Parker Pyne Investigates by
Agatha Christie
pbk out January 03
(HarperCollins)
at £5.99
This book contains all but a couple of the short stories Christie wrote
about Parker Pyne, who does not appear in any of her novels. After 35 years
of compiling statistics in a government office, he has retired and
determined to explore in practice a theory he formed during the course of
his career: "Unhappiness can be classified under five main heads - no more,
I assure you. Once you know the cause of a malady, the remedy should not be
impossible." He places a simple advertisement in the newspaper: "Are you
happy? If not, consult Mr Parker Pyne." A variety of clients beat a path
to his door, but he is not a detective; rather, he is an organiser, someone
who arranges a solution to human problems.
Half the stories are set in Britain; the rest take place during a holiday
which Parker Pyne takes (like so many other of Christie's creations) to the
Middle East which she knew so well. The concept behind the stories,
originally written for magazines in the 30s, is intriguing and Christie
carries it through with characteristic zest. Along the way, she introduces
characters who would, unlike Parker Pyne, reappear in full-length works.
Felicity Lemon later became Hercule Poirot's secretary, while the detective
novelist Ariadne Oliver worked both with the great Belgian and on her own.
The tale "Death on the Nile", incidentally, bears no resemblance apart from
its title to the later Poirot novel.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
