tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post8153974022133533433..comments2024-03-27T11:26:20.466-07:00Comments on The Passing Tramp: Two Terrific Twee 'Tecs: Tommy and Tuppence in Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime (1929)The Passing Tramphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-47124278654654863542014-03-21T20:32:42.104-07:002014-03-21T20:32:42.104-07:00Lucy, no, the reference has been left in--my revie...Lucy, no, the reference has been left in--my review is of HarperCollins' most recent edition, the one with the pair of dice. HarperCollins is of divided minds about this matter, apparently, because they now are calling the Island in And Then There Were None (formerly Ten Little N-) "Soldier Island"! they deemed not only the N-word but "Indian" unacceptable.<br /><br />Oglander does sound familiar. I just checked google and that was the name of the middle class family in the story The King of Clubs. In that story there was also a woman named Valerie Saint Clair!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-49200133873140783062014-03-21T18:44:32.743-07:002014-03-21T18:44:32.743-07:00Mammoth publisher Harper Collins has probably sack...Mammoth publisher Harper Collins has probably sacked all its editors and proofreaders. Didn't Christie have a recurring family of unpleasant people called the Oglanders? And surely that "Jew" reference has been cut from later editions, like all such remarks?Lucy R. Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-66075563540511681512014-03-21T15:29:30.870-07:002014-03-21T15:29:30.870-07:00Yup, even the Signet 2000 edition of Partners has ...Yup, even the Signet 2000 edition of Partners has "flat." I noticed several typos in both the new pb edition of Partners and the hardcover facsimile edition of Secret Adversary. A shame a mammoth publisher like HarperCollins can't get those details right!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-91552614152423233702014-03-21T13:12:12.449-07:002014-03-21T13:12:12.449-07:00Okay, I checked Cooper and Pike and The Affair at ...Okay, I checked Cooper and Pike and The Affair at the Semiramis Hotel was 1917. I was thinking of The Ginger King, which is 1940. These are both Hanaud.<br /><br />There are some other criminous Mason short works of fiction, The Clock (1910), The Secret Fear (1940; expanded into The House in Lordship Lane, 1946), The Sapphire (1927, expanded into No Other Tiger, 1927).The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-12956411420932092642014-03-21T12:54:16.994-07:002014-03-21T12:54:16.994-07:00I think At the Villa Rose was such a landmark, tha...I think At the Villa Rose was such a landmark, that alone would have justified including Hanaud, but it would be interesting to know whether Christie had read House of the Arrow before she wrote the story. The publication dates apparently were very close.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-34229471914238141822014-03-21T12:51:37.433-07:002014-03-21T12:51:37.433-07:00It sure is. He was in a bunch of those German Edg...It sure is. He was in a bunch of those German Edgar Wallace films in the 1960s. I am now dying to watch some of them, lol. Those eyes! Those eyes!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-5795540424550171212014-03-21T12:20:52.548-07:002014-03-21T12:20:52.548-07:00John, a lot of the stories have sleuth companions ...John, a lot of the stories have sleuth companions as well, I was trying to streamline a very long piece! I actually have one of those Ostranders, will have to read it sometime.<br /><br />Christie has a funny bit with Thonrley Colton,'s assistant Sydney Thames I think the name is. Tuppence becomes Miss Ganges!<br /><br />What were the Hanaud short stories prior to 1920? I am drawing a blank. I recall The Affair at the Semiramis Hotel, isn't it? Wasn't that a novella, from the 1940s?<br /><br />The first Sheringham story apparently was The Avenging Chance. I wonder whether the original story even had a parody (it preceded the others in the series by some time). Someone should read the originals and let us know!<br /><br />"Keep the flag going to perfection" seems an odd expression! Keep the flag flying might have worked.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-23737169982001022882014-03-21T12:05:30.725-07:002014-03-21T12:05:30.725-07:00Hey! Is that a young Klaus Kinski reading the Germ...Hey! Is that a young Klaus Kinski reading the German edition of a Wallace thriller? Those eyes are so distinctive.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-77897611671002941142014-03-21T12:00:14.692-07:002014-03-21T12:00:14.692-07:00This was fun reading. Makes me want to go back and...This was fun reading. Makes me want to go back and read this book, especially since I've now read nearly all of the parody inspirations. Only one still left to read is Valentine Williams. but I only have the Mr. Treadgold books not anythign wiht the Okewood brothers. I'm going to check that line "...work after breakfast every morning keeps the flag going to perfection" in my Dodd Mead 1st edition of PIC to see what the correct word is. I'll let you know later tonight.<br /><br />A few notes: 1. The Ostrander parody is of a detective duo: Tim McCarty and Dennis Riordan, his fireman sleuthing companion. Riordan seems to get overlooked when this Christie story is talked about, but he is very present as a detective in Ostrander's novels that feature this duo. 2. Hanuad appeared in a handful of short stories in magazines prior to 1920. Christie may have read any of those. 3. Could Sheringham have appeared in an early short story, too? Berkeley was publishing tons of material in magazines prior to 1920, but most of it was humor and sketches not necessarily detective short stories. I don't have a copy of Crippen & Landru's THE AVENGING CHANCE to check against. That book has the complete checklist and probalby the original publication dates.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-57447957700044538142014-03-21T11:57:44.729-07:002014-03-21T11:57:44.729-07:00On the P. S.: Well, Clubfoot was a bully and Teddy...On the P. S.: Well, Clubfoot was a bully and Teddy said "Bully!" Actually they do look alike, maybe the jacket designer was a Democrat. ;) I like, by the way, CLUBFOOT RETURNS AGAIN! A bit redundant, what?<br /><br />Yeah, I agree about Sunningdale. I imagine Baroness Orzcy must have been a writer that Christie herself quite enjoyed.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-13186374509542584272014-03-21T11:54:08.789-07:002014-03-21T11:54:08.789-07:00Christie herself said in the 1960s she felt it did...Christie herself said in the 1960s she felt it didn't hold up because so many of the detectives parodied were forgotten! I think I may discuss the parodied detectives some more. In truth, people who like classic detective fiction really should know Dr. Thorndyke, The Man in the Corner, Inspector Hanaud, Inspector French, Roger Sheringham, Reggie Fortune, not to mention Father Brown (and Holmes and Poirot go without saying). Edgar Wallace, Sapper and Valentine Williams also were three of the most popular crime writers of the Golden Age.<br /><br />I admit I know nothing of Timothy McCarty and Thornley Colton!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-1387985732165609792014-03-21T03:44:27.620-07:002014-03-21T03:44:27.620-07:00P.S: Is it just me or does the illustration of &qu...P.S: Is it just me or does the illustration of "Clubfoot" resemble President Theodore Roosevelt? TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-58657727450293246392014-03-21T03:25:06.334-07:002014-03-21T03:25:06.334-07:00I completely agree with your opinion on this colle...I completely agree with your opinion on this collection and Mike Grost's assessment of "The Sunningdale Mystery," because I had just read Orczy's <i>The Man in the Corner</i> when I picked up <i>Partners in Crime</i> and it perfectly captures (and spoofs) the original. Easily the best of the lot. And it made me feel better that I didn't get all of the parodies. <br /><br />The only weakness true weakness of <i>Partners in Crime</i> is that you have to be well read in classic mysteries to fully appreciate the stories. <br /><br />Note to self: I really, really have to sample Freeman Wills Crofts, Isabel Ostrander and Edgar Wallace this year. <br />TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.com