The Mysterious Mr. Quin

A volte in letteratura accadono cose strane e inaspettate, di quelle che, nelle scuole di scrittura, sicuramente insegneranno a evitare per non correre rischi: la possibilità che un personaggio del quale una scrittrice non sapeva bene cosa fare diventi così intrigante da reggere da solo una raccolta di racconti di per sé non entusiasmante.

Il signor Quin è davvero una bella idea: un uomo misterioso che compare e scompare solo quando il suo amico – se si amicizia si può parlare – Sattertwaithe si trova davanti a un caso da risolvere. Un vero e proprio deus ex machina, che arriva solo per indirizzare Sattertwaithe verso il filo giusto da tirare per sbrogliare la matassa, per poi andarsene senza lasciare traccia. Un espediente da show more teatro classico, rafforzato dalla posizione di spettatore di succosi drammi della vita quale si definisce Sattertwaithe e dalla presentazione dei personaggi e del loro ruolo in apertura di ogni racconto.

Tutto meraviglioso se non fosse che la naturale evoluzione di un personaggio come il signor Quin fosse il rivelarlo come una creatura sovrannaturale dalle tinte diaboliche. Agatha Christie gioca molto con la sua (possibile) natura ultraterrena e in alcuni racconti sembra quasi pronta a virare verso il fantastico; eppure alla fine non supera mai quel confine. Il che può risultare molto frustrante per moltə lettorə, ma secondo me ha finito per dare una sfumatura tutta particolare al signor Quin: è il tipo di ambiguità che oggi darebbe la stura a un milione di fanfiction.

Quindi riesco a capire chi dice che è una raccolta malriuscita: a livello strettamente tecnico ha ragione. Ma la lettrice che è in me non vuole sentire ragioni: fanculo la tecnica. Ce ne fossero di incertezze di questo tipo! Lunga vita ai personaggi involontariamente liminali! show less

I’ve come to adore these stories, but I never for a single second imagine them in my head as Mr. Quin stories. He is a mysterious, enigmatic figure who adds a touch of the supernatural to each story, righting past wrongs, averting tragedy at times, but also with the ability to bring mortal justice. Mr. Quin, who appears almost magically, brings clarity to events through Satterthwaite, a fairly wealthy older man whom life has passed by in a way.

There is wonderful atmosphere in Christie’s “Mr. Quin” stories, but anyone who has read them knows full well these should be considered the Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin stories. We know very little about Mr. Quin throughout the series of short stories, other than he is part of the show more supernatural world in some capacity. This is as it should be, holding something mysterious back from the reader. Satterthwaite, however, we learn a great deal about, and come to enjoy his company and his growth throughout the stories. It is poignant how much Mr. Quin’s appearances transform Satterthwaite, adding meaning to his life, adding enjoyment and purpose as he becomes an important catalyst in untangling matters.

There are two important takeaways from reading this collection. The first is that Christie wrote far too few of them. The second is that they should definitely — it isn’t even arguable — be called The Satterthwaite & Mr. Quin mysteries. Whatever you want to call them, you’ll rarely run across a collection of short stories more enjoyable than The Mysterious Mr. Quin.

Here is a quick take on the stories included —

AT THE BELLS AND MOTLEY :

For fans of Satterthwaite and the supernatural and mysterious Mr. Quin, there is some wonderful interaction between the two in this one. There is a compelling back and forth over a meal while Satterthwaite is stranded somewhere due to car trouble, and happens upon his mysterious old friend, Mr. Quin.

Satterthwaite comes alive as always when urged on by Mr. Quin, expounding on the mysterious disappearance for which the Bells and Motley is famous. Christie deftly weaves the unraveling of an old mystery, which has at its edge, like a faint echo, the heart of a young girl. There exists a promise of romance if Satterthwaite, urged on by the mysterious Mr. Quin, can figure out what happened. Only then can the suspicion haunting a young man's life — much to the distress of a girl obviously in love with him — finally be removed.

The Bells and Motley, by the way, also plays a part in Agatha Christie's Murder is Easy. Highly recommended.

THE SOUL OF THE CROUPIER :

A really special story involving Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin. At the conclusion of this gem it is left up to the reader’s heart and sensibilities whether it contains two happy endings, or only one. Agatha Christie is at her absolute finest here.

HARLEQUIN’S LANE :

This Saterthwaite and Mr. Quin is dripping with a very strange, otherworldly atmosphere. The story is memorably haunting in its own fashion. Excellent.

