The Sign in the Sky - a Harley Quin Short Story

Harley Quin #4

by Agatha Christie

An intriguing short story featuring the enigmatic Mr. Quin.

A young man is sentenced to death for murder. Unconvinced of Martin Wylde's guilt, Mr. Satterthwaite even attends the trial at the Old Bailey in London. Later the same day he dines at his favourite restaurant only to find Harley Quin sitting at his regular table. Encouraged by Quin, Satterthwaite is compelled to voyage to Banff in western Canada to check all the little details of the evidence. Is Wylde the real murderer?

Librarian's note #1: this short story was published in Grand Magazine (1925) and then in the print anthology The Mysterious Mr. Quin which was first published in 1930.

Librarian's note #2: the print anthology contains 12 Mr. Quin short stories. Besides those, there are two more found in other collections: The Love Detectives, and The Harlequin Tea Set. Mr. Satterthwaite also appears in Three Act Tragedy and Dead Man's Mirror. All by Agatha Christie, of course!

Librarian's note #3: the entries for all fourteen Mr. Quin short stories can be found on GR by searching for: a Harley Quin short story. Or for Harley Quin. Details such as characters and settings are included for each.

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

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1925

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 3 out of 5]

After attending the trial of a man just sentenced to death for the murder of his lover, Mr. Satterthwaite once again runs into Mr. Quin. And once again, Mr. Quin is going to point him in the direction of another wrong he needs to right.
But this time around, there is a life on the line!



A lot of circumstantial evidence convicted Martin Wylde of the murder of his former married lover, Lady Barnaby. He had broken things off with her to continue his relationship with the (unmarried) Sylvia Dale, and things got heated when he left that last day. But is he the one who killed her?
When Quin points Satterthwaite in the direction of a housemaid who relocated for a better job in Canada, he runs off to interview her.
But will her story about seeing a smokey hand in the sky at the time the gunshot killing her mistress was heard be worth the trip to another continent?



This is another of Quin's stories that didn't have the same bite of the paranormal that some of his other stories had, but it was still very good.

Originally published in 1925 in The Grand Magazine.
Read as part of the short story collection The Mysterious Mr. Quin.

[Jack Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars. I enjoyed the slow reveal, the information Christie releases in bits and pieces. My, "Now I get it," was delicious. A young man was being tried for the murder of a woman who felt trapped in her marriage. Vivien Barnaby's much older husband was obese and purse-proud. The neighbour, farmer Martin Wylde with whom she had been dallying, was quickly found guilty. Cut and dried. The story first came out in Grand in 1925, and is one of 12 in The Mysterious Mr. Quin from Harper Collins in 2003. There's an amusing aspect for us Canadians which arises when Mr. Quin points to a curious matter in the evidence. A housemaid testified at the inquest but didn't at the trial as she had found a new job in Canada. Did someone want her out of the UK? Quin persuades Satterthwaite to go there to interview her. "A young man is going to be hanged in a little over 3 weeks." He makes the trip and her information at first doesn't appear helpful. The hotel at which she works has to be the famous Banff Springs in the Rockies. London to Halifax by ship, 5 days, train to Banff, Alberta, 4 days. Double it to get back. That's very tight. Had Wylde already been hung? Loved it. (Se2021/Se2025)

[Bobby Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You are, I believe, a rich man, Mr. Satterthwaite. Not a millionaire, but a man able to indulge in a hobby without counting the expense. You have looked on at the dramas of other people. Have you never contemplated stepping in and playing a part? Have you never seen yourself for a minute as the arbiter of other people’s destinies — standing at the center of the stage with life and death in your hands?” — Mr. Quin

A train, a young woman desperate to break free from a marriage that was a mistake, a sign in the sky, and a girl perhaps not too bright leads Satterthwaite, urged on by the ever mysterious Mr. Quin, to Canada in search of a maid/servant to save a man’s life.

Great Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin story, with an especially wonderful ending; Christie makes the centerpiece an empty table. Highly recommended, as are all the Mr. Quin stories.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get the interaction now fully between Mr Quin and Mr Satterthwaite. Mr Quin is the director for Satterthwaite to take centre stage and master his lines. A great observer of life he lacks the ability to make connections while Mr Quin expertly steers his ‘friend’s’ thinking to complete his mind map and place his subconscious jigsaw together.

Having sat through a murder trial regarding a case involving people he knows socially, he is perplexed when a guilty verdict is reached but on the basis of the evidence what else could have been the outcome?

Walking to a quiet but favourite restaurant, mulling over the case, who should he meet but Mr Quin.

