Originally published: London : Collins, 1934.

Agatha Christie, creator of Hercule Poirot, has now invented an entirely new character, who appears for the first time in the present book. He is Mr. Parker Pyne. Unlike Poirot, he is English, and typically English. Large, not to say fat, with a bald head of noble proportions, he seems to breathe respectability and the pre-eminence of the British Empire. He enjoys a large practice as a private investigator. He is a man of many mysteries and some of these are set down here for the first time. These stories are about the best thing Agatha Christie has done in this particular line, every one a perfect gem of the art of the mystery story." -- Inside cover.