The Mysterious Mr Quin (Harley Quin Mysteries)

by Agatha Christie

A mysterious stranger appears at a New Year's Eve party, becoming the enigmatic sleuthing sidekick to the snobbish Mr Satterthwaite...

So far, it had been a typical New Year's Eve house party. But Mr Satterthwaite - a keen observer of human nature - sensed that the real drama of the evening was yet to unfold.

So it proved when a mysterious stranger arrived after midnight. Who was this Mr Quin? And why did his presence have such a pronounced effect on Eleanor Portal, the woman with the dyed-black hair?

• Publish Date: 2003 (first published 1 March 1976)
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Planet Three Publishing
• Edition: Agatha Christie Collection
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 253
• Language: English

Reviews

[brokentune]

3.5*

What an intriguing concept. Mr. Quin truly is mysterious, always showing up in times of impending doom. And yet, he's merely a catalyst for this friend Mr Satterthwaite to act in some way

In a way, the duo reminded me of the old 80s tv show Highway to Heaven, but less evangelical.

As this was the first time that I encountered Mr. Quin, I had no idea that Christie had taken this approach in some of her short stories. I knew Mr. Satterthwaite, of course, as a friend of Hercule Poirot's whom we meet in Three Act Tragedy, but not from his other stories.

Having now read this collection - which really is a little bit of a blend between Poirot/Marple-style mystery short stories and Christie's stories dealing with the supernatural (yes, she did write them! - see The Hound of Death!) - I rather like Mr Satterthwaite as a more mellow version of Poirot, who accepts that he is a snob, but who also is very big-hearted.

This was an enjoyable read, but it lacked some thing for me. I can't even put my finger on what this might be, but I just couldn't feel the same ... thrill as with other Christie favourites.