Harley Quin is a mystery. He appears and disappears unexpectedly and by strange tricks of light and reflections; making his clothes seem brightly multicoloured like the theatrical Harlequin.
Published in various magazines through the 1920s, the short stories were collected and published for the first time in The Mysterious Mr Quin in 1930 and in two other short stories: The Love Detectives and The Harlequin Tea Set.
Harley Quin helps his old friend Mr Satterthwaite to solve crimes through carefully worded but apparently random observations and questions that provide insight into a problem. Mr Harley Quin is there to act as a catalyst, to reveal to Mr Satterthwaite what he already knows. In her Autobiography Agatha Christie listed the Harley Quin stories as her favourites and describes Harley Quin as "a friend of lovers and connected with death". The collection is dedicated by the author "To Harlequin the invisible" which makes it unique as no other Christie book is dedicated to a character.
TV & Film History
"The Coming of Mr Quin" was filmed in Great Britain in 1928 under the title "The Passing of Mr Quinn" - note the change in spelling of Quin. Made by Strand Films, produced and firected by Julius Hagen, it was the first British film to be based on a Christie work.
Booklist
The Mysterious Mr Quin (1930)
Problem at Pollensa Bay and other Stories (1991)