{"id":22605,"date":"2023-12-17T19:16:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T00:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=22605"},"modified":"2024-01-21T10:40:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T15:40:54","slug":"the-mysterious-mr-quin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22605","title":{"rendered":"The Mysterious Mr. Quin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/480Vx74\"><em>The Mysterious Mr. Quin<\/em><\/a> (1930) <a href=\"https:\/\/klishis.com\/Books\/mystery\/christie_agatha.php\">Agatha Christie<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/480Vx74\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/The-Mysterious-Mr-Quin.jpg?resize=187%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The Mysterious Mr. Quin\" width=\"187\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22606\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/The-Mysterious-Mr-Quin.jpg?w=500&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/The-Mysterious-Mr-Quin.jpg?resize=187%2C300&amp;ssl=1 187w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 187px) 100vw, 187px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Passing of Mr. Quinn <em>Grand Magazine<\/em> (1923)<\/li>\n<li>The Shadow on the Glass <em>Grand Magazine<\/em> October (1923)<\/li>\n<li>At the &lsquo;Bells and Motley&rsquo; &nbsp;A Man of Magic <em>Grand Magazine<\/em> (1925)<\/li>\n<li>The Sign in the Sky <em>The Police Magazine<\/em> (1925) \/ A Sign in the Sky <em>Grand Magazine<\/em> (1925)<\/li>\n<li>The Soul of the Croupier <em>Flynn&rsquo;s Weekly<\/em> 1926 \/ The Magic of Mr. Quin No. 2: The Soul of the Croupier <em>Storyteller<\/em> (1927)<\/li>\n<li>The Man from the Sea <em>Britannia &amp; Eve<\/em> (1929)<\/li>\n<li>The Voice in the Dark <em>Flynn&rsquo;s Weekly<\/em> (1926) \/ The Magic of Mr. Quin No. 4 <em>Storyteller<\/em> (1927)<\/li>\n<li>The Face of Helen The Magic of Mr. Quin No. 5 <em>The Storyteller<\/em> (1927)<\/li>\n<li>The Dead Harlequin <em>Grand Magazine<\/em> (1929)<\/li>\n<li>The Bird with the Broken Wing <em>The Mysterious Mr. Quin<\/em> (1930)<\/li>\n<li>The World&rsquo;s End World&rsquo;s End <em>Flynn&rsquo;s Weekly<\/em> 1926, \/ The Magic of Mr. Quin No. 3: The World&rsquo;s End <em>Storyteller<\/em> (1927)<\/li>\n<li>Harlequin&rsquo;s Lane The Magic of Mr. Quin No. 6 <em>Storyteller<\/em> (1927)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I remember reading these in high school, and bits and pieces of different stories have stuck with me through the years.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Coming of Mr. Quin<\/em> introduces Mr Quin, as he arrives at a house party attended by Mr. Satterthwaite.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Mr. Satterthwaite was sixty-two\u2014a little bent, dried-up man with a peering face oddly elflike, and an intense and inordinate interest in other people\u2019s lives.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The members of the party discuss a suicide that occurred in the house years before&#8211;and try to determine why the man killed himself.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Shadow on the Glass<\/em> takes place during another house party, where a shadow in a window portends death. <\/p>\n<p>This is one of the stories that could only have taken place before the development of forensic science. which makes it fascinating in an entirely different way.<\/p>\n<p><em>At the \u201cBells and Motley\u201d<\/em> is set at an in where Mr Satterthwaite has stopped after trouble with his car.<\/p>\n<p>This passage is extremely jarring.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Let us say the disappearance of Captain Harwell took place a hundred years ago. That we, in the year two thousand twenty-five are looking back.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cA hundred years ago we have the age of powder and patches,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That story is set halfway between &#8220;powder and patches&#8221; and <em>today<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>In <em>The Sign in the Sky<\/em> a murder trial ends with a guilty verdict, but Mr Satterthwaite  is unhappy about it, and ends up searching for the truth before the guilty man is executed. This is another story that that could never have taken place in the modern era. <\/p>\n<p>Also, I am delighted by this:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Mr. Satterthwaite thanked him and rang off. He was still undaunted, The adventurous spirit was strong in his breast. He would go to Banff. If this Louisa Bullard was there, he would track her down somehow or other. <\/p>\n<p>To his own surprise, he enjoyed the trip greatly. It was many years since he had taken a long sea voyage.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>A long voyage from England to Canada!<\/p>\n<p><em>The Soul of the Croupier<\/em> is one of the stories I liked less;  perhaps there were too many different elements?<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>For one coming from a Prohibition country he had shown no lack of appreciation of champagne.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Less than 100 years ago this story took place.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Man from the Sea<\/em> makes me feel slightly disconsolate, knowing several people who have taken their own lives.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You as you, may not matter to anyone in the world, but you as a person in a particular place may matter unimaginably.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Voice in the Dark<\/em> is one of the stories I quite liked. It&#8217;s twisty, and also there is this passage.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Ah! Here is Bimbo.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Her smile from being brilliant became dazzling. <\/p>\n<p>A young man in white tennis flannels was approaching them. He was about twenty-five years of age and extremely good-looking.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Face of Helen<\/em> is the story that has always stuck most in my mind.<\/p>\n<p>The mystery is particularly spectacular, but also, we get the smallest glimpse as to what made Mr Satterthwaite who he became.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The young lady stopped exclaiming at the bluebells and suddenly confided in Mr. Satterthwaite (as a true friend) her love for another. Mr. Satterthwaite put away the little set speech he had prepared, and hastily rummaged for sympathy and friendship in the bottom drawer of his mind.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Dead Harlequin<\/em> is another story that parts of have stuck with me through the years.