Encouraged to review his thoughts and talking Mr Quin through the salient details, an anomaly arises that requires action. Mr Satterthwaite makes a decision but remains convinced Quin had suggested that outcome to follow.

Such are their interactions. Can the mystery be solved and a young man saved from the hangman’s rope?

I love that these wonderful plots are reduced into a short story format. All the magic and slight of hand is used by Christie. The solutions are pure joy; frustratingly so, since all is revealed but readers it appears need their own ‘Mr Quin’ to help us “see” before the reveal is given.

To think I’ve ignore this area of the Queen of Crime’s work for so long is a literary travesty. I am happy to acknowledge that and make up for my oversight, in double quick time.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 out of 5 Stars

This one wasn't as strong or engaging as the previous cases with Mr. Harley Quin and Mr. Satterthwaite, even though there were some clever little clues to unravel the mystery.

[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.

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

eponymous sentence:
p15: "A sign in the sky."

Stupid is as stupid does.

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

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quinn solve a murder over dinner, with a trip to Canada as the main entree. Lady Barnaby married an older man, which she regrets instantly since he is so set in his ways. She starts an affair with Mr. Wylde. On the day of her death, Lady Barnaby asked Wylde to come to the house at 6:00. He came from hunting and left his gun outside. At exactly 6:20, Lady Barnaby was shot and killed. Wylde says that he left the house at 6:15 and Lord Barnaby was out playing bridge until 6:30. Mr. Satterthwaite travels to Canada to visit the maid who was at the house that day but who then was shuttled off to a hotel in Canada. She said that she saw smoke from the train coming into the station before the shot. But that wouldn’t make sense because that was the 6:28 train and she was shot at 6:20. Turns out that Lord Barnaby set all the clocks in the house back 10 minutes so he had ample time to return from his bridge game, kill his wife, run outside and appear to be returning to the house from his game. Train smoke seems a flimsy thing to go on to come up with the solution.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Protagonist is developing over the course of the short stories in this collection
( featured together in The Mysterious Mr. quin)
The commedia dell arte connection is a nice touch with the restaurant name as Arlecchino.

[Abeer Albossany · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was nice change to know the murderer or at least suspect him and the whole mystery consist of knowing the way it happened.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook--2.5 stars

[Aisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.25/5]

[OutSideTheBoxox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really loving this series

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Above average, though it has a few flaws, which would be spoilers, so I'll refrain from relating them.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceedingly clever, quaint, satisfying as always

[Skjam! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed as part of an anthology here: http://www.skjam.com/2022/08/11/book-...

[kammie!!? · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read as part of the short story collection:

- n/a
- Capital Christie (14/02/2026)

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Mary Kiley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love Agatha Christie but this story was very disappointing because of a very obvious error which should have been picked up by the editor.
SPOILER ALERT
When the murderer is revealed, it seems that the murder itself was premeditated.
But the actual murder was committed using a gun that just happened to be left behind? By someone who'd just left?
How was the murderer planning to kill the victim if someone hadn't conveniently forgotten his gun?
Given that the gun owner left after an argument with the victim, how could the murderer be sure of the exact time he'd leave? It could easily have been earlier or later!
The premise of the Harley Quin stories is that Quin asks questions which nobody else thought to ask.
And yet these glaringly obvious questions were left unasked and unanswered at the end of the story. :(

[William Vaudin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read the first seven pages of this and then just looked to the Wikipedia page for the rest of it because I didn't want to have to sit through “another" 23 pages of waffle just for nothing. So, I can't really give a real opinion on this one because I only got the blunt end of it.
I don't know why Agatha Christe said that Mr Quin was her favourite detective she created because these stories A: have no substance and B: are clearly just the fill in empty time before the next pay check. There is no passion in this one or the others and Mr Quin doesn’t really live put to his supposed concept has he's just the same as Poirot and Marple, being someone who just sits to the side and watches someone else do all the work for him.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

As these short stories go on I am seeing a more defined Holmes/ Watson diametric between the Characters. Mr Quin is Holmes, Mr. Satterthwaite is Watson. Here both characters have to figure out a murder. The main downside to this story is how and why Mr. Satterthwaite went abroad so quickly. Surely he should have gone to the police to let them do their job?

[nic p · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Royden Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the last three stories, I particularly enjoyed the way that this one ended. 'Stupid' indeed.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leuk Quin verhaal.

[Rolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid, but not standout murder mystery.

[Kathy velez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever and entertaining story.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Harley Quin series is definitely not my favorite by this author.
The plot of this story was rather simple, and the most important clue to solve it on the not very convincing side