Poirot - Poirot Investigates
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Review
‘In straight detective fiction there is still no-one to touch her.’ Irish Times
‘Poirot’s gorgeous self-conceit gives a dash of humour to this capital collection of mystery stories. They are ingeniously constructed, and told with an engaging lightness of style.’ Literary Review
Product Description
The very first collection of superb short stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings…
First there was the mystery of the film star and the diamond… then came the ‘suicide’ that was murder… the mystery of the absurdly chaep flat… a suspicious death in a locked gun-room… a million dollar bond robbery… the curse of a pharoah’s tomb… a jewel robbery by the sea… the abduction of a Prime Minister… the disappearance of a banker… a phone call from a dying man… and, finally, the mystery of the missing willl.
What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was written in 1924 so is one of Christie's very early books. Not all of her short stories are successful, but I really enjoy these. They all feature Poirot and Hastings, but you can feel the difference in their relationship from the later novels: here Poirot can be unbearably arrogant (in Hasting's view), and Hastings himself duller than in later stories. The tales themselves are miniature masterpieces, and cover the ground that Christie will later make her own: unfeasible robberies, exotic mysteries (there's one set in Egypt), and twisted relationships.
Hugely enjoyable, especially if you're a fan of Hastings - as I am!
Hugely enjoyable, especially if you're a fan of Hastings - as I am!
Format:Paperback
To suspend disbelief is one of an author's important tasks and is particularly onerous in certain genres, including crime. In Agatha Christie's case, she is superb at distracting the reader from the improbability that an elaborately planned crime can be executed without any apparent hitch. Of course, the criminal always makes a mistake or two to the benefit, in this instance, of Hercule Poirot.
In 'Poirot Investigates', however, Christie asks more of us than usual. Poirot appears to solve most of these mysteries without venturing far from his home. His uncanny ability to work out the shenanigans on a transatlantic liner without being anywhere near the scene of the crime, for instance, invites ridicule. As ever, Christie teases us with some intriguing mini-plots, but this early collection suggests that while she'd cracked novel-writing, she still hadn't mastered the art of short story writing.
In 'Poirot Investigates', however, Christie asks more of us than usual. Poirot appears to solve most of these mysteries without venturing far from his home. His uncanny ability to work out the shenanigans on a transatlantic liner without being anywhere near the scene of the crime, for instance, invites ridicule. As ever, Christie teases us with some intriguing mini-plots, but this early collection suggests that while she'd cracked novel-writing, she still hadn't mastered the art of short story writing.
Format:Paperback
This is an odd collection. There doesn't appear to be anything in particular to tie the stories together other than that they contain Hastings and Poirot - the settings are diverse and there doesn't appear to be any sort of chronological flow between them - in some the pair are living together and in others not. I'm not convinced that it works as a collection.
Each story therefore is stand alone and this makes for easy reading, as beginning, middle and end can be devoured in one sitting... although the middle parts of each story seem to be the parts that have been removed to make them short stories. Each tale is characterized by 1. Someone reports a mystery to Poirot; 2. Poirot sits down and thinks about it; 3. Poirot announces the solution. To me this seemed a little bland - the speed doesn't give the reader much chance to think about the mystery before revealing the solution - but then this covers up the fact that many of them are unsolvable, or at least have many possible solutions, with the evidence available.
What is nice is that not all the mysteries are murders. There's a nice range of puzzles for Poirot to solve, which almost makes up for the grating way the characters stay the same and have the same arguments all the time. But only almost.
Each story therefore is stand alone and this makes for easy reading, as beginning, middle and end can be devoured in one sitting... although the middle parts of each story seem to be the parts that have been removed to make them short stories. Each tale is characterized by 1. Someone reports a mystery to Poirot; 2. Poirot sits down and thinks about it; 3. Poirot announces the solution. To me this seemed a little bland - the speed doesn't give the reader much chance to think about the mystery before revealing the solution - but then this covers up the fact that many of them are unsolvable, or at least have many possible solutions, with the evidence available.
What is nice is that not all the mysteries are murders. There's a nice range of puzzles for Poirot to solve, which almost makes up for the grating way the characters stay the same and have the same arguments all the time. But only almost.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Inferior to the novels
The blurb says it all: "What links these fascinating cases? Only the brilliant deductive powers of Hercule Poirot! Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2007 by Ms. MacNeill
Poirot investigates
This is avery enjoyable read, made up of 11 self-contained short stories featuring the famous Belgian sleuth, Poirot. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2004 by Philip
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