Parker Pyne - Short Stories Featuring Parker Pyne

Short Stories Featuring Parker Pyne

Agatha Christie published a total of 14 short stories featuring Parker Pyne. Of these, the first dozen initially appeared in various US/UK magazines and were later collected into the 1934 anthology Parker Pyne Investigates. The remaining two tales were originally created as vehicles for her most famous sleuth, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, but Christie reworked these into Pyne cases before their inclusion in the 1939 short story collection The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories.

Within his work, Pyne himself always disclaimed the role of hard-core detective, and his literary domain was usually relegated to light-hearted short stories rather than murder mysteries (excepting two instances where he was inadvertently involved). Christie never featured this character in a full-length novel and, despite her lengthy career, did not return to her Pyne creation after this initial 1930s run.

• 1932 - The Case of the Discontented Soldier - Parker Pyne becomes involved in secret maps to buried treasure when helping a major newly returned from abroad.
• 1932 - The Case of the Middle-aged Wife - Pyne helps to save a failing marriage.
• 1932 - The Case of the Distressed Lady - Pyne shows his slippery side when helping an apparently distressed woman.
• 1932 - The Case of the Discontented Husband - Pyne once again becomes embroiled in resolving marital woes.
• 1932 - The Case of the City Clerk - Pyne helps a mild-mannered city clerk find excitement.
• 1932 - The Case of the Rich Lady - Pyne helps a bored, wealthy widow to spend her money, in his own unconventional way.
• 1933 - Have You Got Everything You Want? - Pyne helps an American woman unravel the secret goings-on aboard a train from Paris.
• 1933 - The Gate of Baghdad - A fellow traveler is murdered en route and Pyne is forced to investigate.
• 1933 - The House at Shiraz - Pyne investigates the mystery surrounding an English expatriate living as a recluse in Persia.
• 1933 - The Pearl of Price - Traveling in Jordan, Pyne helps to recover the titular pearl.
• 1933 - Death on the Nile - Pyne is hired by a woman who believes her husband may be poisoning her.
• 1933 - The Oracle of Delphi - Pyne aids in the rescue of a kidnapped child.

• 1935 - Problem at Pollensa Bay - concerns a mother's dislike for her son's fiancée, a dilemma solved by fellow vacationer Pyne.
• 1936 - The Regatta Mystery - The title story sees Pyne catch a diamond thief during regatta festivities at Dartmouth harbor.