Parker Pyne

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Created by Agatha Christie
(1890-1976)

“Are you happy? If not, consult Parker Pyne.”

Not so much a detective as a problem solver for hire, Agatha Christie‘s PARKER PYNE is a retired civil servant (he compiled statistics), living a quiet life in London with what turns out to be a profitable side gig. He calls himself a “heart specialist,” running a discreet ad in the Personal section of the Times, offering his services for a reasonable fee, directing the the loveless and the lovelorn, the hapless and unhappy, to his modest offices at 17 Richmond Street.

A wandering husband? Missing jewelry? A hypochondriac wife? A lost love?

Pyne’s your man. A sort of hands-on version of Dear Abby, he’s a large man (but not fat), balding and he wears glasses; affable and with a look of solid British respectability.

People trust him, although maybe that’s a mistake. Although he would never deceive a client (well, maybe a little), his standard M.O. involves various  schemes and scams. He’s aided by his loyal secretary Miss Lemon, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver, handsome lothario Claude Luttrell and disguise artist Madeleine de Sara. Both Lemon and Oliver would later work with Hercule Poirot.

He’s done well enough with his new career that he can travel when the urge strikes him, but invariably his vacations are interrupted by someone with a difficult problem. Yes, he’s saved some marriages, and he’s fixed broken hearts (he truly can), but he’s also dealt with thieves, kidnappers, philanders and other miscreants. He draws the line at murderers, though.

Perhaps that’s why Pyne doesn’t get the acclaim of Christie’s Poirot or Miss Marple, or even Tommy and Tuppence, but the fourteen short stories are certainly fun, in a Agatha sorta way.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Agatha Christie is, of course, the Queen of Crime, arguably the most widely published novelist of all time. She is the author of over eighty crime novels and short story collections, 19 plays, and six novels written under the name Mary Westmacott, but is best known for creating two of the world’s most popular sleuths, amateur sleuth Miss Marple, finnicky Belgian private investigator Hercule Poirot, and husband-and-wife private eye team, Tommy and “Tuppence” Beresford.

SHORT STORIES

  • “The Case of the Discontented Soldier” (August 1932, Cosmopolitan) | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
  • “The Case of the Distressed Lady” (August 1932, Cosmopolitan) | Kindle it!
  • “The Case of the City Clerk” (August 1932, Cosmopolitan; aka “The £10 Adventure”) | Kindle it!
  • “The Case of the Discontented Husband” (August 1932, Cosmopolitan) | Kindle it!
  • “The Woman Concerned” (October 8, 1932, Women’s Pictorial; aka “The Case of the Middle-aged Wife”) | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
  • “The Case of the Rich Woman” (August 1932, Cosmopolitan) | Kindle it!
  • “Have You Got Everything You Want?” (April 1933, Cosmopolitan) | Kindle it!
  • “The House at Shiraz” (April 1933, Cosmopolitan) | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
  • “Death on the Nile” (April 1933, Cosmopolitan)
    Later expanded and made into a Hercule Poirot novel.
  • “The Oracle at Delphi” (April 1933, Cosmopolitan) | Kindle it!
  • “At the Gate of Baghdad” (June 1933, Nash’s-Pall Mall Magazine, aka “The Gate of Baghdad”) | Buy the audio | Kindle it!
  • “The Pearl” (July 1933, Nash’s Pall Mall Magazine; aka “The Pearl of Price”) | Kindle it!
  • “Problem at Pollensa Bay” (November 1935, The Strand Magazine) | Kindle it!
  • “The Regatta Mystery” (1939, The Regatta Mystery) | Kindle it!

COLLECTIONS

TELEVISION

  • THE AGATHA CHRISIE HOUR
    (1982, Thames Television)
    A collection of hour-long dramas based on short stories by Agatha Christie, featuring her lesser known sleuths.
    • “The Case of the Discontented Soldier”
      (September 7, 1982)
      Based on the short story by Agatha Christie
      Adapted by Freda Kelsall
      Directed by Michael Simpson
      Starring Maurice Denham as PARKER PYNE
      with Angela Easterling as Miss Lemon
      and Rupert Frazeras Claude Luttrell
      Also starring Nicholas Cook, Malcolm Hebden, Nick Curtis, Linda Robson, Monica Grey, Brenda Cowling, Gwen Watford, Peter Jones, Kate Dorning
    • “The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife”
      (October 5, 1982)
      Based on the short story by Agatha Christie
      Adapted by T.R. Bowen
      Directed by Michael Simpson
      Starring Maurice Denham as PARKER PYNE
      with Angela Easterling as Miss Lemon
      Lally Bowers as Ariadne Oliver
      Also starring William Gaunt, Walter Gaunt, Peter Brayham, Lewis Fiander, Barbara New, Patricia Garwood , Derek Smee, Karen Mount, Paul Dadson, Jason Norman, Veronica Strong , Terry Plummer

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