Book Review: The Mysterious Mr Quin

by Agatha Christie
My overall rating:  3 out of 5 stars.  Mixed feelings.

Polite, elderly Mr Satterthwaite lives a luxurious, carefree, and rather humdrum life--or so he thinks.  He is ever the people-watcher, the friend of the rich and famous, and the patron of the arts.  The man who knows everyone and what they do, but who never seems to do anything interesting himself.

That all changes when a stranger shows up at a New Year's Eve party, one stormy evening.  Mr Harley Quin is a tall, quiet, and melancholy gentleman, who says very little but appears to be able to direct conversations--and sometimes actions--at his will, and all toward the purpose of clearing up some mystery.  He strikes up a friendship with Mr Satterthwaite; and half-consciously Mr Satterthwaite finds that he, too, can solve the mysteries of the lives around him, when Mr Quin helps him "see things".  But Mr Quin never stays long.  He "comes and goes", and Mr Satterthwaite never quite knows when or where he will see him next.

My thoughts:  What do you do when you're recovering from wisdom teeth extraction?  Well, you read the books you hadn't finished but always meant to finish.  For me, that was Mr Quin--a series of short stories by the "Queen of Crime", Agatha Christie.  Having read the Miss Marple, Tommy & Tuppence, and (most of) the Poirot books, I had certain expectations; but I was also looking forward to something a bit different.



The stories themselves, though incredibly unlikely, were certainly page-turners (though I did skip the two that involved the seance stuff).  Most of them had the typical Agatha Christie-style tragedy, but some of them had happy endings.  Nothing much different than the Poirot and Marple stories, except that, maybe, these stories were even more focused on past actions/events.  And without a real detective, there's a bigger sense of the fantasy side of things, resulting in a slightly darker atmosphere.

I really liked Mr Satterthwaite, for the most part.  He's inwardly nosy, extremely gallant, hates discomfort, and is forever visiting wealthy people or the Continent (think "Moment of Luxury" and you've got his life in a nutshell).  On the other hand, he has a good understanding of human nature, and he's not afraid to speak up and play his part "in the drama".  Interesting character, probably one of Christie's best. 

The most disappointing aspect of the book is Mr Quin himself.  Now, for most of the stories, I thought he was a great character.  Handsome, clever, "mysterious", solving mysteries, preventing suicides...he seemed very likeable.  But the last story (it's always the last one, isn't it?) was downright bizarre and almost changed my mind 180 degrees.  I say "almost", because I'm not sure it fits in with the rest of the book--it's more like what fanfic writers call AU (alternate universe).  I strongly suspect this last story was just a whim of the author--it was that out of character for Mr Quin.  SPOILERS IN WHITE:  The last story implied, and not very subtly, that Mr Quin led another character to her death.  That's right...literally led, and I'm not kidding.  Mr Satterthwaite freaks out at the idea (and rightly so!), and the story just ends with Mr Quin disappearing.  Disturbing.

And who is this guy, anyway?  Mr Quin is sometimes referred to as a "friend of lovers"; and the Harlequin ballet character in the last story is referred to as the "eternal lover" or something like that.  Hm.  It is also implied (in at least one story) that Mr Quin might be some spiritual being.  Not only does that change the whole nature of the series, but it's rather disturbing and subsequently irritating.

Supposedly, Quin and Satterthwaite were two of Christie's favorite characters; and she even dedicated the Quin mysteries to the title character, Harley Quin.  Maybe she saw him as representing some kind of tragic, romantic hero (he's always described as sad).  If this were the case, it would explain why he is more of a fantastical character than a real person, and it would also partly explain Mr Quin's creepiness in the last story (though not to any more credit on his part).

I think there's always a danger of assigning the wrong roles to your characters, and thereby changing them until they contradict themselves.  By having Mr Quin go from being a behind-the-scenes philanthropist to a ghostly being who symbolizes some bizarre kind of love, he loses the nobility of his character.  He's reduced to being a mere outlet for pathos and morbidity. 

Back on topic...  ;)  I guess it's this odd combination of fantasy (or is it wizardry?) with detective story that bugs me.  In the big picture, the mysteries are like any other Agatha Christie's.  But within these mysteries, you'll come across these weird little things that make you uncomfortable.  Overall, I enjoyed most of the mysteries, and I've read enough Christie to know not to take it all seriously.  But I'd suggest skipping the seance stories ("Voice in the Dark" and "Bird With the Broken Wings").  As for the last story, I'd be very glad to hear other people's thoughts/interpretations.