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Poodlerat’s book blog

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Parker Pyne Investigates

April 2, 2008 at 1:35 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Favourite Books, Mystery and Suspense

50. Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie (Mystery, Short Story Collection) 277 p.

Mr. Parker Pyne, a retired government statistician, runs a rather unusual business. His advertisement in the Times agony column reads:

ARE YOU HAPPY? IF NOT, CONSULT MR. PARKER PYNE, 17 Richmond Street.

The experience and knowledge acquired in the course of his career has made Parker Pyne an expert on human happiness. As he says in the speech he gives prospective clients, there are only five main causes of unhappiness, and once you know the cause, the cure shouldn’t be hard to find. For a fee, Mr. Parker Pyne provides that cure.

In the first six stories, we see Parker Pyne at home in England, solving problems from his London office. In the last six, he goes on vacation to the East, but finds that his Times advertisement precedes him wherever he goes. Parker Pyne handles any situation with aplomb, from bored city clerks to cases of murder.

This was a very quick and enjoyable read. I’ve read this book before, but not in a long time, so it was fun getting to know Parker Pyne again. He also has odd story in other collections, but this is the only book he has all to himself, since he never appears in a full-length novel. I find these some of Christie’s most successful short stories; since Parker Pyne isn’t, strictly speaking, a detective, she had more freedom about the kinds of stories she could tell.

Pages read: 13,904

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4 Comments »

Joy wrote, on April 14th, 2008 at 9:04 am:

Another collection of short stories! Hmm, maybe I should meet Mr. Parker Pyne. :)

Do you know the answer to this question?

Are Agatha Christie series meant to be read in order or do they just contain the same lead characters and would be great standalones? I have received many AC recommendations, but they would take me out of order and I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Thanks!

Poodlerat wrote, on April 14th, 2008 at 10:53 am:

Oh, you should meet Parker Pyne—he’s one of Christie’s lesser-known leads, probably because he’s one of the only ones who never appears in novels, only short stories.

No, you definitely don’t have to read the novels in order! There isn’t much continuity between one book and the next, and even when there is, there aren’t any spoilers for other mysteries.

Might I add my recommendations of must-read Christies? They may overlap 100% with the ones you’ve already got, but here they are:

Poirot: The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage.

Mr. Parker Pyne: Parker Pyne Investigates (short stories; a.k.a. Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective).

Tommy and Tuppence: The Secret Adversary, Partners in Crime (short stories).

Quin and Satterthwaite: The Mysterious Mr. Quin (short stories).

Standalones: And Then There Were None, Ordeal by Innocence (Christie’s own favourite!)

Joy wrote, on April 15th, 2008 at 8:28 am:

OH MY! I just had a surge of excitement shoot through my body! Woo Hoo! Four of your recommendations are new-to-me, but one or two others that I already have written down are from you! :) Thank you so much! I look forward to reading/listening to more of AC.

If you read more throughout the year, please come back and link! :)

Poodlerat wrote, on April 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pm:

Will do! I’ve almost run out of re-reads, although I may have discovered one more I’ve never read, so maybe a few more reviews this year.

Hope you enjoy the books!

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