The Harley Quin stories by Agatha Christie

(This is a translation of the preface I wrote to this collection of stories.)

In this part 5 of Agatha Christie's collected short fiction, Mr. Harley Quin is our detective. Well, that is a modified truth, because the farther we get in this collection, the larger is the role of his companion and assistant Mr. Satterthwaite and the more Quin himself is marginalised.

Harley Quin has to be seen as a somewhat different acquaintance. In contrast to the other detectives Christie used, Quin is more of a catalyst who gets Mr. Satterthwaite to draw conclusions about different cases they come into contact with. Quin becomes more of a supernatural being who appears at the exact right moment to trigger something.

The stories about Mr. Quin began publication in the middle of the 1920s, and in 1926 a cohesive series of six Quin stories was begun with the sub-heading "The Magic of Mr. Quin". This series of stories was commissioned by British magazine, The Story-Teller, but several of them were actually first published in the American magazine Flynn's Weekly.

However, Christie continued producing stories about Mr. Quin throughout the 20s, but the final story is probably from around the time of WWII, even though it wasn't published until more than 20 years later. Twelve of the Mr. Quin stories were collected in "The Mysterious Mr. Quin", while the other two were published in later collections.

This volume starts off with "The Coming of Mr. Quin" where we meet Mr. Satterthwaite, who throughout the collection is the focal point for the reader and whose thoughts we get to follow. During an enjoyable dinner, Mr. Quin appears unexpectedly and during the story that follows a mystery is solved and a suicide is averted. A good introduction to this collection.

The next story is "The Shadow on the Glass", where a family ghost seems to have the solution for the death that happens when Mr. Satterthwaite is a weekend guest. Mr. Quin appears towards the end and with a couple of well-chosen words he makes everyone realise what actually happened. Yet another clever story.

After some prompting from Mr. Quin, Mr. Satterthwaite travels all the way to Canada in "The Sign in the Sky" to try to smash an ironclad alibi, so this is one of all too few impossible Christie crimes. This is yet another good story where Christie, like the master she was, drops a clue that the reader will have to be very alert to notice.

"At the Bells and Motley" comes next. Here Mr. Satterthwaite has been stranded on an inn when his car breaks down, but of course he bumps into Mr. Quin there. Mr Satterthwaite recalls an old story about a disappearance in the area, and together they manage to logically conclude what actually happened. Another impossible story, and quite a fine one at that.

Then follows the suite of six stories that starts with "The Love Detectives". What these stories have in common is that they concern amorous relationships that in some way have gone wrong or are threatened - but it is still the byplay between Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin that takes centre stage. In this first story they need to sort out the mess that arises when a man is found shot and everyone confesses to the murder - and in this way save a pair of lovers.

"The Soul of the Croupier" takes place in southern France and Monte Carlo where one of those silly young Americans gets tangled up with a mercenary woman. It takes a croupier's love story to get him untangled again.

Then we reach "The World's End" on Corsica, where Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin and some acquaintances run into another group of people. In the end, this coincidental meeting has the result that yet another suicide is averted.

The fourth tale of this suite is "The Voice in the Dark". We get another story from the past which manages to sort out what has happened and what is about to happen. An atmospheric and sad story.

With "The Face of Helen" we return to current times - or at least the time when the stories were written. After a visit to the opera, Mr. Satterthwaite runs into Mr. Quin as well as the young lady who's given the story its name. A sinister murder is averted in the eleventh hour thanks to these two encounters.

Christie chose to finish the six story suite with "Harlequin’s Lane", which is understandable given the very effective ending we get here. Nowhere is Mr. Quin as supernatural as in this tale where human relationships have an unusually large role to play.

"The Dead Harlequin" is luckily not our friend Mr. Quin. The title refers to a painting with the same name. This story is rather similar to the first Quin story - we're at another dinner  party and hear another story about the past. Mr. Quin is hardly present, and Mr. Satterthwaite gets all the balls rolling by himself. Another strong story.

"The Man from the Sea" is not a criminous story, it only concerns human relationships. That doesn't make it a bad story - it is in fact fairly strong. Mr. Quin makes just a very short appearance towards the end of the tale and disappears quickly and supernaturally again.

In "The Bird with the Broken Wing", Mr. Satterthwaite has been invited to yet another weekend party. He participates in a séance which somehow lets Mr. Quin get in touch with him. He takes these instructions as an omen and can in this way solve the murder that occurs later.

We finish with "The Harlequin Tea Set", which is a couple of decades younger than the other stories here. Mr. Satterthwaite is now a yet older man, and bumps into Mr. Quin at a café along the road. This encounter gives him the opportunity to prevent another murder that is about to occur. A fitting end to a remarkable series of stories.

Conclusion

I like the Harley Quin series of stories. They aren't quite as focused on the mystery as most Christie stories, but all in all I think Christie succeeds in this blend of romance, mystery and the supernatural. Harley Quin is an interesting character, even though (or perhaps because) we never really get to know him. (Mr. Satterthwaite, of course, later appeared in an Hercule Poirot novel - "Three Act Tragedy" - and has a cameo in the Poirot novella "Dead Man's Mirror".)

Even better, there are in fact two impossible mysteries among this bunch. Both are quite good, though I think "The Sign in the Sky" has the slight upper hand. Both are good enough to be used in my impossible mystery project.