the only time that Christie dedicated a book to one of her fictional creations. Dustjacket blurb The blurb of the first edition (which is carried on both the back of the dustjacket and opposite the title page) reads: Mr Satterthwaite is a dried-up elderly little man who has never known romance or adventure himself. He is a looker-on at life. But he feels an increasing desire to play a part in the drama of other people – especially is he drawn to mysteries of unsolved crime. And here he has a helper – the mysterious Mr Quin – the man who appears from nowhere – who 'comes and goes' like the invisible Harlequin of old. Who is Mr Quin? No one knows, but he is one who 'speaks for the dead who cannot speak for themselves', and he is also a friend to lovers. Prompted by his mystic influence, Mr Satterthwaite plays a real part in life at last, and unravels mysteries that seem incapable of solution. In Mr Quin, Agatha Christie has created a character as fascinating as Hercule Poirot himself. References External links The Mysterious Mr Quin at the official Agatha Christie website The Passing of Mr Quin at IMDb Agatha Christie's Mysterious Mr Quin on BBC Radio 4's "Afternoon Reading" Short story collections by Agatha Christie 1930 short story collections Works originally published in The Grand Magazine William Collins, Sons books Harlequin