Partners in Crime (short story collection)

Partners in Crime
	First US edition
Author	Agatha Christie
Cover artist	Not known
Language	English
Genre	Detective fiction; Short stories
Publisher	Dodd, Mead (US); Collins (UK)
Publication date	1929
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	277 (first edition, hardcover)
Preceded by	The Seven Dials Mystery
Followed by	The Mysterious Mr Quin

Partners in Crime is a short story collection by British writer Agatha Christie, first published by Dodd, Mead and Company in the US in 1929^[1]^[2] and in the UK by William Collins, Sons on 16 September of the same year.^[3] The US edition retailed at $2.00^[2] and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6).^[4] All of the stories in the collection had previously been published in magazines (see First publication of stories below) and feature her detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, first introduced in The Secret Adversary (1922).

This collection of detective short stories has a theme connecting the stories, as well, "a group of short detective stories within a detective novel."^[5]

The collection was well received on publication, with the "merriest collection",^[5] with amiable parodies,^[6] to one reviewer who was less impressed, saying the stories were "entertaining enough".^[7] One noted that "By having two detectives who are usually alternately successful she [Christie] has always a foil, less obtuse than 'my dear Watson'.^[8] "Her literary skill is equal to the task" of parodies of the style of well-known detective writers.^[8] Some of the authors parodied in the 1920s are long-forgotten, yet a review in 1990 commented that "the parodies are not sharp enough for this to matter very much" to prevent enjoyment of the stories.^[9] It also noted that the plot of one story, "The House of Lurking Death", "anticipates" a detective novel published in 1930 by Dorothy Sayers.^[9]

^ Cooper, John; Pyke, B A (1994). Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (Second ed.). Scholar Press. pp. 82, 87. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.
^ ^a ^b Marcum, J S (May 2007). "American Tribute to Agatha Christie: The Classic Years 1920s". Insight BB. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
^ The Observer, 15 September 1929 (p. 8)
^ The English Catalogue of Books. Vol. XI (A-L: January 1921 – December 1925). Millwood, New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation. 1979. p. 316.
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[1] Cooper, John; Pyke, B A (1994). Detective Fiction – the collector's guide (Second ed.). Scholar Press. pp. 82, 87. ISBN 0-85967-991-8.

[US-2] Marcum, J S (May 2007). "American Tribute to Agatha Christie: The Classic Years 1920s". Insight BB. Retrieved 10 December 2012.

[3] The Observer, 15 September 1929 (p. 8)

[Cat-4] The English Catalogue of Books. Vol. XI (A-L: January 1921 – December 1925). Millwood, New York: Kraus Reprint Corporation. 1979. p. 316.

[NYTBooks1929-5] Cite error: The named reference NYTBooks1929 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[LTS1929-6] Cite error: The named reference LTS1929 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[DailyExpress1929-7] Cite error: The named reference DailyExpress1929 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Scotsman1929-8] Cite error: The named reference Scotsman1929 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Barnard1990-9] Cite error: The named reference Barnard1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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