Country Christie: Country Tales from the Queen of Mystery is a collection of twelve short stories by Agatha Christie, set in Devon and Cornwall. In fact, the introduction by Christie is her remembrances of the Torquay Regatta when she was young, with the house parties, yacht racing, and picnics. Her favorite part of the Regatta, though, was the Fair. She used that setting in her story “The Regatta Party”.
That story, “The Regatta Party”, was one of my favorite ones in the book. I hadn’t read it before, and Mr. Parker Pyne was the detective in search of a missing diamond. When a young man consulted him, saying he was worried because suspicion fell on him, Pyne said he was “s specialist in unhappiness”. In fact, he’s one of my two favorite characters in Christie’s stories, along with Harley Quin. To my regret, there was not a Harley Quin story included, but it’s best to read the entire collection about him, The Mysterious Mr. Quin. I reviewed that book once, and mentioned he was Agatha Christie’s favorite character, too.
Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are featured in most of the stories. Usually, when I read an Agatha Christie collection, I’ve already read many of the stories. In the case of this book, I’d only read one previously, a Miss Marple one, “The Blood-Stained Pavement”. Of course, since it’s an Agatha Christie story, it’s a clever one involving a vacationing couple. One of my other favorites, “Ingots of Gold”, also featured Miss Marple.
I don’t need to summarize the stories, other than to say it was an enjoyable time picking up a Christie collection I hadn’t read. However, when I read “The Unbreakable Alibi”, I remembered why I never liked the Tommy and Tuppence stories. This one was just silly, and obvious. I don’t even like the couple.
If Agatha Christie is one of your long-time favorite authors, I can recommend this book as an entertaining way to spend the day.
Agatha Christie: Country Tales from the Queen of Mystery by Agatha Christie. William Morrow, 2026. 240p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley from the publisher, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.
I have that as an ebook from the library, but haven’t started it yet. Even the stories I’ve read previously are fun to revisit. I think I enjoy the setting even more than the characters.
MM, If you’re an Agatha Christie fan, there are undoubtedly stories you’ll enjoy. And, the setting is beautiful!
I know I’ve read most of her short stories and probably read all of these, but I never mind revisiting them when a new collection comes out. Jackie is not a fan of short stories in general, but she has read the Christie collections and agrees with you about Parker Pyne and Mr. Quin.
PS – Evan though she is still reading it and says it is “slow-moving but OK,” I can tell she is not really enjoying the Ashley Poston book much.
Oh, well. I knew this Ashley Poston wasn’t for everyone. I liked it, though, more than The Seven Year Slip. I quit on that one.
I’m not surprised you are willing to sample a new collection, Jeff. And, it doesn’t surprise me, either, that Jackie agrees with me.
I just wanted to say that I’ve never been a Tommy and Tuppence fan either.
Neither one of them, Kim.