The Coming of Mr Quin

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Summary

Genre: Murder Mystery, Supernatural

Format: Short Story

Recurring Characters: Harley Quin

Synopsis

Cultured bachelor Mr Satterthwaite is looking forward to celebrating the New Year like so many others. But just after midnight a stranger appears at the door and appears to be dressed in every colour of the rainbow. The stranger is Mr Harley Quin and Mr Satterthwaite’s life will never be the same again!

Christie always claimed the Harley Quin stories were her personal favourites among all her short stories. Her inspiration for Quin came from her love of the theatre. She was fascinated by the characters of the Commedia Dell’arte: Harlequin, Columbine, Pierrot, Pierrette, Punchinello and Punchinella. Harlequin was almost a natural character for her to write about, given his colourful costume and mysterious comings and goings. Christie liked him so much that she dedicated the collection of stories to “Harlequin, The Invisible” this was the only time she dedicated a book to a character. The New York Times wrote in 1930, “The book offers a rate treat for discriminating readers.”

This was the first British film adaptation of one of Christie’s works, in 1928, although the title was changed to The Passing of Mr Quinn.

Published in The Mysterious Mr Quin.

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