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A review by ruthiella
Masterpieces in Miniature: The Detectives: Stories by Agatha Christie by Agatha Christie
3.0
This collection of various Agatha Christie short stories is definitely something for completists and ardent fans of hers. It contains twelve Parker Pyne stories and thirteen Harley Quin/Mr. Satterthwaite stories, which are virtually all she wrote with these main characters/”detectives” and eight Poirot and six Miss Marple stories. Short stories aren’t really Christie’s forte, in my opinion, though I enjoyed reading these in a desultory fashion over the course of a week or so.
The first Parker Pyne stories, where he works out of his London office, are more like early Fantasy Island episodes where Pyne manipulates his clients with (unbeknownst to them) actors and contrived scenarios and the problems to be solved are those of the heart mostly. The later stories are more sinister mysteries (murder, kidnap, etc.) which could just have easily been Poirot stories, really.
The Harley Quin/Mr. Satterthwaite stories are more like later Fantasy Island episodes because they all have a touch of the magical since Mr. Quinn may or may not actually be human… and they are all fairly romantic in tone. Not really my cup of tea.
The Miss Marple and Poirot stories I had all read in other collections. It makes me sad to think that they weren’t able to film the Miss Marple short stories with the marvelous Joan Hickson. With some adaptation they would have been amazing, like the televised Poirot short stories starring David Suchet are.
The first Parker Pyne stories, where he works out of his London office, are more like early Fantasy Island episodes where Pyne manipulates his clients with (unbeknownst to them) actors and contrived scenarios and the problems to be solved are those of the heart mostly. The later stories are more sinister mysteries (murder, kidnap, etc.) which could just have easily been Poirot stories, really.
The Harley Quin/Mr. Satterthwaite stories are more like later Fantasy Island episodes because they all have a touch of the magical since Mr. Quinn may or may not actually be human… and they are all fairly romantic in tone. Not really my cup of tea.
The Miss Marple and Poirot stories I had all read in other collections. It makes me sad to think that they weren’t able to film the Miss Marple short stories with the marvelous Joan Hickson. With some adaptation they would have been amazing, like the televised Poirot short stories starring David Suchet are.