The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories

“It was a beautiful early evening and the green of the grass was a soft deep color. The golden light came through the copper beech and the cedar showed the lines of its beauty against a soft pinkish-golden sky.”

There is a tangible wistfulness in this later and final Mr. Quin and Satterthwaite story, which becomes quite moving. Satterthwaite has considerably aged as The Harlequin Tea Set begins. He is on his way to visit a very old friend and the man’s family at a home which holds many fond childhood memories for Satterthwaite.

Memories in fact play a big part in this resonating final entry, with Satterthwaite unable to recall at first his old friend Mr. Quin, and why the splash of color in a shop in the nothing little town of show more Kingsbourne Ducis stirs him so. But Satterthwaite has grown old, the memory initially just out of his reach.

Satterthwaite’s sentimental rumination about his old friend and the man’s family are captured wonderfully and realistically by Agatha Christie. Time appears to have passed Satterthwaite by as he laments the newer automobiles and their lack of simplicity. But all that is about to change.

Drawn to The Harlequin Café Satterthwaite happens upon his old friend Mr. Quin and the memories return. Their reunion is heartfelt and tender, for they have not seen each other since the haunting Harlequin’s Lane, many years prior. For the supernatural Mr. Quin of course, it has been but a moment, but for Satterthwaite, much more aware of time’s passage, it has been far too long.

Mr. Quin has acquired a small black dog named Hermes who of course is very bright and endearing in this final entry. Quin comforts Satterthwaite in regard to his fears that everything will be changed, tainting the memories Satterthwaite holds so dear. Mr. Quin also assures Satterthwaite that he has it within himself to know what to do when the time comes; whenever Mr. Quin appears, matters of love, and often life and death are sure to follow.

The parting of the two old friends only comes after the new wife of of one of Satterthwaite’s old friend’s sons comes into the shop to acquire some new colored cups for his very visit. She meets Mr. Quin, who begs off an invitation to join them at the large reunion. But Mr. Quin always has a reason for appearing somewhere…

What follows at the reunion is wonderful for a time, but suddenly it becomes exciting. Two young men and a cup, a vast inheritance, and Mr. Quin’s one-word reminder of daltonism aiding Mr. Satterthwaite in preventing tragedy. It turns out Mr. Quin was right all along, yet it has been his reminder to Satterthwaite which once agains brings out the best in Satterthwaite, allowing him to become a participant in life rather than an observer one final time.

A wonderful ending involving Satterthwaite’s enjoyment at being part of something and other people in his latter years, a scarecrow, a burning field, a thankful woman now part of Quin’s world rather than Satterthwaite’s, and of course Quin’s charming little dog Hermes make this one a melancholy final accounting of Mr. Quin and Satterthwaite.

Both bittersweet and wonderful, The Harlequin Tea Set is an absolute must for fans of Agatha Christie’s Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin stories. It is part of The Harlequin Tea Set collection of stories, and also included in the Problem at Pollensa Bay collection. Memorable. show less

This collection of short stories written over Christie's long career focus less on her traditional murder mysteries (although it does include a Poirot investigation) and on more psychological thrillers aimed to explore the dark side of the soul. Often clever and always well written in her crisp, precise style, these stories are a delight to read.

Summary: Nine early short stories, including a Poirot and the title story, an encounter with Harley Quin.

In addition to her longer novels, Agatha Christie published a number of short stories, often in various periodicals. In recent years publishers have compiled these into various collections. This one was first published in 1997. It consists of a number of her very early works. I’ll give you a brief plot synopsis of each and conclude with my thoughts on the collection.

The Harlequin Tea Set. In this title story, Mr. Satterthwaite’s car breaks down in a small village. While waiting for the repairs, he decides to stop in at the Harlequin Cafe. It puts him in mind of an old friend, Mr. Harley Quin. Whenever he turns up, Mr. Quin’s show more words would trigger decisions and actions that would prove helpful to others. But e hadn’t seen him in some time. Then who should turn up?

The Edge. Claire Halliwell is a single woman in a small town who devotes herself to her dog and to parish life. At one time, she had fallen in love with Gerald Lee, who married Vivien instead. And then Claire catches Vivien in an affair and faces the choice of what to do with that knowledge.

The Actress. Jake Levitt, a seedy journalist, stops by the theare to see a performance of the famous actress, Olga Stormer. He recognizes her as Nancy Taylor and threatens to tell her story. Only he doesn’t recognize who he is dealing with…

While the Light Lasts. George and Deidre Crozier are driving to a plantation in Rhodesia. This was were her husband Tim had died, and the journey recalls many touching memories…and then an encounter with someone she knew.

The House of Dreams. John Segrave dreams of a House. The next day he meets Allegra Kerr. He believes she is that House. But she will not encourage his affections and will not marry. What is the ark thing he saw looking out from the House in another dream? And what did it mean?

