By the Pricking of My Thumbs By the Pricking of My Thumbs By The Pricking of My Thumbs is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1968 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed at twenty-one shillings (21/-) and the US edition at $4.95. It features her detectives Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. Tommy and Tuppence were unusual in that they aged from novel to novel unlike Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, whose age remained more or less the same from Christie's
Tommy and Betty itself, which would appear to have been appended to the older play tradition found all over England. In the modern dance, the Tommy introduces the dancers, usually with a traditional calling-on song, and then provides a running commentary and/or jokes to entertain the audience. The Tommy and Betty characters often join in with the rapper figures. The best known Tommy and Betty characters are probably the Newcastle Kingsmen's characters, who have won the prize for best characters at several of the annual DERT competitions, including the national DERT 2004 and 2005 competitions. The Newcastle Kingsmen's dance begins with the Tommy