THE BIRD WITH THE BROKEN WING :

Agatha Christie’s Mr. Quin stories, which I’ve noted are really the Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin stories, rank among her best, and there is ample evidence of that here in this story.

Sattethwaite is shown to be an odd little man who appreciates the finer things in life, but he also possesses a very good heart. Satterthwaite’s friendship with the lightly supernatural Mr. Quin breathes new life into his existence over the course of these stories, no more so than in The Bird with the Broken Wing.

The Bird with the Broken Wing is both an atmospheric and enthralling example of the Mr. Quin stories. It is not a traditional mystery at all, though there may have been a murder. I almost feel like I read a completely different story from many others, because there are deep and subtle things to glean from this story. Yes, there’s someone who commits a crime and they’re off their gourd, but the story is really not about that at all, it is about the underscore.

When The Bird with the Broken Wing begins, Satterthwaite is feeling a little old and pathetic. Bird with the Broken Wing is in fact a sad and quietly moving story of lost love, lifestyle choices, and the tragic consequences when comfort becomes more paramount than love. In the end, it’s about happiness and enchantment, represented by a lovely girl, and the gift Mr. Quin leaves for his old friend Satterthwaite before disappearing once again into the mysterious world from which he came.

Another great story from Agatha Christie that will have you lamenting there aren’t far more Mr. Quin stories left behind to enjoy.

THE VOICE IN THE DARK :

Another good one, though I found the ending a bit too tidy, compared to some of the others. Still very good though.

THE WORLD’S END :

“I happened to bring some biscuits and a stick of chocolate on board with me…When I found there was no dinner to be got, I gave the lot to her. The lower classes always make such a fuss about going without their meals.” — The Duchess

There is wonderful atmosphere in Christie’s Mr. Quin stories, but anyone who has read them knows full well these should be considered the Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin stories. We discover very little about Mr. Quin throughout the short stories, other than he is part of the supernatural world in some undefined capacity. Christie smartly withholds this information, making it more mysterious for the reader.

Mr. Satterthwaite, however, we learn a great deal about. We come to enjoy Satterthwaite’s company and embrace his growth throughout the stories. It is poignant in fact how much Mr. Quin’s appearances transform Satterthwaite, adding meaning and enjoyment and purpose to his life as he becomes an important catalyst in untangling matters.

Needless to say, I adore the stories featuring Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin, and this one is magnificent; it may in fact be my all-time favorite. The World’s End is more atmospheric than most of the Mr. Quin stories in that it is more resonating.

Satterthwaite’s acquaintance with a rather stingy and irritating Duchess leads to him meeting a charming yet unconventional artist named Miss Carlton Smith. A sadness surrounds her, because her love, Alec Gerard has been imprisoned for a year, convicted of theft.

A twisty, dangerous road up a mountain to a place called World’s End, and a sudden snowfall, strands her at the top with a very unexpected group. Among the group is the mysterious Mr. Quin. There is some wonderfully descriptive prose by Christie helping create atmosphere. Her skillful creation of mood makes for a truly memorable short story. Sublime, and for me, perhaps my favorite in the series.

THE SHADOW ON THE GLASS :

A wonderful and atmospheric buildup about a glass haunted by a shadow of former deeds. And then new murders occur after a woman’s arrival and interacts with others. It’s all very well done, the method of murder ingenious. Very good, if not great like a few others.

THE SIGN IN THE SKY :

“You are, I believe, a rich man, Mr. Satterthwaite. Not a millionaire, but a man able to indulge in a hobby without counting the expense. You have looked on at the dramas of other people. Have you never contemplated stepping in and playing a part? Have you never seen yourself for a minute as the arbiter of other people’s destinies — standing at the center of the stage with life and death in your hands?” — Mr. Quin

A train, a young woman desperate to break free from a marriage that was a mistake, a sign in the sky, and a girl perhaps not too bright leads Satterthwaite, urged on by the ever mysterious Mr. Quin, to Canada in search of a maid/servant to save a man’s life.

Great Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin story, with an especially wonderful ending; Christie makes the centerpiece an empty table. Highly recommended, as are all the Mr. Quin stories.

THE COMING OF MR. QUIN :

On New Year’s Eve, Satterthwaite finds himself among a group that includes Alex Portal and his wife, Eleanor. Satterthwaite finds Eleanor somehow strange — a blonde who has died her hair black — it’s so often the reverse. Eleanor Portal also appears to possess a hold of some nature which frightens her husband.

