“Partners in Crime” written by Agatha Christie (Elizabeth)

 

The story I would like to present to you issues from a compilation of short stories in the book “Partners in Crime” written by Agatha Christie(link) in 1944.

In this case, a famous explorer named Gabriel Staavansson goes out on a 2 year expedition in the north pole. The issue is that when he arrived a fortnight sooner than expected, he couldn’t find his wife, Ms. Hermiocvxcne Leigh Gordon. So he went to her Aunt’s home Susan Clonray, where she was supposedly staying. But she wouldn't give much information as to where Hermione was.

After a while, he finds out that she was in Maldon thanks to a telegram sent from Hermione that he managed to catch a glimpse of.

Staavansson traveled there to find his wife again but there was no sign of her, so he went to Blunt’s Brilliant Detectives to seek help. The detective couple went for her search in Maldon when Tuppence remembered that there were two Maldons in England and that they needed to go to the other one in Sussex. Sure enough, they found a private isolated nursing home where Hermione was, lying in pain, strapped to a bed, with a doctor injecting some unknown substance into her.

This story was loved by the public and was performed in New York in 1950, read by Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim on the radio in 1953 and was even on the tele featuring Francesca Annis and James Warwick in 1983.

The book in which this short story is featured, Partners In Crime by Agatha Christie (link), won an award in 1985 for the most outstanding graphic and title design.

My opinion on the book “Partners in Crime”(link) is that the short story format is really enjoyable to read although when you get attached and invested in a case, it very quickly changes to another one.

Whereas, if you get attached to the characters it's alright seems as they continue to be featured in different cases throughout the book and sometimes even appear when most unexpected.

On the other hand, in my opinion, the case of the missing lady is very easy to understand, making it perfect to read as a first detective story.

I really enjoyed this book, first of all despite being a detective story, it remained simple enough to read and understand without thinking too much. Also, the book contained some action that keeps me interested in the book. The action sometimes even appeared when most unexpected and I loved that. Lastly, in this case I mostly enjoyed the use of paranormal activity. It allowed my imagination to go further and imagine all sorts of various ways the crime could have been committed and not only stick to known facts.

I most definitely recommend this book and this case featured in the short story collection. I feel like it is most suitable for those who want to start reading detective stories. And the short story format of the book also helps because if you don't understand something that is really important to the case, you can just move on to the next without ruining the whole book.