The Gate of Baghdad, Agatha Christie
The Gate of Baghdad, Agatha Christie
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The Gate of Baghdad
A Short Story

Author: Agatha Christie

Narrator: Hugh Fraser

Unabridged: 1 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 12/11/2012


Synopsis

Just as boredom is setting in on his long trip by motor coach across the desert to Baghdad, Mr. Parker Pyne reads about the case of the missing Mr. Long, the famous defaulting financier who, as the papers would have it, is in South America. Another member of his party, Captain Smethurst, tells Pyne that he is worried about something. But before he can tell Pyne what it is, he is found dead, with no visible wound. Pyne must piece together what happened from various clues, including scraps of conversation overheard back in Damascus.

About Agatha Christie

What a daunting task to write about the most famous mystery writer, Agatha Christie. She was born in 1890 in England, where she was home schooled by her American father. It was an unusual way to be educated for the times. Her father did not want her to begin learning to read until age eight, but out of boredom, she taught herself to read by age five.

In his research, Curran found a plethora of information about Agatha. He outlines many of those interesting facts. Since there are so many, just a few will be mentioned here. Agatha could have been an excellent performer as a pianist, but she was much too shy to perform. She once had three plays running simultaneously in London. She traveled around the world in 1922, which would have been quite a feat back then. Agatha loved dogs. She has a rose named after her. She never did drink alcohol nor smoked. Her last public appearance was in 1974, at the premier of the movie, Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie's name has appeared every day for 53 years in every newspaper with a West End London theatre listing. Her favorite flower was Lily of the Valley. The information about this illustrious author goes on and on. It is a great asset to readers that author John Curran wrote the definitive book about an iconic author. One other interesting fact was that Agatha met Archie Christie in 1912, married on Christmas Eve 1914, spending their honeymoon at The Grand Hotel in Torquay, but Archie returned to France on Dec 27th due to the War. Agatha and Archie fid not really experience married life until he was posted at the London War Office. Agatha has been quoted as saying only then did she feel that her married life truly began.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Anne on August 03, 2022

A crooked financial dude has escaped justice. Shocking! Parke Pyne is touring Jordan and makes a comment to the group he is traveling with that the con man might be anywhere by now. Even amongst them right at that moment! Could that be a prophetic statement? After Parker Pyne has a strange conversation......more

Goodreads review by Howard on August 30, 2022

3.5 The Gate of Baghdad: Parker Pyne Short Story (audiobook) by Agatha Christie read by Hugh Fraser. This is my first Parker Pyne story. The setting was interesting and now I’m going to have to read some longer stories to get to know the character better.......more

Goodreads review by wilted on December 30, 2022

This was a pleasant deviation from the usual Parker Pyne formula which was getting a bit repetitive as I was reading the stories one after the other as part of a collection. The typical Parker Pyne story centres around Pyne finding some comically original way to remedy the unhappiness of a given cli......more

Goodreads review by Jack on August 11, 2021

4 Stars. Parker Pyne doesn't get involved in many serious crimes; this is the first with murder on the menu. As a short story, it's not bad. I read it in "Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective" from 1971 - a collection of 12 of the 14 stories. It first appeared in 1933 in "Nash's Pall Mall Magazine." An audio......more

Goodreads review by Mo on November 01, 2020

It did not really hold my attention. I also think I expected better. Audiobook 31 minutes 42 seconds......more