Agatha Christie created many memorable characters over the years. There is Hercule Poirot, that most rational of detectives, who uses his little gray cells to solve the most difficult crimes. There is Miss Marple, with her lifetime of small-village experience helping her understand the mysteries in which she becomes involved. There are Tuppence and Tommy Beresford, who bring first their youth (and ultimately their experience) to bear on solving mysteries that border on thrillers. There are dozens of independent characters who stay in our memory long after reading. But to my mind, perhaps the most curious and fascinating among them is Mr. Harley Quin. My fascination with the character led me to review The Mysterious Mr. Quin on the podcast nearly nearly a decade ago. Here's what I had to say about him (as always, somewhat edited, including this introduction):
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Agatha Christie only wrote 14 stories about Mr. Harley Quin – perhaps because of the supernatural aspect of those stories. A dozen of them, first published in magazines, were gathered into the 1930 collection called The Mysterious Mr. Quin.
Harley Quin’s name – quite deliberately – is intended to remind us of the Harlequin character from the European pantomime and the French and Italian Commedia dell'arte. Like his namesake, Mr. Quin’s clothing is such that – viewed by flickering firelight, say – his clothes seem to resemble a Harlequin’s motley. He has a trick of appearing on the scene of a tragedy – or what will, very soon, be a tragedy – without warning, and disappearing equally quickly. We know nothing of his background, nothing of his origins, nothing really about him except his sudden and mysterious appearances.
It is Agatha Christie’s genius which makes Mr. Quin believable – for she doesn’t dwell on Harley Quin’s powers. In fact, he does no detecting, in the classic detective story mode. That job is left to the real central figure of these stories, the mild-mannered, elderly man called Mr. Satterthwaite. It is worth noting that Mr. Satterthwaite also plays a role in some of Christie’s other books, such as Three Act Tragedy, featuring Hercule Poirot. In these stories, however, the eminently prosaic, rather snobbish Mr. Satterthwaite finds himself pressed into service by Mr. Quin, often in a way designed to prevent a tragedy, or, if too late to prevent it, to come up with a solution to a mystery. Mr. Quin acts only as a catalyst – it is his presence which pushes Mr. Satterthwaite to review the facts he has already seen (or is about to see) and draw the correct conclusions from them. And so, this mild-mannered little man finds himself playing critical roles in the human dramas which unfold in these stories.
In the first of the stories, at the end, as Harley Quin is leaving a house where he – and Mr. Satterthwaite – have solved an old mystery and saved a life in the process – Mr. Quin turns to Mr. Satterthwaite and says –
Good-by, Mr. Satterthwaite. You are interested in the drama, are you not?”
Mr. Satterthwaite nodded – surprised.
I must recommend the Harlequinade to your attention. It is dying out nowadays – but it repays attention, I assure you. Its symbolism is a little difficult to follow – but the immortals are always immortal, you know. I wish you all good night.
They saw him stride out into the dark. As before, the coloured glass gave the effect of motley.
I think that passage gives you some idea of the effect of Harley Quin on this story – and on the others. The last couple of stories have a much stronger supernatural element to them, always connected to Harley Quin – but it is Mr. Satterthwaite who maintains our sanity through his own rationality. He is an observer of events, but, when he is involved in them, that involvement is always on a rational basis.
According to Mark Campbell, in his Pocket Essential Literature guide to Agatha Christie, she always considered Harley Quin one of her favorite characters, even though she wrote so few stories about him. Perhaps it was because of the supernatural element; Christie’s stories rarely turned to supernatural events to explain her mysteries. Campbell also notes Christie’s fascination with the Harlequinade and the stock characters of the commedia – of whom Harlequin was perhaps the central figure.
But this dozen stories have always been among my favorite Christie short stories. They are well plotted – yes, with classic clues scattered in the text for the alert reader to use in following Mr. Satterthwaite to his conclusions. And the always mysterious, enigmatic character of Mr. Harley Quin tantalizes the reader, even as he becomes more of a supernatural figure in the last couple of stories in this collection.
As with most Christie books, The Mysterious Mr. Quin is readily available and remains quite firmly in print. You should have no difficulty finding a copy, and your local mystery bookstore, as always, can help you. But if you know Hercule Poirot, and Jane Marple, and the Beresfords, and the other stellar characters created by Agatha Christie over the years, you most certainly should make the acquaintance of Mr. Satterthwaite – and, of course, Mr. Harley Quin.
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You can listen to the complete recording of the original review by clicking here.
Next week: Green for Danger, by Christianna Brand.
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