The Dead Harlequin: A Short Story

Harley Quin #9

by Agatha Christie

When Mr. Satterthwaite visits a new exhibit at the Harchester Galleries, there is one painting that bears an unusual likeness to a mysterious acquaintance of his, Mr. Quin. In one bold move he purchases the canvas on the spot, and in another invites the artist of “The Dead Harlequin” to dine with him that night, with an empty place at the table set for Mr. Quin. Dinner conversation soon turns to the setting of “The Dead Harlequin,” the doomed and ghostly house Charnley, where many have perished under tragic circumstances. But when a new guest is announced, it is not Mr. Quin but famed comic stage actress Aspasia Glen, who demands that she be given that very painting. Then comes a frantic telephone call from Alix Charnley herself, and Alix has the same request. What is the meaning of the painting, and can it shed any light upon the happenings at Charnley?

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Short Stories, Audiobook, Crime, Fiction, Classics

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1929

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Satterthwaite buys a painting because it looks strikingly like his friend, Mr. Quin.
The painting is titled The Dead Harlequin and shows a man who is looking through a window at his own corpse lying on the floor.
And he recognizes Charnley as the home where the picture is set.



He is so impressed with the painting that he invites the rather surly artist to dinner with some of his friends, and a (excuse the pun) portrait of the suicide of Lord Charnley from years ago is revealed as they speak about the painting.
Was it a suicide?
The night only gets stranger when two women, one an off-putting actress and one the dead man's widow, approach Mr. Satterthwaite to try to buy the painting off of him.
With so many people who were intimately acquainted with Lord Charnley's demise that night, it looks like Quin has once again set things in motion for him to put everything right.
Naturally, as this is a Harley Quin story, Satterthwaite will not only help solve the mystery but possibly bring a pair of lovers together.
One of my favorite shorts with these characters.

Originally published in 1929 in The Grand Magazine.
Read as part of the short story collection The Mysterious Mr. Quin.

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dead Harlequin is actually a painting in this tale from Agatha Christie featuring Mr. Satterthwaite and the mysterious Mr. Quin. Quin is connected to the supernatural world in ways never explained in any of the stories.

The artist of the aforementioned painting is soon to be famous. Satterthwaite is fascinated by him because the man in the painting bears a striking resemblance to his old acquaintance, Mr. Quin. Satterthwaite of course purchases the painting, and in an effort to get the background of its origins, has dinner with the artist and another man.

Like more than one of the Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin stories, the mystery of the room where the dead man lies involves an apparent suicide, with seemingly no other explanation. It is a tragedy which still haunts one woman. Through Satterthwaite’s efforts, aided by the sudden appearance of Mr. Quin, the truth is finally revealed.

Another outstanding Mr. Quin story, this one involving the legend of the Weeping Lady, a rug that moves from one room to another, and a tale of two women. Wonderful stuff.

[Jack Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars. A locked room mystery. A good one at that. Everyone at the top of the stairs saw Lord Charnley enter and lock the Oak Parlour room from the inside; everyone heard the shot moments later, and after breaking down the door, everyone found his body next to the hearth. It must have been suicide. But why? He had been recently married. He seemed so happy. The story, which first appeared in Grand magazine in 1929, and later in the 1930 and 2003 collection, The Mysterious Mr. Quin, begins with Mr. Satterthwaite discovering an interesting painting at an art gallery and deciding instantly to purchase it. The figure peering in the window in Frank Bristow's The Dead Harlequin looked remarkably like his friend Harley Quin. A must have. Satterthwaite has always been intrigued by Quin - the mystery of his comings and goings, and the timing of his appearances. Less than a day later Mr. S. gets not one but two offers on his recent purchase - one from the well-known actress, Aspasia Glen, and one from Lord Charnley's widow, Alix, who we learn was pregnant at the time. Was this a murder? I didn't think so. (Se2021/Se2025)

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect short story to demonstrate the unusual relationship between Mr Satterthwaite and Mr Quin.

We continually find out more about Satterthwaite a patron of the arts, a mover in high social orbits and a discerning observer of life. Sometimes called out as a snob he shows here that while he doesn’t fully understand young people he understands class and recognises social mobility.

He visits a galley promoting the work of a new and talented young artist. He immediately is blown away by a picture of a Dead Harlequin, set in a room he recognises and for some reason must buy. He then fortunately meets the rough and earthy artist whom he invites to be his dinner guest. As he walks out of the galley we gather he feels something is going to happen and he almost expects to bump into Mr Quin.

An enthralling mystery where all the salient points are made in clear sight. We are drawn wonderfully into the drama where the characters at Mr Satterthwaite’s home have a number of things in common and memories buried that Satterthwaite is emboldened to tease out.

The picture is the riddle to and perhaps solution to the mystery as two other buyers contact Satterthwaite during the evening with a wish to own it for themselves.

Classic Christie and the perfect sort of short story where more is told than is revealed and when in the denouncement made, more is revealed than what we saw but hadn’t seen.

[Imjussayin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Dead Harlequin is classic Agatha Christie. It is a short story taken from The Mysterious Mr. Quin. It is not a Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple mystery but no less enjoyable for this. The Harley Quin stories have a paranormal element to them.

I have read this book three or four times. Sometimes I just pick up an Agatha Christie for comfort. They are charming, comfortable, comedic and always extremely well written. You cannot go wrong with an Agatha Christie.

