The Pearl of Price

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  • Parker Pyne
  • Short Story
  • 1933

On his travels Parker Pyne joins a party of people from Amman, through Jordon to Petra. When talk turns to the nature of honesty and a pearl earring goes missing, the group suspect each other of theft. From Parker Pyne Investigates.

More about this story

A party of tourists is travelling from Amman to the camp in Petra. The group includes an American magnate and his daughter Carol. When Carol loses one of her earrings, ex-convict Jim Hurst becomes a prime suspect. But is he really guilty and can Parker Pyne shed light on the theft?

As with other stories in this collection, Agatha Christie was able to draw on her experiences in the Middle East with husband Max Mallowan. She wrote this particular story after she and Max had visited the temples and rock tombs of Petra, a location which also features in the Poirot novel, Appointment with Death.

This story first appeared in the UK in Nash’s Pall Mall Magazine, and was later included in the 1934 collection Parker Pyne Investigates.

It has never been adapted.

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