The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories

Rating:
Summary: Short Stories.
Review: A must for Agatha Christi fans. Short stories featuring Hercule Poirot, Mr Parker Pyne and (my favorite) Miss Marple. Titles:
The Regatta Mystery, The Mystery of the Bagdad Chest, How Does Your Garden Grow?, Problem at Pollensa Bay, Yellow Iris, Miss Marple Tells a Story, The Dream, In a Glass Darkly, Problem at Sea.

Rating:
Summary: Short Stories.
Review: A must for Agatha Christi fans. Short stories featuring Hercule Poirot, Mr Parker Pyne and (my favorite) Miss Marple. Titles:
The Regatta Mystery, The Mystery of the Bagdad Chest, How Does Your Garden Grow?, Problem at Pollensa Bay, Yellow Iris, Miss Marple Tells a Story, The Dream, In a Glass Darkly, Problem at Sea.

Rating:
Summary: 9 Delightful Stories
Review: Hercule Poirot, Mr. Parker Pyle, and Miss Marple all take turns deftly solving mystery after mystery in this collection of nine short stories. The title story is the best of the bunch - where some thieves dare to steal a gem right under the nose of Parker Pyle, after telling him they were gong to do it! And they almost get away with it... A very clever story from the Mistress of Mystery...and the other 8 are almost as wonderful. I bought this for 90 cents the other day and I couldn't have been happier. I suggest having some wine and reading a few short stories - you will be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: Mostly Poirot, some Parker Pyne
Review: Most of these stories feature Poirot, but two, including the title story, are Parker Pyne stories not included in _Parker Pyne Investigates_. One Marple story and one story not affiliated with a series character are also included. Where a story has appeared elsewhere under an alternate title, the original title used in this book is given first.

All of the Poirot stories have been adapted for TV with David Suchet. "In a Glass Darkly" was adapted separately as an episode of "Agatha Christie's Hour".

"The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest"(also appears in somewhat altered form elsewhere as "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest") (January, 1932) - The only Hastings-narrated story in this batch. The murderer apparently must have killed the victim during a party, hid his corpse in the chest, and calmly kept up appearances by dancing and playing poker without suspicious behaviour...

"In a Glass Darkly" (1934) Supernatural tale, rather than a regular mystery; if you like it, try _The Golden Ball and Other Stories_. The unnamed narrator first visited Badgeworthy, the old home of his friends Neil and Alan Carslake, just before WWI. Even the Carslakes don't know the details of its ghost story. Then Narrator sees the reflection of a pretty girl being strangled by a man in another room - but there is no other room behind him, and the couple he saw are both alive and well: Sylvia Carslake and her fiance.

"How Does Your Garden Grow?" (June, 1935) - Amelia Barrowby, an elderly spinster, had written to engage Poirot in an undisclosed family matter, mentioning that she wished to avoid police investigation and scandal but not providing details. Poirot receives no reply, and learning of her death, sends a follow-up letter to Miss Barrowby's address to account for his showing up in person.

"Problem at Sea (January, 1936, a.k.a. "Poirot and the Crime in Cabin 66", "The Quickness of the Hand") - Poirot took the sea route to Alexandria on this, his first trip to Egypt. He's recovered enough from seasickness to take an interest in his fellow-passengers, especially one distinguished-looking man; for some reason, nothing his wife says or does seems to annoy him.

Colonel Clapperton isn't a 'real' colonel; according to rumor, he was a music-hall performer who wound up in Lady Carrington's hospital twenty years ago in WWI, married her, and used her influence to get his colonelcy and a soft job. (He slips at one point and displays a few card tricks, explaining why he won't play bridge.) She's jealous, so it's unusual when she lets him go ashore in Alexandria without her, although typical of her high-handedness that she wouldn't let him into the cabin for a guidebook. But when he returned, she was dead in the locked cabin; apparently armed robbery.

"Problem at Pollensa Bay" (1936) - Seeing Mrs. Chester and her son Basil as fellow guests in Majorca, Pyne reacts like a hunted animal when he sees her looking worried and reading an English newspaper. (So many people he meets abroad have read his advertisement and messed up his holidays - see _Parker Pyne Investigates_). Alas, someone gives him away. Mrs. Chester has had Basil tied to her apron strings, and engages Pyne with an eye toward detaching Basil from his unsuitable fiancee Betty.

Pyne's business, though, is making people happy, rather than necessarily doing what they *say* they want, so he checks out Betty and Basil with some interesting compatibility tests, as well as imparting some wisdom to Mrs. Chester about how nobody's life can be ruined except by themselves, with particular reference to her *own* life. Then Basil gets involved with a REALLY exotic girl, and Pyne gets still more instructions.

"Yellow Iris" a.k.a. "Hercule Poirot and the Sixth Chair" (January, 1937) - The stage setting strongly resembles that of the Colonel Race novel _Remembered Death_, but this is not the same story, so don't be fooled into thinking you know who did it or why based on the similarity.

"The Dream", a.k.a. "The Three Strange Points" (1937) - Poirot is summoned to the home of eccentric millionaire Benedict Farley, who has a trophy wife and a daughter he's pressuring to marry money rather than the man she wants. Upon arriving at Farley's home, Poirot notices several things that don't make sense (see if you can spot all the 'what's wrong with this picture' items), even before hearing the problem. The client (having rejected the opinions of several doctors on the subject) has had a recurring dream of shooting himself when he isn't suicidal, and fears that somebody may be engaged in an elaborate scheme to kill him. Naturally, when he's found shot dead soon after Poirot's visit, Poirot gets involved in the investigation.

"Miss Marple Tells a Story" (1939) Locked-room mystery. Unfortunately, Jane Marple is narrating this story *to Raymond West* and his wife, so she begins by laying on the fluffy-headed aunt pose, but eventually lets her narrative smooth out. Old Mr. Petherick, her solicitor, brought along another client, Mr. Rhodes, to consult her. Rhodes expected to be arrested for the murder of his wife, and his trial counsel is only concerned with gettng a reasonable doubt in court. Petherick, however, doesn't think this is the best approach, and comes to his old friend to try to work out what actually happened. Mr. Rhodes appears to be the only person with both motive and opportunity, and while his trial counsel plans to suggest Mrs. Rhodes committed suicide, neither Rhodes nor Petherick believes that will work, and Petherick doesn't believe Rhodes is guilty.

"The Regatta Mystery" (1939) - Locked-room theft. Diamond merchant Isaac Pointz carries 'the Morning Star' as a lucky piece, and Eve Leathern, the 15-year-old daughter of a business acquaintance, casually challenges him that she could swipe it without getting caught. Alas, apparently somebody else figured out her perfect hiding place. Evan Llewellyn, Pointz's secretary, engages Parker Pyne to clear it up, since he's a prime suspect.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: This was a very delightful collection of stories. I loved when Mr. Parker Pyne found who stole the diamond. He is ranked with Agatha Christie's most demanding detectives in this book and he deserves it! Of course, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, the most demanding detectives, are up to their usual perfection, solving murders and other such things.The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories is well worth the cost.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed the mix.
Review: While I prefer Agatha Christie's longer works, it's sometimes nice just have a sampling. My favorite of the short stories are the ones with Parker Pyne who in one story reluctantly admits that his first name is Christopher. Pyne is the opposite of fastidious and sometimes pompus M. Poirot or the ever congenial Miss Marple. No, he's in his line of work for the money and makes no appoligies for it.