The Mysterious Mr Quinn
Agatha Christie wrote a series of short stories about the mysterious character Mr Quinn – appearing alongside the ever observant Mr Satterthwaite, the stories have a supernatural element to them but are generally typical murder mysteries to be solved. Mr Satterthwaite is an older man, an people watcher who often finds himself involved in some strange mystery, often is doesn’t recognise there is a mystery to be solved until he appearance of ‘Mr Quinn’ who then points him in the right direction to solving the case. Mr Quinn is a mysterious character who pops up unexpectedly and Christie often describes him as appearing in multicoloured forms – whether dappled in light from a stained-glass window for example earning him his name from a Harley Quinn.
Aside from the elements of super-natural appearances from Mr Quinn, this collection of short stories is a good read and the mysteries are entertaining. Below is the full character list from each of the short stories contained in ‘The Mysterious Mr Quinn’.
First published in 1930, the same year as the first Miss Marple novel, ‘The Murder at the Vicarage’. This book is a collection of short stories each involving Mr Satterthwait and ‘the Mysterious Mr Quin’ who appears each time to assist with the solving of a puzzle/crime. Mr Satterthwait also appears in the novel ‘Three Act Tragedy’ published five years later in 1935 (more information on this novel can be found here).
Agatha Christie wrote two further short stories featuring Harley Quin that appeared in later collections of works with various of her detectives. The additional stories are: The Harlequinn Tea Set and The Love Detectives’.
The Mysterious Mr Quinn - Character List for Every Short Story
| Story | Character | Description |
The Coming of Mr Quin | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Tom Evesham | Host of the New Years party at his home called Royston | |
| Lady Laura Evesham | Tom Eversham’s wife, the party hostess | |
| Sir Richard Conway | A friend of Tom Evesham and a guest at his party | |
| Alex Portal | Guest at Royston | |
| Eleanor Portal | Alex’s Australian wife | |
| Mr Harley Quin | Stranger who turns up at the party after his car breaks down | |
| Derek Capel | Previous owner of Royston who committed suicide | |
| Marjorie Dilke | Lady whom Derek Capel had been seeing | |
| Mr Appleton | Man who used to mistreat his wife and who was murdered | |
The Shadow on the Glass | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Mr Unkerton | Host of a party held at his huse Greenway’s House | |
| Mrs Unkerton | Mr Unkerton’s wife and the hostess | |
| Mr Richard Scott | Big game hunter and guest at the party, newly married to Moira and best friends with Major John Porter | |
| Mrs Moira Scott | New wife of Richard Scott, she met and married him in Egypt | |
| Major John Porter | Best friend of Richard Scott also a big game hunter | |
| Mrs Iris Staverton | Guest at the party who is supposed to have been in a relationship previously with Richard Scott when in Africa | |
| Lady Cynthia Drage | Young society lady also at the house patry | |
| Captain Jimmy Allenson | Young man liked by all, met Cynthia Drage when in Egypt | |
At The ‘Bells and Motley’ | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| William Jones | Landload of the Bells and Motley | |
| Captain Richard Harwell | Visisted the villiage where Ashley Grange is and where he met and later married Eleanor Le Couteau | |
| Eleanor Le Couteau | Young rich French-Canadian who bought Ashley Grange | |
| John Mathias | A gardner | |
| Cyrus Bradburn | Weathly American millionair who buys Ashley Grange | |
| Stephen Grant | Suspected to be involved in the disappearance of Captain Harwell after he was dismissed by him | |
The Sign in the Sky | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Lady Vivien Barnaby | Younger wife of Sir George Barnaby having an affair with local farmer Martin Wylde | |
| Sir George Barnaby | Older husband of Vivien Barnaby whom he lives with at their home Deering Hill | |
| Martin Wylde | Local farmer having relationships with both Lady Vivien Barnaby and Sylvia Dale | |
| Sylvia Dale | Young lady in the villiage seeing Martin Wylde, she is the daughter of the local doctor | |