The Lonely God. Frank Oliver has returned to London, alone. One day, he visits the British Museum and spies “a lonely god” on a shelf with which he identifies. He returns often, and then encounters a woman, also drawn to this god.

Manx Gold. Fenella and Juan are cousins betrothed to marry. Their beloved and eccentric Uncle Myles dies. He had found a treasure rumored to be hidden on the island. He sets up a competition for his four living relations but gives Juan and Fenella an extra day before the others arrive to search. There are four chests, and the clues to the location of each are not released until the previous one is found.

Within a Wall. Alan Everard is a rising artist. He is married to a socialite, Isobel Loring and they have a daughter, Winnie. As a crowning work, he sets out to paint a portrait of his wife. Technically, it is brilliant, but there is no life in it. By contrast, a discarded sketch, found by a Miss Lempiere, portrays Winnie’s godmother, Jane Haworth, and is full of life.

The Mystery of the Spanish Chest. This is the one Poirot in the collection. Poirot notes a newspaper story on the Spanish Chest Mystery. The mystery is how, during a party with six people at the home of Major Rich, the body of Mr. Clayton ended up stuffed in the chest, discover the next day when a servant spotted a pool of blood beneath it. He asks his secretary to collect all the details of the case. Shortly after, his friend, Lady Chatterton invites him to her house and introduces Poirot to Mrs. Clayton, the widow. It turns out, Major Rich was her lover and she wants Poirot to prove he wasn’t the murderer, even though it was in his house and his chest.

Of all of these, “The Harlequin Tea Set” and “The Mystery of the Spanish Chest” were my favorites. The others reveal Christie’s early efforts as a writer. All are diverting stories, to be sure. Several involve lovers triangles. However, I suspect they will be of greatest interest to Christie fans, like me. Others might just say, “Meh!” show less

I had never read most of these stories before. There are a couple of good mysteries (plus The Mystery of the Spanish Chest, which is well-known and collected elsewhere), but most are Westmacott-style stories—excessively florid and romantic and not for me.

I really liked these short stories. I've noticed that Christie mixes the happy romantic endings with the bittersweet ones. At the end of these 9 short stories there are short stories with Poirot and Mr. Harley Quin. I haven't gotten to read any novels with Mr. Quin in them, but now I really want to. He seems like a neat character. I've also noticed that Christie puts in an element of the unexplained in some of her short stories, which I don't usually see in her novels. This collection of short stories is one of the best I've read so far.

The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories includes nine stories; seven miscellaneous, one Hercule Poirot and one Harley Quin. My favourites were the miscellaneous story, The Actress, followed by the miscellaneous stories; The Lonely God and Manx Gold, and the Poirot story, The Mystery of the Spanish Chest. My least favourites were the miscellaneous stories; While the Light Lasts and The House of Dreams. Overall story collection is 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. Individual story ratings and reviews below.

MISC: THE EDGE: **
MISC: THE ACTRESS: *****
MISC: WHILE THE LIGHT LASTS: *
MISC: THE HOUSE OF DREAMS: *
MISC: THE LONELY GOD: ****
MISC: MANX GOLD: ****
MISC: WITHIN A WALL: **
POIROT: THE MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH CHEST: ****
HARLEY QUIN: THE HARLEQUIN show more TEA SET: **

MISC: THE EDGE: **

A woman is led from her path as a good Christian when she discovers her crush's wife is cheating on him. Eh. It was alright. 2 stars.

MISC: THE ACTRESS: *****

An actress finds herself being blackmailed and comes up with a plan to solve the problem. This was incredible. I wish it was longer. Olga is a total genius. 5 stars.

MISC: WHILE THE LIGHT LASTS: *

A woman remembers her first husband. Why decide now to tell her he's alive? What was the point? This was weird. 1 star.

MISC: THE HOUSE OF DREAMS: *

A man keeps dreaming of a white house on a hill. I didn't like this. It was all supernatural and spooky without any real plot. 1 star.

MISC: THE LONELY GOD: ****

Two lonely people find a lonely god. I liked this one. It was strange and eerie and fairy tale like. 4 stars.

MISC: MANX GOLD: ****

When their uncle dies two young cousins are sent on a treasure hunt with two other relations they haven't met. I enjoyed this one. I love treasure hunts. And I always love when people are being outwitted and getting one over each other. I loved that the uncle decides to be fair by holding the treasure hunt and then backtracks by cheating at his own game and giving Fenalla and Juan an early clue. 4 stars.

MISC: WITHIN A WALL: **

A painter reflects on his muse. This was okay. I thought it was going to go somewhere interesting but it kind of just faded out. 2 stars.

