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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I can’t believe a woman wrote this! So many stories of marital infidelity and boredom “solved” by more perceived marital infidelity. Insulting to women!
Parker Pyne is not a detective. He occasionally detects, and even solves a couple murders, but most of these stories are not detective stories. He is a former government employee who had a somewhat vague unclear job. In this way he is somewhat reminiscent of Mycroft Holmes; a genius who has a vague job in the British Government who appears to have had a lot of power due to general respect for his own intelligence. Now he is retired and has dedicated himself to making people happy. He runs an advertisement in the newspaper that simple says; "Are you happy? If not, call Parker Pyne." Few people answer, but some do and he attempts to make them happy and often succeeds. The interesting aspect comes in what is considered to make people happy, and this is where the book really starts to reveal a lot about Agatha Christie's worldview. But that's not necessarily bad in this case. Parker Pyne is an interesting person, and the stories are light hearted and amusing. Halfway through the book Parker Pyne goes on vacation and the stories become actual mysteries, but they keep that light hearted amusing self aware tone that made the first half good.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was unlike any other Agatha Christie book I have read. Each chapter is a different case or problem that Parker Pyne is helping someone with. You could almost read them as individual short stories. The reader never really learns much about Pyne's life, is past, is social status, anything. He runs an add in the paper saying that if you are not happy, contact him and he will help. He comes up with interesting ways of helping people out of predicaments or out of their blah life. Such a fun read.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
the first few stories were rather dull, but the traveling ones were entertaining
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A little different than what I was expecting. Many of the stories are not the detective genre, although they all have a twist of some sort, which you definitely look for in Agatha Christie.
I didn't really warm to Mr. Parker Pyne, especially at the beginning. He's in the business of making unhappy people happy, which sounds nice, but... He's a know-it-all who plays god with people's lives. Sometimes to good effect but sometimes not. He matchmakes, he manufactures adventures for bored people, he intervenes in delicate family matters... and I found him a bit much.
Fortunately, as always, Agatha Christie is just extremely readable, and as I said, there's always a twist to look forward to in each story. I enjoyed the later stories in this collection, as Mr. Pyne starts traveling in the Middle East and there are a few more traditional-style mysteries.
I didn't really warm to Mr. Parker Pyne, especially at the beginning. He's in the business of making unhappy people happy, which sounds nice, but... He's a know-it-all who plays god with people's lives. Sometimes to good effect but sometimes not. He matchmakes, he manufactures adventures for bored people, he intervenes in delicate family matters... and I found him a bit much.
Fortunately, as always, Agatha Christie is just extremely readable, and as I said, there's always a twist to look forward to in each story. I enjoyed the later stories in this collection, as Mr. Pyne starts traveling in the Middle East and there are a few more traditional-style mysteries.