The House at Shiraz: An Agatha Christie Short Story

Mr. Parker Pyne is going through a bit of a palaver trying to get to Beirut, what with his rusty linguistic skills and the less than comfortable arrangement on the aeroplane. But, with the help of an amused German pilot he soon navigates his way around. The pilot, Herr Schlagel’s thoughts are dominated by the mysterious and sudden death of one of his last passengers, a ‘flower’ who was in the company of the undoubtedly mad Lady Esther at the House of Shiraz. Pyne takes the initiative, as always and writes to Lady Esther enclosing his famous advertisement and waits to see what will happen. When he arrives at the House of Shiraz he waits to see what the infamously demented Lady Esther has to say for herself and it all begins to unravel.