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    Parker Pyne Investigates
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    Parker Pyne Investigates
    Unavailable
    Parker Pyne Investigates
    Audiobook5 hours

    Parker Pyne Investigates

    Written by Agatha Christie

    Narrated by Hugh Fraser

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    A collection of short stories featuring the redoubtable ‘heart specialist’, Parker Pyne. This volume, in its contemporary Agatha Christie Collection livery, perfectly illustrates Agatha Christie’s critically–acclaimed foray into light-hearted, romantic mysteries.

    Mrs Packington felt alone, helpless and utterly forlorn. But her life changed when she stumbled upon an advertisement in The Times which read: ‘ARE YOU HAPPY? IF NOT, CONSULT MR PARKER PYNE’.

    Equally adept at putting together the pieces of a marriage or the fragments of a murder mystery, Mr Parker Pyne was possibly the world’s most unconventional private eye – and certainly its most charming.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 5, 2007
    ISBN9780007256433
    Unavailable
    Parker Pyne Investigates
    Author

    Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie is known throughout the world as the Queen of Crime. Her books have sold over a billion copies in English with another billion in over 70 foreign languages. She is the most widely published author of all time and in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is the author of 80 crime novels and short story collections, 20 plays, and six novels written under the name of Mary Westmacott.

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    Reviews for Parker Pyne Investigates

    3.5/5

    345 ratings11 reviews

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    • 2/5
      One of Christie’s more unusual detectives, there is certainly nothing wrong with Parker Pyne – indeed, I think he would make an interesting lead for an adaptation of this novel. Beginning as a retiree who wishes to help lovers investigate their dilemmas, Pyne evolves into a middle-era Poirot, trying to avoid cases but finding them piling up wherever he goes.

      Christie’s short story skills were never as great as her novel construction, and neither the clients nor detective manage to jump off the page to make much of an impression. It’s not a bad book – it’s definitely a step up from "The Big Four", that’s for sure! but I’m not that surprised that Dame Agatha never returned to Mr. Pyne.

