Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Parker Pyne is the most emotional of Christie's detectives, preferring matters of the heart to pure puzzles. However, he can be just as sharp in his deductions as Poirot or Miss Marple when the need arises. As it happens, I prefer the stories in this collection that *are* mysteries. There are also some lighthearted cases of people wanting more romance or adventure in their lives, which Mr. Pyne supplies. I couldn't help feeling, at first, that it's a bit condescending to suggest that most people's problems are easily solved with a bit of play-acting--a handsome man/woman to make your wife/husband jealous, a faked bit of espionage to bring you more drama, etc. I found myself thinking, "what about all the people with real problems, Agatha?" However, she published this collection in 1934, which gives some insight into the fantasy at work here: most likely her mid-Depression readers simply wanted to *imagine* having such easy problems and tidy solutions.

Even so, I like the stories that do involve murder and crime, as Christie proves herself quite adept at packing her famous twists into even a few pages. I prefer novel-length Christie, but she approximates it here with an overarching narrative, in which Pyne travels abroad, including the first "Death on the Nile"--which is quite different from the later novel of that name. In this way we get to know the main characters (Pyne and his employees, most notably the exotic Miss de Sara). There is even an early cameo from Miss Oliver! All of which makes this a necessary inclusion for any Christie collection.