By the Pricking of My Thumbs

1) Give s brief outline of the main plot and characters of the book. What do you think are the main themes that the book is trying to address?

I should point out, before I start, that this was the very first of Agatha Christie’s books that I have ever read, so I may have missed something that would be evident to her fans. On the other hand, because I’m new to her writing, my observations are solely based on this novel, and not on the rest of her writings, which leaves no room for bias. The story revolves around Tommy and Tuppence, a old and dull couple, who have lost the excitement of their youth. Unlike the time when they were young and restless, solving crime, and fighting against injustice, Tommy and Tuppence now live a quiet life, away from the reaches of danger. The conflict starts when Tommy and Tuppence go and visit Tommy's Aunt Ada or Miss Ada Maria Fanshawe in Sunny Ridge Nursing Home. While Tommy or Thomas Beresford is chatting with his aunt, Tuppence or Mrs Beresford or Prudence Cowley is chatting with another elderly women named Mrs. Lancaster. Mrs Lancaster startles Tuppence when she asks "Was it your poor child." After leaving the nursing home she is thinking more and more about Mrs Lancaster. Then, a couple weeks later Aunt Ada dies. Soon after Aunt Ada dies Tommy and Tuppence go to the nursing house to get Aunt Ada's things. Tuppence finds a picture which looks familiar. She has seen the house before. She finds out the picture belonged to Mrs. Lancaster. She wants to meet Mrs. Lancaster, however, Mrs. Lancaster has been mysteriously whisked away from the nursing home by relatives who left no forwarding address. While her husband Tommy is away, Tuppence tries to track down an elderly woman who has disappeared from a nursing home. She finds she's in over her head as she finds the disappearance is connected to a gang of thieves and to a series of murders of children years ago. The ending of this story is unexpected because the murderer of the...