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Sexual Content Rating: 0
Language Content Rating: Mild
Violent Content Rating: Minimal
Will I read it again ? Yes

My rating system (* = star)
0* Could not finish this book
1* Finished the book but didn't like it.
2* Finished the book it was okay.
3* A good read worth your time.
4* A very good read often with a novel concept or unusual plot.
5* An exceptionally good read. A prominent example of the genre.

[writer... · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating mystery comes to light with the display of a painting...
Intriguing characters and discusson of the setting recalling a historical evening brings surprise twists and unexpected resolution.
Audio performance appreciation.for bringing the story to life.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audiobook is narrated by Hugh Fraser.

[Mystery, She Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 🌟

This one was confusing and I don’t really have a lot of thoughts on it.

[Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Mr. Quin is the detective I understand the least in Christie's canon. I've only listened to one other story with him and I enjoyed that one better.

That said, I am really enjoying these Christie audiobooks. The narrator is great, as is the writing so we have perfection.

The mystery of this short story revolves around a painting in which Mr. Quin appears. A friend spots it for sale and then gathers characters together to discover its meaning. I had a hard time following this and I think it was mostly because I was semi-distracted and not giving it my full attention.

[Franci · Rating 2 out of 5]

7th book of 2019.

[Nathalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoying listening to amazing Hugh Fraser's reading of Agatha Christie's short stories, this one featuring Mr. Quinn.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story. Quick and entertaining.

[itchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p4: The picture was called The Dead Harlequin.

Quin's locked room mystery, or rather, Satterthwaite's.

Read as part of the collection The Mysterious Mr. Quin.

[Craig Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun quick read.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

For once, I liked this Quin story, the ambiance, with the almost supernatural way of Quin to show up, and the plot, related to a painting:
Mr. Satterthwaite goes to art gallery, and there he sees the painting of a murdered man, who looks so much like his friend Mr. Quin. So he decides to buy the painting and starts to investigate the connections. Quickly though, other people are interested in buying it from him. Why?

One thing that wasn't the best is that once again, one person ends up being an important person in what happened years ago, but now here present under a false identity. I have seen this several times in the short stories I have read by Agatha Christie this year. A bit too often

[a ☕︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

she wasn’t quite real, you know. shadowy. like one of the people who come out of the hills in gaelic fairy tales. // mr. satterthwaite went to meet her. he had not seen her for nearly thirteen years. he remembered her as she once was, an eager, glowing girl. and now he saw—a frozen lady. very fair, very pale, with an air of drifting rather than walking, a snowflake driven at random by an icy breeze. something unreal about her. so cold, so far away. // ���my dear,” he said, “you frighten me. you are like the weeping lady with the silver ewer.”

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Satterthwaite buys a painting of the Terrance Room at an old country estate he was once at and it shows a man gazing through the window that looks a lot like Mr. Quinn. When he returns home with his purchase he receives requests from two different women to purchase it. The first is a famous actress and the second is the sad widow of the man who owned the country estate. The widow has not returned to the estate since her husband committed suicide years ago. She says that he killed himself because he got a governess pregnant, which was proven by a letter he received the day he died. But Mr. Satterthwaite figures out that there was no mistress and the letter was a hoax meant to provide a reason for the suicide and instead he was killed by his brother and his mistress in hopes of inheriting the estate. The mistress is none other than the actress who also wants to purchase the painting.

[Carole Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having recently discovered volumes of Agatha Christie's short stories, I am working my way through her Harley Quin collection. The sudden, mysterious appearances of Mr. Quin always have a purpose, gently nudging Mr. Satterthwaite to sharpen his skills of observation. The Dead Harlequin takes place in London and employs the traditional locked-room technique. Details are impeccable, the plotting creative. I was fascinated by the painting - a harlequin figure lying dead on a terrace room floor, with another harlequin figure looking in through the window, and both bearing a strong resemblance to Mr. Quin. This story reminds one that things often aren't what they seem, and that the truth can come into sharper focus when looking back. The Dead Harlequin is a definite favorite of mine!

[nic p · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of the best in terms of strange vibes, 10/10

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! The Harley Quinn short stories are compact and move quickly. There isn’t time to drag out points. Just a intriguing story told by revisiting past events. This one centers around a painting by artist that imagines a scene. When those who witnessed or were involved in the situation view the painting, together they weave the pieces together and the mystery is revealed. Those frozen in grief can move forward.

The spiritual presence is one that empowers others to share what they know.

Brilliantly written!

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun quick little read. I like Agatha Christie. What I think is really unique about her, is that she makes the crimes and deducing the crimes possible/realistic but still always have a twist. Which differs from Sherlock in that he infers some wild things and the crimes are always weird.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

An art connoisseur falls in love with a painting, buys it, then invites several people to dinner-- including the rather mysterious Harley Quin who bears an uncanny resemblance to the dead harlequin in the painting. As the story unfolds, the reader learns that the purpose of the dinner is to serve justice. This is a well-executed story; it just didn't really have a spark of life to it.

[Temidayo Ayodele-Oja · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book in my e-library and picked it up, later learning that it’s part of a series of short stories. With regard to this particular book, while the plot was interesting, it felt incomplete.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

the Mysterious Mr. Quin

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Jess Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was very interesting! I actually had to read it twice to fully catch all of the details. Basically, it’s about a young man who paints this interesting painting. But the room he painted was in accurate… Or was it?

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another familiar plot line with Mr Satterthwaite doing the herding of interested parties to a get together where Quin appears late and solves an over decade old suicide. Still don't get the title after having read the definition and history of harlequins.

[Kala · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun short story revolving around the subject of a painting.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good short story.

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the whole thing except for how fast things worked out while ages passed before and nothing happened seems less convincing to me.