| Henry Thompson | Private secretary to Sir George Barnaby | |
| Louise Bullard | Housemaid at Deering Hill | |
The Soul of the Croupier | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Countess Czarnova | Regular visitor to Monte Carlo, a much admired woman and currently seeing Franklin Rudge | |
| Franklin Rudge | American man and compaion to Countess Czarnova whom is is enamoured with | |
| Elizabeth Martin | Member of Rudge’s party, a sensible and straitforward lady | |
| Pierre Vaucher | Croupier working in the casino | |
The Man from the Sea | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Anthony Cosden | Terminally ill man | |
| Suicidal woman staying at the villa on the cliffe | ||
The Voice in the Dark | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Lady Barbara Stranleigh | Old friend of Mr Satterthwaite who is also staying in Cannes, sister of Beatrice and mother of Margery | |
| Beatrice Barron | Elder sister of Barbara who died when the ship she was on, The Uralia, sank off the coast of New Zealand | |
| Margery | Daughter of Lady Barbara from one of her previous marriages who is living in the family home Abbots Mede in Wiltshire and is reportedly hearing voices. | |
| Marcia Keane | Old friend of Margery’s staying with her | |
| Roley Vavasour | Cousin of Margery also staying at Abotts Mede | |
| Mrs Casson | A spiritualist Roley has brought in | |
| Mrs Lloyd | A medium Roley has brought in | |
| Alice Clayton | Eldery maid to Margery’s mother | |
The Face of Helen | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Gillian West | Beautiful young woman Mr Satterthwaite spots at the opera | |
| Philip Eastney | Young man in love with Gillian and who fights with Charlie Burns | |
| Mr Charlie Burns | Young man who becomes engaged to Gillian West | |
The Dead Harlequin | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Frank Bristow | Up and coming young artist | |
| Lord Charnley | Owner of the house Carnley depicted in a painting by Frank Bristow, he committed suicide 14 years ago | |
| Colonel Monkton | Guest at the house when Charnley killed himself | |
| Hugo | Next in line to the title, a relative of Lord Charnley | |
| Alix Charnley | Widowed wife of Lord Charnley and mother of Hugo | |
| Aspasia Glen | A celebrated dramatist requesting to buy the painting from Mr Satterthwait | |
The Bird with the Broken Wing | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Madge Keeley | Young lady who invites Mr Satterthwaite to Laidell for their house party | |
| David Keeley | Madge’s father and owner of the family home in Laidell, he is a brilliant mathematician | |
| Roger Graham | Engaged to Madge Keeley | |
| Mrs Graham | Roger’s mother staying with the Keeley’s for their houseparty | |
| Mabelle Annesley | Fragile appearing young lady staying in Laidell, she is the youngest of the ill fated Clydesley family | |
| Gerard Annesley | Mabelle’s husband | |
| Inspector Winkfield | Investigating officer | |
The World’s End | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| Duchess of Leith | Aristocrat on holiday in Corsica | |
| Naomi Carlton Smith | Artist and distant cousin of the Duchess also in Corsica | |
| Mr Tomlinson | Another guest staying at the same hotle in Corsica | |
| Vyse | A theatricall producer from England | |
| Rosina Nunn | A famous actress married to Mr Judd also on holilday from England | |
| Mr Judd | Husband of the actress Rosina Nunn | |
| Alec Gerard | Young playwright accused of stealing jewellery | |
Harlequin’s Lane | Mr Satterthwaite | Recurring character – a genreal observer of life |
| Harley Quin | Recurring character – mysterious figure who assists Mr Satterthwaite | |
| John Denham | Middleaged man who invites Mr Satterthwait to stay | |
| Anna Denham | Russian wife of John, she was a refugee in the revolution | |
| Molly Stanwell | Young girl also staying with the Denhams | |
| Kharsanova | Ballerina murdered by the Bolsheviks early on in the Russian revolution | |
| Prince Sergius Oranoff | Another Russian man who arrives at the Denham’s house |
Poirot Short Stories
If you enjoy Agatha Christie's Mr Quin short stories why not read the Poirot short stroy collections (although I'm sure many of you will already have done so!)