POIROT: THE MYSTERY OF THE SPANISH CHEST: ****

A woman's potential lover is arrested for the murder of her husband and Poirot is asked to prove him innocent. This is an expanded version of The Baghdad Chest and I have to say I liked it a whole lot more. This version was more streamlined and had better explanations for the murder. The earlier version lacked this cohesion. Plus I love Othello so the Iago references were great. 4 stars.

HARLEY QUIN: THE HARLEQUIN TEA SET: **

Mr Satterthwaite visits an old friend and his family. I didn't really like this one. It didn't really make much sense either. The stepmother mixed the kids up? Is that where it was going? And then tried to kill the one who would inherit (Timothy)? Except he wouldn't because everyone thinks Roland is Timothy and Timothy Roland. Honestly this just made my brain hurt. 2 stars. show less

The collection of nine stories include:

"The Edge":
The love of the local upright, "christian" woman's life has gone and married a beautiful, vivacious, & much younger woman. Then he stupidly insists on the two women being "friends". Upon a short trip out of town the former discover's the latter's infidelity and thus begins blackmail.

When the man decides to take his new wife and move from the country, the spurned woman urges the one she is blackmailing to meet her upon the rise of a local cliff where she once lost her dog to its mad dash over the edge of the cliff.

"The Actress":
An actress is recognized by a man from her past who has a history of seducing then blackmailing women. When he contacts her with a veiled threat, she turns the show more tables with her superb acting abilities...

"While the Light Lasts":
A woman, believing her 1st husband dead in the war, married for a 2nd time. Immediately after her new husband gifted her w/ an exquisite & rare yellow diamond ring, they embarked on a trip to Africa

During a visit to a tobacco plantation she discovered her 1st husband to still be alive. They then met up privately and he, being sure that he could convince her to stay with him, failed to take into consideration while he allowed her & everyone else to believe him dead, she had changed.

"The House of Dreams":
A young man begins to dream of a beautiful white house and believing that his life is about to change for the better and starts searching for the house...

Soon afterwards while he is visiting a spoiled young woman who secretly plans on marrying him, he is inadvertently introduced him to her best friend, a mysterious, alluring, tragic young woman with whom he immediately falls in love

As the tragic young woman's family history is brought to light, he dreams of the beautiful house opening its shuttered windows to reveal a hideous monster..... When the tragic young woman dies the house in his dream becomes once again peaceful and he once again begins his searching for the house.

"The Lonely God":
A rough hewed & odd statue of a Deity is the impetus for the meeting of two strangers, an odd fellow and a "nanny". As they begin a stiff friendship, and just as the Nanny begins to warm up she does a bolt, with little more than a note of apology..... Years later they meet up again, and the "Lonely God" becomes lonely again....

"Manx Gold":
Two cousins turn up on the Isle of Man in order to search for the treasure left to them & two other relatives by their Uncle. Their Uncle while leaving the cousins most all of his own possessions, believed it was a fair game to make them puzzle out where the family fortune was hidden. Thus the game becomes deadly as greed raises its ugly head.

"Within a Wall"
From the website, http://www.agathachristie.com/:
"Alan Everard, a successful modernist painter, is married to the beautiful society girl Isobel Loring who eagerly promotes her husband’s work. At one of her tea parties, to which she invites the London art critics, she unveils her husband’s latest masterpiece, a portrait of herself but Alan realizes the picture is lifeless.

However a sketch he has done of his daughter's godmother, Jane Haworth, is full of life and honesty. Alan soon discovers that the real contribution Jane has made to their life is not just her artistic judgement."

"The Mystery of the Spanish Chest" (a Hercule Poirot story):
From the website,http://www.agathachristie.com/ :
"Bewitching Mrs Clayton appeals to Poirot to help exonerate her lover Major Rich, indicted for her husband’s murder. Mr Clayton’s body had been found in a chest, but who put it there?

The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest was published in US in The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories in 1939 and also in While the Light Lasts in 1997. It was expanded by Agatha Christie in 1960 and retitled The Mystery of the Spanish Chest. This longer version was adapted for television and starred David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in 1989."

"The Harlequin Tea Set" (a Harley Quin story):
From the website, http://www.agathachristie.com/:
"Years after their last meeting, Satterthwaite has an unexpected encounter with Mr Quin in the Harlequin Café. Satterthwaite is on his way to visit an old friend when Mr Quin leaves him with a single word ‘Daltonism’. Quin’s reference – to a tendency to colour blindness – may be crucial when Satherthwaite must later try and prevent a brutal murder."

I enjoyed most all of the stories as they were all absent (except one) of M. Poirot & Jane Marple. Not all were of murder, rather of psychology & intrigue.

My favorite was "The Harlequin Tea Set". I not only enjoy the characters of Mr. Satterthwaite & Mr. Quin immensely, I am fascinated by their quirky & magical relationship. show less