War Two, many years after working for British intelligence, Tuppence and Tommy feel that they are now useless and out of the action. Tommy is asked to go undercover, and Tuppence decides to with him whether or not she is invited. She arrives, due to some good sleuthing on her part, before he does to the location he is being sent. Their search for German fifth columnists begins. Some British agent left a cryptic message on his deathbed it asked N or M and ended with Song Susie. This agent was also looking at the Germans. Song Susie means Sans Souci, a hotel in Leahampton, both are fictional locations. Both N and M are spies, one male and the other female. Tommy is to go to the hotel and find out if N and or M are at the hotel. He is also supposed to find out who they are. Their identities are revealed at the end of the book.

Fans of the novel liked the way that the novel has humorous touches at the bed and breakfast with delightful phrases and great characterizations. It is quite the charming novel that is twisting and turning and will surprise you, no matter how much of the novel you are able to figure out. The talk of being middle aged was interesting to some, the cat and mouse elements in the book between protagonists and antagonists. There was also a great cast of shady characters to be found in the novel too.

The first novel in the series, “The Secret Adversary” has been adapted three times, twice for television and once into a movie. In France, the third novel “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” was adapted into a movie as well. The novel was also made into a “Marple” episode, even though Miss Marple was not in the novel. In this story, it is Marple and Tuppence are the detectives. BBC Television started airing an adaptation of the novels that was set in the fifties and titled “Partners in Crime”.

One Response to “Tommy and Tuppence”

1. Pamela Ruth Meyer: 10 months ago

   This was an inspiring post. Love the idea of telling stories from the two points of view of an investigating couple in love. Nothing better. It seems Agatha figured this out a hundred years ago. Go Agatha! And go you, for sharing it with us!

   Reply