By the Pricking of My Thumbs
About this book
"By the pricking of my thumbs,Something wicked this way comes."William Shakespeare – Macbeth (Act IV, Scene 1)When visiting Tommy's Aunt Ada in her nursing home, Tuppence encounters some odd residents, Mrs Lancaster, being the strangest of them all. Her incessant reference to 'something behind the fireplace' and a 'poor child' seems at first the incoherent ramblings of an elderly woman, though when Aunt Ada sadly passes away, a painting left to Tommy in her will leads the duo on a dangerous adventure where they finally discover exactly what Mrs Lancaster was talking about.Published in 1968, the title is taken from a line in Shakespeare's Macbeth. The novel marks the return of Tommy and Tuppence after nearly three decades of silence. Unlike Christie's other recurring characters, the detectives have aged in accordance with time. Tommy is now over seventy, and Tuppence is sixty-six. Although not in the original novel Geraldine McEwan appears as Miss Marple in ITV's 2006 episode.
Reader Profile
3.8/5 · 26883 readers · 191 pages · ≈ 3 h 32 m · Moderate
How long does it take to read By the Pricking of My Thumbs?
About ≈ 3 h 32 m — 191 pages, assuming roughly 250 words per page at 225 words per minute.
How many pages is By the Pricking of My Thumbs?
191 pages in its most-read edition.
What genre is By the Pricking of My Thumbs?
It sits on the Mystery, Fiction shelves.
Has By the Pricking of My Thumbs been made into a movie or TV show?
Yes — screen adaptations include Mon petit doigt m'a dit... (2005).
Is By the Pricking of My Thumbs in the public domain?
No — it is still under copyright.
Who are the main characters in By the Pricking of My Thumbs?
The main characters include Tommy (Fictitious character) Beresford.
Where does By the Pricking of My Thumbs take place?
It is set in England.
Who wrote By the Pricking of My Thumbs?
Agatha Christie.