Parker Pyne Investigates is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by William Collins and Sons in November 1934. Along with The Listerdale Mystery, this collection did not appear under the usual imprint of the Collins Crime Club but instead appeared as part of the Collins Mystery series. It appeared in the US later in the same year published by Dodd, Mead and Company under the title Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6)

In The Observers issue of 18 November 1934, "Torquemada" (Edward Powys Mathers) stated that Christie was, "the only consistently inspired practitioner of an art where ingenuity and industry have so often to substitute for genius." On the subject of this collection, Mr. Mathers said that the book "has a certain appeal to all Agatha Christie fans, and to ourselves and to all lovers of the well-made magazine story."

Robert Barnard: "A mediocre collection. Parker Pyne begins as a consultant Miss Lonelyhearts, ends up as a conventional detective."

References to other works

"The Gate of Baghdad" twice quotes the poem "Gates of Damascus" by James Elroy Flecker. As Pyne stands in Damascus he likens the Baghdad Gate that they will go through as the "Gate of Death" however whereas Flecker's poem talks of four gates in the city, in reality there are eight in the ancient walls and none of them is called the Baghdad gate. Christie also referenced the poem in naming her final written work, Postern of Fate (1973).

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

Two of the stories in the collection, "The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife" and "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", were adapted by Thames Television in 1982 as part of its series The Agatha Christie Hour, which featured ten one-off plays from short stories by the writer.

Publication history

  • 1934, William Collins & Sons (London), November 1934, Hardcover, 256 pp
  • 1934, Dodd Mead and Company (New York), 1934, Hardcover, 244 pp
  • 1951, Dell Books (New York), Paperback, (Dell number 550 [mapback]), 224 pp
  • 1953, Penguin Books, Paperback, (Penguin number 932), 190 pp
  • 1962, Fontana Books (Imprint of HarperCollins), Paperback, 158 pp
  • 1978, Ulverscroft Large-print Edition, Hardcover, 299 pp,

First publication of stories

Nine of the stories in Parker Pyne Investigates had their true first publication in the US as follows:

  • "The Case of the Discontented Soldier", "The Case of the Distressed Lady", "The Case of the City Clerk", "The Case of the Discontented Husband" and "The Case of the Rich Woman" all appeared in the August 1932 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine (issue number 554) under the sub-heading of "Are You Happy? If Not Consult Mr. Parker Pyne" with illustrations by Marshall Frantz.
  • "Have You Got Everything You Want?", "'The House at Shiraz", "Death on the Nile" and "The Oracle at Delphi" all appeared in the April 1933 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine (issue number 562) under the sub-heading of Have You Got Everything You Want? If Not, Consult Mr. Parker Pyne again with illustrations by Marshall Frantz. The first story was not individually named.

Known publication of the stories in the UK are as follows:

  • "The Case of the Middle-aged Wife": First published in issue 613 of Woman's Pictorial of 8 October 1932 as "The Woman Concerned".
  • "The Case of the Discontented Soldier": First published in issue 614 of Woman's Pictorial of 15 October 1932 (illustrated by J.A. May and with an additional title of '"Adventure – By Request")
  • "The Case of the Distressed Lady": First published in issue 615 of Woman's Pictorial of 22 October 1932 (illustrated by J.A. May and with an additional title of "Faked!")
  • "The Case of the Discontented Husband": First published in issue 616 of Woman's Pictorial of 29 October 1932 (illustrated by J.A. May and with an additional title of "His Lady's Affair")
  • "The Case of the City Clerk": First published in issue 503 of the Strand Magazine in November 1932 under the title of "The £10 Adventure".
  • "Have You Got Everything You Want?", "The Gate of Baghdad" and "The House at Shiraz" were all first published in issue 481 of Nash's Pall Mall Magazine in June 1933 under the sub-heading of "The Arabian Nights of Parker Pyne". The individual story titles as they appeared in the magazine were "On the Orient Express", "At the Gate of Baghdad" and "In the House at Shiraz" respectively. Marshall Frantz's illustrations from Cosmopolitan were re-used.
  • "The Pearl of Price", "Death on the Nile" and "The Oracle at Delphi" were all first published in issue 482 of Nash's Pall Mall Magazine in July 1933 under the sub-heading of "More Arabian Nights of Parker Pyne". "The Pearl of Price" appeared under the slightly abridged title of "The Pearl". Again, Marshall Frantz's illustrations from Cosmopolitan were re-used.

Known publication of the stories in the US are as follows:

  • "Death on the Nile": First published in the US in Cosmopolitan, April 1933, and in the UK by the Pall Mall Magazine July 1933; then in 1934 in anthologies Parker Pyne Investigates (UK) and Mr Parker Pyne, Detective (USA).
  • "The Case of the Rich Woman": First published in the US in Cosmopolitan, August 1932, then in 1934 in anthologies Parker Pyne Investigates (UK) and Mr Parker Pyne, Detective (US).

References

  • Parker Pyne Investigates at the official Agatha Christie website