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cA young man who has a poor opinion of himself and is afraid that the world should share it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>The Bird with the Broken Wing<\/em> is one of the stories where the supernatural element is at the fore, as it starts with young people playing with a Ouija board. <\/p>\n<p>I delight in this bit: \u201cWas that N or M? We shall have to count again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>The World\u2019s End<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>I believe my favorite bit in this story is the description of the Duchess.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>She subscribed generously to charities, and looked well after her tenants and dependents, but was extremely mean over small sums.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I adore how you can immediately imagine the kind of woman she is from that.<\/p>\n<p><em>Harlequin\u2019s Lane<\/em> is my least favorite story. It ends on a dark and sad note, and closes the book on a note of despair.<\/p>\n<p>Publisher: HarperCollins<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mysterious Mr. Quin (1930) Agatha Christie The Passing of Mr. Quinn Grand Magazine (1923) The Shadow on the Glass Grand Magazine October (1923) At the &lsquo;Bells and Motley&rsquo; &nbsp;A Man of Magic Grand Magazine (1925) The Sign in the Sky The Police Magazine (1925) \/ A Sign in the Sky Grand Magazine (1925) The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,18,30,292,33,8,41],"tags":[228,546],"class_list":["post-22605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-anthology","category-british","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","category-reread","tag-agatha-christie","tag-interwar-period"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5SB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21527,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21527","url_meta":{"origin":22605,"position":0},"title":"By the Pricking of My Thumbs","author":"Michelle","date":"February 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By the Pricking of My Thumbs (1968) Agatha Christie (Tommy & Tuppence) We first met Tommy & Tuppence at the end of the Great War. Mr. Beresford had once had red hair. There were traces of the red still, but most of it had gone that sandy-cum-grey colour that red-headed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;7\/10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"By the Pricking of My Thumbs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/By-the-Pricking-of-My-Thumbs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/By-the-Pricking-of-My-Thumbs.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/By-the-Pricking-of-My-Thumbs.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21396,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21396","url_meta":{"origin":22605,"position":1},"title":"The Secret of Chimneys","author":"Michelle","date":"December 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Secret of Chimneys (1925) Agatha Christie (Superintendent Battle) Honestly, I have absolutely no memory of this book. I read only a handful of the Poirot books, and I remember some of the Tommy & Tuppence books, but this? And Superintendent Battle? The only thing that was familiar was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;British&quot;","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Secret of Chimneys","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/The-Secret-of-Chimneys.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19758,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19758","url_meta":{"origin":22605,"position":2},"title":"Parker Pyne Investigates: A Short Story Collection","author":"Michelle","date":"February 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Parker Pyne Investigates: A Short Story Collection (1934) Agatha Christie \u201cThe Case of the Middle-Aged Wife\u201d was first published as \u201cThe Woman Concerned\u201d in Woman\u2019s Pictorial, 8 October 1932. \u201cThe Case of the Discontented Soldier\u201d was first published in the USA as \u201cThe Soldier Who Wanted Danger\u201d in Cosmopolitan, August\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Anthology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"Parker Pyne Investigates","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Parker-Pyne-Investigates.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24733,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24733","url_meta":{"origin":22605,"position":3},"title":"A Caribbean Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"July 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A Caribbean Mystery (1964) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple #10) Dancing, lights, the music of a band (even a steel band), all that surely was for youth. But where was youth? Studying, she supposed, at universities, or doing a job\u2014with a fortnight\u2019s holiday a year. ... A place like this was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;8.5\/10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Caribbean Mystery","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/A-Caribbean-Mystery.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24735,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24735","url_meta":{"origin":22605,"position":4},"title":"At Bertram&#8217;s Hotel","author":"Michelle","date":"July 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"At Bertram's Hotel (1965) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, #11) We actually have two quite different sets of bedrooms. The English we put in one lot, the Americans in the other. The rooms all look alike, but they are full of actual differences\u2014electric razors, and showers as well as tubs in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;7\/10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"At Bertrams Hotel","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/At-Bertrams-Hotel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21341,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21341","url_meta":{"origin":22605,"position":5},"title":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) The first half of this edition is The Thirteen Problems \/ The Tuesday Club Murders, which I earlier. The second half has the following stories: From The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories (1939) \u201cMiss Marple Tells a Story\u201d first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;8\/10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Miss Marple The Complete Short Stories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Miss-Marple-The-Complete-Short-Stories.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22605\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}