Poirot - The Labours of Hercules
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Product Description
Review
‘Twelve little masterpieces of detection. Poirot and Agatha Christie at their inimitable best’
Sunday Express
‘I have often thought that Mrs Christie was not so much the best as the only living writer of the true of classic detective story’
Margery Allingham
‘A finely shaped book, richly devious and quite brilliant – by far the best volume of Poirot shorts’
San Francisco Chronicle
Product Description
Poirot sets himself a challenge before he retires – to solve 12 cases which correspond with the labours of his classical Greek namesake…
In appearance Hercule Poirot hardly resembled an ancient Greek hero. Yet – reasoned the detective – like Hercules he had been responsible for ridding society of some of its most unpleasant monsters.
So, in the period leading up to his retirement, Poirot made up his mind to accept just twelve more cases: his self-imposed ‘Labours’. Each would go down in the annals of crime as a heroic feat of deduction.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a collection of Hercule Poirot short stories.
Hercule Poirot has decided to retire from detective work, but before he does so he wants to massage is ego one last time, by matching the feat of the mythological Hercules.
As Hercules had to embark on 12 seemingly impossible tasks, so too will Poirot by handpicking 12 final cases.
If you are an Agatha Christie fan, this is one of her best.
If you are new to Christie then this book is a good place to start.
Highly Recommended
Hercule Poirot has decided to retire from detective work, but before he does so he wants to massage is ego one last time, by matching the feat of the mythological Hercules.
As Hercules had to embark on 12 seemingly impossible tasks, so too will Poirot by handpicking 12 final cases.
If you are an Agatha Christie fan, this is one of her best.
If you are new to Christie then this book is a good place to start.
Highly Recommended
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I don't always enjoy Agatha Christie's short stories. For obvious reasons, they lack the range and complexity of her novels, and the culprit is easily spotted. Sometimes they are even practice runs for her longer novels. ('The Case of the Caretaker' from 'Miss Marple's Final Cases' becomes the brilliant 'Endless Night' for example.)
But I have no such reservations about 'The Labours of Hercules'. Ms. Christie obviously felt herself invigorated, just as much as Poirot, by this self-imposed labour. The writing is fresh and sparkling. There is plenty of crisp humour, and wry social comment, much of it just as relevant today. The range of stories is very different, encompassing not just the usual murder, but fraud, extortion, blackmail, theft, and drugs. Some of the tales are quite gruesome, the creepy and atmospheric 'The Erymanthian Boar', is a fine example of this.
I would love to see some of these tales dramatised with Suchet, but I suspect the production company have forgotten about this little gem, along with 'The Big Four'.
But I have no such reservations about 'The Labours of Hercules'. Ms. Christie obviously felt herself invigorated, just as much as Poirot, by this self-imposed labour. The writing is fresh and sparkling. There is plenty of crisp humour, and wry social comment, much of it just as relevant today. The range of stories is very different, encompassing not just the usual murder, but fraud, extortion, blackmail, theft, and drugs. Some of the tales are quite gruesome, the creepy and atmospheric 'The Erymanthian Boar', is a fine example of this.
I would love to see some of these tales dramatised with Suchet, but I suspect the production company have forgotten about this little gem, along with 'The Big Four'.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a great fan of Agatha Christie and enjoyed this book immensly. Each of the short storys was intresting and had me hooked, trying to guess who had done "it".
With some short stories you can feel a lack of character develepment, but this was not a problem, Poirot is a well know character, and even if you had not heard of him before, you quickly become familiar with his egotistical, but lovable ways.
The foreword is a bit confusing. Due to a jump to the first chapter by my kindle I only read it several days later when i went back to the beginning, It can very well be skipped with out losing any sense of the story, though it is an interesting discussion on names I suppose, and has Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes mentioned too, an interesting merging of fictional "worlds".
So I would definately encourage you to read it, the storys are light and interesting and the characters are all Christies best work
With some short stories you can feel a lack of character develepment, but this was not a problem, Poirot is a well know character, and even if you had not heard of him before, you quickly become familiar with his egotistical, but lovable ways.
The foreword is a bit confusing. Due to a jump to the first chapter by my kindle I only read it several days later when i went back to the beginning, It can very well be skipped with out losing any sense of the story, though it is an interesting discussion on names I suppose, and has Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes mentioned too, an interesting merging of fictional "worlds".
So I would definately encourage you to read it, the storys are light and interesting and the characters are all Christies best work
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Labours of Hercules
How nice to go to bed each night knowing you have nothing to remember from what you read the day before and a brand new story will begin tonight. Read more
Published 1 month ago by annie t
Top-class Christie
Hercule Poirot takes on 12 cases that remind him of the 12 labours of the mythological Hercules, and Christie has fun spoofing the phenomena of society from invented religions to... Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2009 by Ms. L. R. Fisher
12 wonderful short-story murder mysteries
I liked this book because while it's a collection of short stories, it is also a long story featuring Herclue Poirot. Read more
Published on 8 April 1999
Pretty good, very good characterization
This is a pretty good book. It introduced some new characters that I liked, for example, Amy Carnaby, who I wished would be in more of Poirot's books, and brought up old... Read more
Published on 2 Feb 1999
Poor short stories
It's incredible how she insisted on making this kind of books. They don't even may be called a book. When it starts to call your attention the story finishes. Read more
Published on 18 July 1998
PRETTY GOOD...
Although I would not say that this is her best work, Christie does some clever and unexpected plot twists. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 1998
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