Vicky Bliss
mystery
Series · mystery
Tommy and Tuppence
The Tommy and Tuppence series by Agatha Christie has 5 known books (5 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Secret Adversary (1922).
- Books
- 5 known books (4 novels + 1 collection)
- Published
- 5
- First published
- 1922
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: The Secret Adversary (1922) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Secret Adversary
The Secret Adversary (1922) introduces Tommy and Tuppence Beresford as broke, restless twentysomethings just after the First World War, launching Agatha Christie's other detective duo into proper espionage-thriller adventure and a paycheck in equal measure.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Secret Adversary - Book 2:
Partners in Crime
Released in 1929, Partners in Crime sits between The Secret Adversary and N or M? in the Tommy and Tuppence reading order, a linked short-story collection in which the newly married pair run a detective agency and parody other era detectives like Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Partners in Crime - Book 3:
N or M?
The third entry in the Tommy and Tuppence series, N or M? was published in 1941 and runs 191 pages, finding the couple middle-aged and drawn back into intelligence work hunting a Nazi fifth columnist.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of N or M? - Book 4:
By the Pricking of My Thumbs
Released in 1968, By the Pricking of My Thumbs sits between N or M? and Postern of Fate in the Tommy and Tuppence reading order, finding the Beresfords elderly and drawn into a cold-case mystery as semi-retired grandparents.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of By the Pricking of My Thumbs - Book 5:
Postern of Fate
Postern of Fate closes out the published run of Tommy and Tuppence to date, following By the Pricking of My Thumbs in 1973 and bringing Christie's fifty-year, real-time experiment with an aging detective couple to its end.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Postern of Fate
About the Tommy and Tuppence series
Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are Agatha Christie's other detective duo: a married couple of amateur adventurers who first meet as broke, restless twentysomethings just after the First World War and age in something close to real time across five books spanning more than fifty years, from post-war spy games in 1922 to elderly amateur sleuthing in the 1970s. Where Poirot and Marple stay fixed in a kind of eternal present, Tommy and Tuppence actually grow up, marry, raise children, and grow old together on the page — a structural experiment Christie didn't attempt anywhere else in her work, and the main reason the series has a following distinct from her more famous detectives.
The tone shifts with the couple's age and with the times: The Secret Adversary and N or M? are proper espionage thrillers (the latter set during the Second World War, with the Beresfords hunting a Nazi fifth columnist), while the later books lean into gentler, more domestic amateur detection as Tommy and Tuppence become semi-retired grandparents who can't quite resist a mystery landing in their laps. Partners in Crime (1929) is a linked short-story collection in which the pair run a detective agency and, book by book, parody the styles of other popular fictional detectives of the era, including Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown. This is the series for readers who love Christie's plotting but want partnership and banter over a lone genius, and who don't mind a little more swashbuckling adventure mixed in with the puzzle.
Frequently asked questions
How many Tommy and Tuppence books are there?
Five: four novels and one linked short-story collection, published between 1922 and 1973. Postern of Fate (1973) was the last novel Agatha Christie ever wrote.
What order should I read the Tommy and Tuppence books in?
Publication order. Unlike Poirot or Marple, Tommy and Tuppence age across the series in something close to real time, so reading in order matters for tracking their life together.
Do I need to read Tommy and Tuppence before or after the Poirot books?
No connection is required. The couple exist in the same fictional England as Christie's other detectives but their cases don't overlap with Poirot's or Marple's.
Is Partners in Crime a novel or short stories?
It's a linked collection of short stories in which Tommy and Tuppence run a detective agency and each case playfully imitates the style of a different well-known fictional detective of the 1920s.
Is there a new Tommy and Tuppence book coming?
No. The series was completed by Agatha Christie in 1973 and, unlike Poirot, has not been continued by another author.
If you like the Tommy and Tuppence series
Reading order last verified .