meganbmoore | By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie (Reply)

Tommy and Tuppence’s spying and adventuring days are long since over (supposedly) but Tuppence is still more than ready to jump at the chance of a new adventure. (Tommy still gets invited to annual meetings to discuss new spies. Tuppence is properly snippy about old boys’ clubs. Tommy is properly contrite.) Tuppence has an interesting conversation with a patient at the nursing home while Tommy is visiting his Aunt Ada, and when Aunt Ada dies, Tuppence learns the woman left under seemingly-normal-but-possibly-suspicious circumstances, and uses a painting she gave to Aunt Ada to investigate, while Tommy is busy being Important.

The Marple ~~mass rewrite~~ adaptation of this is possibly my favorite of the McEwan Marples, but I can see why fans of the books don’t like it. While I wouldn’t trade the Marple/Tuppence interactions for almost anything, it really does do a disservice to Tommy and Tuppence’s marriage and partnership, and undermines Tuppence’s role in their adventures.

I think N or M? is my favorite Tommy & Tuppence book so far (I think I have one left, though) but I liked this one a lot too.