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  • The Harlequin Tea Set

  • An Agatha Christie Short Story
  • By: Agatha Christie
  • Narrated by: Hugh Fraser
  • Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)
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The Harlequin Tea Set cover art

The Harlequin Tea Set

By: Agatha Christie
Narrated by: Hugh Fraser
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Summary

A classic Agatha Christie short story, available individually for the first time on audio.

It’s been many years since Mr Satterthwaite has seen Mr Harley Quin, so when Satterthwaite, awaiting his broken down car, goes to a tea shop called the Harlequin café, he begins to think of his friend. 

A self-described snob, Satterthwaite orders coffee and examines the coloured china when a bolt of sunlight comes in and the very same Mr Quin walks through the door. Enigmatic as ever Mr Quin and his diligent dog, Hermes, stay for a Turkish coffee with the excitable Satterthwaite whilst the car is fixed, and Satterthwaite cannot help but bore Mr Quin with the very long history of the family he is off to visit. Their conversation is interrupted by the abrupt entrance of the member of that very same family intent upon replacing her harlequin cups. 

Satterthwaite desperately persuades Quin to accompany him, but all the bereft Satterthwaite is left with is one word, ‘Daltonism.' 

What is the importance of Quin turning up at the tea shop on that day, and what does that word have to do with anything?

©1997 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"The plots are so good that one marvels...most of them would have made a full length thriller." (Daily Mirror)

What listeners say about The Harlequin Tea Set

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Just lovely

You know when the fey Mr Quinn and the posh Mr Slatterwaite meet up something unusual will happen. Events will unfold and cases solved with exquisite subtlety. A lovely, intriguing short story read with perfection by Hugh Fraser

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not one of Christie's best.

This short story is taken from a collection and is mildly entertaining. However, the plot is ridiculous and not one of Christie's better stories.

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