"Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne, 17 Richmond Street." - Mr. Parker Pyne's newspaper advertisement
The Sum of It:
Our most faithful readers are by now well aware of my disinclination towards short stories, so I was kind of bummed when I realized this book was yet another short story set. HOWEVER, once again due to my brief period of book-ordering-and-shipping-mixups-on-Amazon, I didn't have a hard copy of this one and listened to #DARLINGHUGHFRASER read it instead. I promise I'll be reading actual book versions of the next several books. But that said, I really enjoyed this one!
For the first several stories, I was thinking "this book really should be called Parker Pyne Solves Problems," because the deal is Mr. Parker Pyne, a former government worker with some kind of expertise in statistics and psychology, places a regular advertisement in the newspaper that tells people if they're unhappy, they should consult him. He does far more deducting and setting of things in motion than investigating for more than half of the book. The first several cases in the book are of a domestic nature. Wives who think their husbands are enjoying an affair with a younger woman and are afraid he will leave them, husbands whose wives have asked for a divorce so they can marry a younger man, a girl who kind of accidentally stole her friend's diamond to pay off some debts and then bought said diamond back but can't figure out how to return it to her friend without the friend finding out, a working man who loves his family and doesn't make much money who just wants a little taste of adventure and a glamorous life while his wife and kids are on vacay, a rich lady who used to be poor and is bored to death, etc. etc. Parker Pyne analyzes their psychology and because he understands humans so well, he knows exactly what these people need to do in order to fix their problem. Here's the best part: LIKE 95 PERCENT OF THE TIME HE USES GIGOLOS TO DO IT.
YOU READ THAT RIGHT. I was like whaaaaaat!!! Parker Pyne is basically a pimp. He employs all these fabulous young people who he deploys in different capacities to help his clients. Wife whose husband has a wandering eye and has been stepping out with his secretary? One of Mr. Parker Pyne's associates will start taking her to dinner and dances and eventually said husband gets jealous and realizes what he's throwing away: problem solved. Man who needs adventure? Parker Pyne will connect him with a manufacturing friend who's got some military secrets that need inconspicuous transport to another country, and sets up a scenario where a "Russian countess" must be saved from an evil villain on a train. Now he is a smuggler who rescues damsels in distress! It's all pretty charming and clever, especially because Parker Pyne arranges these things so discreetly that most of the time the clients have no clue that the situations they find themselves in have been orchestrated and are kind of like "oh bummer I paid that guy to fix my problem and he didn't do anything but OH WELL I'm happy now anyways."
The last several stories in the book, though, take place while Mr. Parker Pyne is traveling throughout the Middle East and Mediterranean on a much needed vacation. But alas, like all of Agatha's detectives, there's no rest for the wicked! These stories were really where he started doing some investigating, rather than problem solving. There are murders and kidnappings and accidental-death-by-balcony, and Mr. Parker Pyne calmly and cooly solves them all.
The YOA Treatment:
So as previously stated, even though I don't normally like short stories, I enjoyed the cleverness of Mr. Parker Pyne, and even though the stories were short, Agatha's excellent character and plot development skillz which are sometimes a bit less utilized in the short stories were on full display in most of these tales. Parker Pyne's use of psychology to figure out just how to manipulate people into solving their problems was really neat, and gave us a glimpse of why Agatha is perhaps such an addictive writer to read, because she understands what makes people tick.
As we've noted before, it's always great when Agatha draws on her own love of travel and understanding of other countries for her books. She describes the scenery and travel experiences so beautifully and lovingly, from the cool and colorful courtyard of a Middle Eastern house to the trickiness of Pullman transport across the desert from the Gates of Baghdad. Her frustration at the modernization of many places in the Middle East is on display here, as Mr. Parker Pyne is totes disappointed in many of the cities he visits because they're not nearly so foreign and quaint feeling as he was hoping #projecting.
One more fun fact: Those of you who have enjoyed the televised Poirots featuring David Suchet will be familiar with his secretary Miss Lemon, who (at least so far) hasn't been a character in the Poirot books. But guess where she turns up? In Mr. Parker Pyne's office!! He has a very efficient secretary named Miss Lemon who helps him with the little logistical details of all his gigolos and international military secrets and such. Always fun to bump into a familiar character in an unexpected place :).
So anyhow I, hater of short stories, give this book of short stories two thumbs up! If you're looking for a quick read or perhaps an Agatha to carry around in your work bag for when you have a minute that needs passing, this would be a great option.
-E.
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