Although I'm a fan of the works Agatha Christie in general and her novels featuring Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot in particular, I had never come across her character Parker Pyne until recently when I began binge reading her novels and short story collections.
I'm not really sure what to make of Parker Pyne. He's not, strictly speaking, a detective. I hardly know how to classify the character. He advertises his services in the Personal section of the London Times - "ARE YOU HAPPY? IF NOT, CONSULT MR. PARKER PYNE. 17 Richmond Street."
People of all sorts come to Parker Pyne for a variety of reasons. Sometimes there may be a theft....once or twice there may have been a murder in this collection of short stories....but he's not at all like Poirot or Marple. Solving murder mysteries isn't his forte.
I was mildly interested in these 14 Parker Pyne stories, but toward the end, I was really longing for the finish.
In the original short story collection first published in the UK, there were 12 short stories. In this edition, two additional short stories - Problem at Pollensa Bay and The Regatta Mystery - were included. Fortunately, those two were also included in another Agatha Christie short story collection - The Regatta Mystery and other stories - which I had recently read, so I was able to skip those two this time.
I'll be going back to the novels. The next two in the queue are Murder is Easy and And Then There Were None, neither of which feature either of my two favorite Christie characters.
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