Agatha Christie is the world's most popular modern writer, her works having been outsold only by those of Shakespeare and the Bible. Though best remembered for such classic novels as Murder on the Orient Express, And Then There Were None, and Death on the Nile, Christie was also a master of the shorter crime story, and this volume collects some of her finest short pieces in the largest compendium of her work ever. Each of these stories features one of Christie's famous detectives: Parker Pyne, Harley Quin, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Jane Marple.

Agatha Christie is one of the best mystery writers and the volume collects stories by four detectives: Parker Pyne, Harley Quin (and Mr. Satterthwaite), Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. The first two detectives have introductions written by Ms. Christie herself, and, since I was not familiar with either, found the introductions helpful. I also had not read any of the short stories before so was pleased to meet Mr. Pyne, who advertises in the personal section of the newspaper ("Are you happy? If not, consult Mr. Parker Pyne"), and the mysterious Mr. Quin and his sometime friend, Mr. Satterthwaite, for the first time. Hercule Poiot and Miss Marple were old friends and the new stories were excellent.

I must admit that the Quin/Satterthwaite stories were the most interesting. At the end of that section, I still was not sure if Mr. Quin was real or in Satterthwaite's imagination. The book is well worth reading for Christie fans. ( )