Mention of a New Year’s Eve superstition, and a tale of suicide by a man whom they all knew brings about the entrance of Mr. Quin. Our mysterious Mr. Quin is supposedly stranded. But is he really?

When Mr. Quin draws out those present into recalling events surrounding the aforementioned person’s suicide, an entirely different picture begins to emerge. Whether it will be a condemning one, or give a second chance for happiness to two people isn’t clear until the final moments of this splendid Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin story.

THE DEAD HARLEQUIN :

The Dead Harlequin is actually a painting in this tale from Agatha Christie featuring Mr. Satterthwaite and the mysterious Mr. Quin. Quin is connected to the supernatural world in ways never explained in any of the stories.

The artist of the aforementioned painting is soon to be famous. Satterthwaite is fascinated by him because the man in the painting bears a striking resemblance to his old acquaintance, Mr. Quin. Satterthwaite of course purchases the painting, and in an effort to get the background of its origins, has dinner with the artist and another man.

Like more than one of the Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin stories, the mystery of the room where the dead man lies involves an apparent suicide, with seemingly no other explanation. It is a tragedy which still haunts one woman. Through Satterthwaite’s efforts, aided by the sudden appearance of Mr. Quin, the truth is finally revealed.

Another outstanding Mr. Quin story, this one involving the legend of the Weeping Lady, a rug that moves from one room to another, and a tale of two women. Wonderful stuff.

THE FACE OF HELEN :

I love the Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin stories, and this is a particularly good one. The Face of Helen is an exciting story in which the reader finally gets a glimpse of Satterthwaite’s poignant missteps with romance, when he briefly recalls a heartbreaking moment. But that comes later.

One of those “chance” meetings with Mr. Quin — this time at the opera — leads to Satterthwaite’s introduction to the beguiling Gillian West. Her young beauty is so extraordinary it causes Saterthwaite and Mr. Quin to note how others like her throughout history, such as Cleopatra and Helen of Troy, inspired passions which left a trail of violence and tragedy in their wake.

Two very different types of men vying for Gillian’s love, a parting gift and request, and an opera singer said to be the next Caruso spell more violence and tragedy if Satterthwaite, inspired by the sense that the absent Mr. Quin is somehow walking side by side with him in a corporeal way, cannot put the jigsaw together in time to prevent a deadly plan from being executed.

Just wonderful stuff from Agatha Christie which will make you wish she’d written a hundred Mr. Quin stories.

THE MAN FROM THE SEA :

Finally a story which for my taste wasn’t on a par with the others. I’d classify it as good, rather than Very Good or Great. On the surface, the length and introspective delving into how we face death is weighty and substantive, and there is an ending for a couple of people filled with hope rather than gloom and doom, but there’s just something slightly off about the execution.

Christie used the sudden and tragic end for a dog, in real time, early on, to contrast the way animals and humans face the end, and I found it unpleasant and heartbreaking; yes, we are supposed to find it so, but it was a point she could have made just as easily some other way. There is a feeling of Christie meandering some in this story, with a few too many diverse thoughts she wanted to include. There are a few background things whose inclusion has only the slightest connection to the larger story in fact.

If Christie had focused solely on the single story of the man Satterthwaite temporarily talks out of committing suicide, and the vibrant Spanish woman behind the shutters, that past moment of love waiting for a second chance, The Man From the Sea would have still afforded an exploration of the same themes without the much too winding road getting there, and the startling death of the dog.

That being said, if read on its own this would probably read much better, but because this happened to be the last story I picked to read, it suffered somewhat within the collection because of all that had preceded it for me.

SUMMATION :

If like me you have never tackled these, preferring only Poirot or only Miss Marple, or both, you are truly missing out. Christie is at her best in the Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin mysteries. If you appreciate well executed short stories, especially those a bit mysterious, touched but not smothered in the supernatural, you will devour these, and lament there were not more of them. Highly recommended. show less

Definitely not your standard Agatha Christie - Mr Satterthwaite, an older "looker on at life" is befriended by the very mysterious Mr Harley Quin (a character is inspired by the Harlequin from the Commedia dell'arte), whose appearance becomes a catalyst for the solving of a number of mysteries. The mysteries are very corporeal, but Mr Quin has a touch of faerie about him, creating an atmosphere of otherworldliness not common in Christie. These may be an acquired taste, but once you're in you are hooked. Interestingly Mr Satterthwaite also features in the novel "Three Act Tragedy" and there are a further two Satterthwaite / Harley Quin stories collected in Problem at Pollensa Bay.