      Incidentally, two of the stories were adapted for television as part of "The Agatha Christie Hour", while this collection also features the first appearances of Poirot’s sidekicks Miss Lemon and Ariadne Oliver.
    • 5/5
      Written with imagination, the notion of the traditional and solid values, and a pinch of goodwill these pages will always have readers who know the true treasury of their quiet little lives or strive to have such choices.
    • 3/5
      In this collection of short stories, Mr. Parker Pyne is a middle-aged retiree from a job in statistics, and he applies the knowledge he gained through his work towards the goal of helping make people happy. The first few stories take place in England, and mostly involve Pyne creating elaborate adventures for his clients, that they think are happening naturally. In the second half of the book, Pyne goes on holiday to the Middle East, Egypt, and Greece, and finds himself in the role of detective, solving murders and thefts.Considering that I am not a fan of short stories, this was quite enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      I'm currently listening to the excellent "All about Agatha" podcast, and that has lead me back to some of the lesser known recurring Christie characters - such as Mr Parker Pyne, retired civil service statistician and "heart specialist". This collection is in two parts - the first six stories are set in London where clients respond to Parker Pyne's "Are you happy?" advertisement in the personal column of The Times. The problems solved are predominantly emotional, Pyne's methods are unscrupulous, and his fees steep, but each time he uses his knowledge of human nature to change the lives of those who come to him. These stories are also notable as they include the first appearances of Christie's alter-ego, novelist Ariadne Oliver and the ever efficient secretary, Miss Lemon, who go on to feature in the later Poirots. The second six stories are set abroad, with Pyne ostensibly on holiday, and are closer to traditional detection as he assists fellow travellers mixed up in murder, theft, and kidnapping. Christie's knowledge of the countries of the eastern Mediterranean shines through. Whilst there are some passages that make the 21st century reader uncomfortable, there are also laugh out loud moments in this overall very enjoyable collection.
    • 4/5
      Definitely one of the books that shows Dame Agatha's weird personal feelings about relations between men and women as universal absolutes in the advice that Parker Pyne states.Some casual colonialism, exoticism, and ableism, as expected, especially in the stories set in the Middle East. I am *incredibly fascinated* by the throwaway mention in the story "The House at Shiraz" about the German pilot regarding the fact that he's seen madness before, in the eyes of his submarine captain. I just finished reading about the Lusitania and have been on a general post-WWI reading kick, and now I'm curious about if contemporaneous British thought was that u-boat captains were some sort of special evil, so that other Germans, including those who served on the u-boats, could be re-integretated into society without stigma.
    • 4/5
      A friend gave me a copy of this book for Christmas. I've tried to read Agatha Christie in the past without much success but my friend said this character and these stories were a bit different than Christie's Poirot and Marple stories. I may end up giving Christie another try at some point.In some of the stories, I do agree with the reviewer who compared it to the TV show "Fantasy Island"--wish-fulfillment, though in some cases the outcome isn't exactly what was expected.
    • 4/5
      Solid collection of short stories, which feature ex-government employee Parker Pyne, who uses statistics to aid him in resolving "unhappiness" among his clients. Don't take the mysteries too terribly seriously; after all, the short story isn't the medium in which to develop plots and characters very deeply. The settings are what count, here. The last half of them take place in familiar country for Christie, the Middle East, where she spent many years on digs with her husband (and, in fact, an archaeologist is one of the villains in one story). Better than many longer-length Christie novels, in fact.
    • 5/5
      After reading two of Agatha Christie's short stories featuring the very unconventional private investigator, Parker Pyne, I knew I had to read more, so when I came across this collection, I grabbed it.Pyne relies upon his thirty-five years in a government office compiling statistics to help him solve any case that's presented to him. Some of the short stories revolve around people who respond to his advertisement in The Times, but Pyne also travels to more exotic climes, such as Jordan, Syria, and Iran and finds himself solving puzzles in those countries as well.When it comes to solving mysteries relying solely upon his observations of human nature, he has only one equal: Miss Marple herself, although the elderly lady never managed to get paid for all her troubles and Pyne does.The stories see appearances by two characters seen elsewhere in Christie's fiction: the novelist Ariadne Oliver and Miss Lemon the secretary. (Now I'm curious as to whether Lemon worked for Pyne first before moving on to Hercule Poirot or vice versa.) When in London, Pyne helps those responding to his ad, and I love seeing how he puts his solutions together using a select few actors and other specialists whom he knows. When he's faced with mysteries while traveling abroad, they are more normal investigations. (Naturally, since the people he employs are not traveling with him.)With the exception of twice when Christie's racism was clearly shown, I found this collection of stories to be delightful, and I'm certainly glad that I've persisted in sampling writing from the Golden Age of Mysteries.
    • 4/5
      First published in 1934, the edition I read was published by Fontana/Collins in 1974. 158 pages.The cover image to the right was the original one used on the dust jacket in 1934, and seems to me to be a good likeness of portly and avuncular Mr Parker Pyne.This title is a collection of 12 of the 14 short stories that Agatha Christie wrote that featured Mr Parker Pyne.The connecting thread between the stories is Mr Pyne's advertisement at the top of the Agony column of the respectable newspapers:Mr Pyne's solution for each of the people who consults him is individual and very varied in the fees that he charges. The first 6 stories are set in England while in the last 6 stories Mr Pyne is on holidays travelling first on the Simplon Express, and then to some of Agatha Christie's favourite places in the Middle East such as Baghdad, the Nile, Shiraz and Delphi.Many of the 12 stories had been individually published in the period 1932-4 but the overall the effect of the collection is like an episodic novel. Wikipedia gives you a lot more detail for each story than I am going to give here. You can also get some details of their publication history.Mr. Parker Pyne states quite clearly that he is not a detective but 'a heart specialist'. Deception, accomplices and manipulation are all part of his method of operation and he works to cure unhappiness more frequently than to investigate crime. * The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife, apparently unpublished earlier Mrs Packington consults Mr Parker Pyne because her husband George has fallen for a young girl from the office. I was interested to meet Miss Lemon, whom I have always associated with Hercule Poirot, in this story. * The Case of the Discontented Soldier, August 1932 Recently returned from East Africa Major Wilbraham finds London life very tame. Mr Parker Pyne not only creates adventure for him, he sends him on a treasure hunt. In this story Mrs Ariadne Oliver makes a fleeting appearance - another character I have always associated with HP. * The Case of the Distressed Lady, August 1932 Daphne St. John is frightfully unhappy. She has stolen a diamond and doesn't know how to return it. * The Case of the Discontented Husband, August 1932 Mr Reginald Wade adores his wife, but she seems to have fallen for another. Mr. Pyne has to list this case as one of his failures. * The Case of the City Clerk, August 1932 Mr. Roberts has reached the age of 48, is "happily" married, but feels his life is very dull, so Mr Parker Pyne sends on a dangerous espionage mission to Europe. * The Case of the Rich Woman, August 1932 Mrs Abner Rymer is living proof that riches don't bring happiness. * Have You Got Everything You Want?, April 1933 Mr Parker Pyne is on holidays, and shares a train compartment on the Simplon Express with Mrs Elsie Jeffries who implores him to help her find out what her husband is up to. * The Gate of Baghdad, June 1933 Mr Parker Pyne joins a tourist coach from Damascus to Baghdad, and one of his fellow passengers is murdered. * The House at Shiraz, April 1933 Mr Parker Pyne flies to Shiraz from Teheran and offers his help to a young woman considered to be both a recluse and mad. * The Pearl of Price, July 1933 Mr Parker Pyne travels from Amman to Petra with 6 other tourists.One of his fellow passengers loses a priceless pearl earring and Mr PP works out why. * Death on the Nile, July 1933 This is not the story that features Hercule Poirot, but one about a lady who dies of poisoning. * The Oracle at Delphi, April 1933 Mr Parker Pyne finds someone who is impersonating him, and takes great exception, in the process foiling an attempt at extortion.These were very readable stories without being much more than that. The one I think I liked best was The Case of the Rich Woman, which was also the most improbable.My rating 4.2Mr Parker Pyne appears in 2 other short stories, one of which I have already read in Problem at Pollensa Bay published in 1935. Interestingly in this short story he is referred to as Christopher Parker Pyne, although in PARKER PYNE INVESTIGATES he is always referred to as J. Parker Pyne. The other story is one I haven't yet read The Regatta Mystery published in 1939.
    • 4/5
      Interesting premise whereby an ex-civil servant, who worked in some kind of stastical analysis, sets himself to happy people become happy. He is not always successful. There is a generally a twist in the tale which makes these stories enjoyable. This collection is also noteworthy for introducing Ariadne Oliver, who appears in some of the later Poirot novels.
    • 4/5
      I might have kept this, except it was falling apart. It was fun, the consensus of the debate in the Golden Age Detectives fan site was, this came after Poirot, but sometimes they were interchangeable. They are very similar. To begin with, the stories are not so much mysteries, as sort of fix your life kind of stuff. Cute. Further in, the detective actually has to solve a mystery before he can fix the lives of people.