A Fairy in the Flat: A Short Story

Tommy & Tuppence #2.01

by Agatha Christie

Previously published in the print anthology Partners in Crime.

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are called to duty at an international detective agency. On assignment, they are told to be wary of the number sixteen. If they see it in writing or hear it in conversation with a stranger, that means they are close to finding the spy ring they seek.

Genres: Agatha Christie, Mystery, Short Stories, Crime, Fiction, British Literature, Audiobook

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't really a short story, it's just the introduction for the other shorts in Partners in Crime.

Tommy and Tuppence have been happily married for about 6 years, but Tuppence is wishing for some of the excitement they had in their lives when they were young(er) adventurers helping the government.



Serendipity strikes and in walks Mr. Carter (from the The Secret Adversary) and asks if they would once again like to help their country.
A defunct detective agency owned by a now-imprisoned Theodore Blunt has been taken over by the government, and Carter would like Tommy and Tuppence to take it over and be on the lookout for spy shenanigans.
A blue letter with a Russian stamp that has the number 16 under it.

The International Detective Agency is born!

If you're looking for a short story, this isn't it. There's no mystery and no real story other than to set up other short stories.

Read as part of the short story collection Partners in Crime.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story as to how they came to run the detective agency. Very short.

[Manya Bansal]

Not exactly a short story…just a filler to give extra information about the series

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. Light, frivolous and fun. This is the 1st short of the 17 in Partners in Crime but my review is for the first two. Christie released the book in 1929. It's one part mystery and one part the amusing interplay between a mid-to-late 20s married couple. Why two stories in the same review? The first is just the intro to the following 16, especially the second, A Pot of Tea. The two go together - as do Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. They are bored, especially Tuppence. It's an important decade for women, and she has no desire to be stuck at home. "I want things to happen. Exciting things." Her husband works for the Secret Service in the UK but at a desk job. His boss visits; the Chief, Mr. Carter, wants the them to take over the management of Theodore Blunt's International Detective Agency. Apparently Blunt had been a double agent siphoning information to the Bolsheviks (soon to be called the Soviets) in Moscow. Carter's idea is that Tommy and Tuppence may be able to draw foreign spies into the open. But little happens in the 2nd other than a lovelorn man asks for help because his young lady has disappeared. Excitement must wait. (Aug2026)

[kammie!!? · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm logging these even though these belong to a book called Partners in Crime because I want to have read the whole collection and it's unsatisfying to leave this unadded when I have indeed read them.

Read as part of the short story collection:

- Partners in crime
- Capital Christie (13/02/2026)

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tuppence is complaining about being bored and wanting something exciting to happen. It is just then that Tommy and Tuppence are recruited by Mr. Carter to pose as Theodore Blunt and his assistant of the International Detective Agency in order to catch a Russian who communicates by sending a blue envelope and a Russian stamp referencing the number 16. Not much happens in this story other than to introduce the idea of international intrigue and establishing them in the detective agency.

[Afia Jahin Mow · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely reading more tommy & tuppence in future.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Korte intro naar de wereld van Blunt.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tuppence is bored after six years of marriage, wants something exciting to happen. Tommy's Chief arrives with an offer to run a private detective agency with suspicious contacts under the original owner's name.

To be honest, this isn't a true short story, it is more an excerpt set-up for a longer story. The mystery is barely explained, forget about a solution. Tuppence also doesn't come off well in this snippet. 2 out of 5.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

On of the Tommy and Tuppence series. Tuppence is bored at home, Tommy is mulling tgings over at work. A colleague persuades them to take a leave of absence and stand in at a Detective Agency.

It is always fun to see a different side to Agatha Christie beyond Miss Marple and Poirot

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn’t really a short story, it’s an introduction to the other short stories. It sets the stage for Tommy and Tuppence to run the International Detective Agency.

2⭐️s because I’m not a fan of Tommy and Tuppence’s “whitty” banter about their marriage.

[Akemi G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An introduction (not a mystery story itself) in Partners in Crime

[Aisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

[2.25/5]

This read more as an introduction rather than a short story.

[Luiz Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,0

[Ilaria Garner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have yet to read anything about Tommy and Tuppence, and now I really want to. Still this wasn't that amazing of a read as I am usually feeling from Dame Christie.

[Timothy Ward]

I y

[Emma Gallacher · Rating 2 out of 5]

TT intro story of partners in crime collection , not much in it just the formation of blunts agency! Along with stories 2 3 and 4 becomes pink pearl on LWT in 1983 with James Warwick

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of the collection Partners In Crime, 21April2022.

[ttaif · Rating 2 out of 5]

الي خلاني ارفع التقييم لانه بالصوتي يحمس اكثر ولا القصه مال ميه بيسه

[Rolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less a case unto itself than an introduction to the larger narrative that weaves these stories from Partners in Crime together, as Tommy and Tuppence take over the detective agency.

[Alif · Rating 3 out of 5]

just the introduction!

[Zaira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Versión audiolibro.

[Ivan Jovanović · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ovo je zapravo samo uvod u iducih 16 prica koje mozemo procitati u ovome broju te saznajemo koja ce biti uloga Tommyja i Tuppence u njoj.

[May · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not a 100 pages long unless the publisher forgot to add the other half of the story. This short story is a preview or introduction on how Tommy & Tuppence became detectives. Not very interesting as Tuppence is wanting excitement and they think a "fairy" grants her wish.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tommy & Tuppence 02 Partners in Crime

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good start after a lot of boring stories. Nice humor as well.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little piece before the adventures begin.