The Mysterious Mr. Quin is not one of Christie's most well know books. A collection of bizarre, bittersweet tales starring Mr. Satterthwaite, an elderly observer of life. He is a refined old gent who knows all about the complexities of life and love but has never experienced them for his own. Mr. Satterthwaite is haunted, not only by his barely-realised sense of regret but also by a mysterious man known as Mr. Quin, a man who "speaks for the dead" and "comes and goes" as they need him. Mr. Quin has a skill for illuminating Mr. Satterthwaite's thought-processes, to nudge him towards details that the older man hadn't realised were important. Between the two of them they have done many a great service: curtailed suicides, reunited lost show more lovers, solved murder... They move through the familiar Christie lairs: society London, the country pile, the exotic holiday destination, locations all turned dream-like and unreal through the skewed, motley hue of Harley Quin's influence. A book both sweet, eerie and outright disturbing. A very fine read indeed and one that is grossly under-appreciated. show less

The best thing that Christie ever wrote.

Mr. Satterthwaite is our guide into an upper class world of murder, deceit and property. An old man, he is Poirot without the little grey cells, or Miss Marple without the ability to apply his strong observational skills to problems, and is mostly content to be an observer of life rather than to take part in it.

All this changes when the highly mysterious Mr. Harley Quin arrives on the scene. Odd and unusual, where he goes drama follows, leaving Mr. Satterthwaite anxious to see him again. Quin is one of the most successful modern trickster characters in that he has a darkness necessary to have the dangerous edge a 'good' trickster needs.

The stories in this collection are not mysteries as such, show more although several do feature crimes that need to be solved. They are more like puzzles, whose pieces need Satterthwaite and Quin to find their place.

Unlike a lot of Christie's short story collections, this does not tail off towards the end. Instead it builds and builds, with tension increasing with every page.

A masterful work, with a cracking denoument, this is well worth reading. show less

This is a very enjoyable collection of short stories featuring observant Mr. Satterthwaite and the unearthly, mysterious Mr. Quin. Together, and often with ten or more years between them and the crime, this unlikely pair solves several mysteries with the aid of hindsight and sharp observations about what people remember. Be prepared for more than a dash of the supernatural paired with common-sense deduction.

This is one of Christie's better short story collections (not that any are "bad," but some are certainly better than others). I absolutely adore Mr. Satterthwaite's speech in one of the stories to a person considering suicide:

"You say your life is your own," went on Mr. Satterthwaite. "But can you dare to ignore the chance that you show more are taking part in a gigantic drama under the orders of a divine Producer? Your cue may not come til the end of the play—it may be totally unimportant, a mere walking-on part, but upon it may hang the issues of the play, if you do not give up the cue to another player. The whole edifice may crumble. You, as you, may not matter to anyone in the world, but you as a person in a particular place may matter unimaginably."

Recommended. show less

I came to this book with completely mixed feelings about Agatha Christie: I love the stories/mysteries themselves, but find that (and this may be because she wrote so many!) that sometimes the writing doesn't quite live up to the premise, and that they can be a bit flat. At her best, the atmosphere she creates can be brilliant, setting up the space for the story to unfold in, and adding an extra layer: I was extremely pleasantly surprised that this collection largely falls into the ategory of good and atmospheric.

The set-ups for the first two and last two in particular give a great sense of claustrophobia and uncomfortableness, which is to a lesser degree present throughout, and her love of quite short, pithy and enigmatic statements show more lends them quite a pace too, whilst keeping you thinking.

I have, however, to confess that I am never that concerned or surprised at the way in which the mysteries are unravelled/resolved, but in this collection, more than in most other Christie that I have read, I rather took to the characters. The only large-ish problem for me was that, whilst I enjoy the conceit of the Harlequinade (and think it is used fantastically in the last story), and think that it works well split up into these short vignettes, the characters around are just not quite as interesting, and Mr. Satterthwaite (Harlequin's 'earthly' interpreter) goes from being intersting to a mildly irritating fuss-pot, a la Poirot, and she could perhaps have made it work better by leaving him as a slightly more un-fleshed out character, skirting around the edges of things, rather than being actively involved (as he is deliberately developed through the sequence).

Perhaps I am being unduly negative though, as I raced through the stories and genuinely enjoyed the reading! I even found myself laughing when reading the penultimate story - I don't really find any of AC's lighter moments or attempts at humour particularly funny, ever, so this was a surprise and enjoyment.

I would recommend that people read them, and in order, but to stick with them, as I do believe the middle stories are the weaker. show less