Agatha Christie

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.

The Labours of Hercules

12 Hercule Poirot Mysteries (Mystery Masters)

Aamna

The Labors Of Hercules A Hercule Poirot Collection

Wynter

A collection of short stories, where Hercule Poirot dedicates himself to solving twelve mysteries based on the ancient Greek myths about Hercules – Poirot’s own namesake.

This is a concept that is totally Christie. After using many nursery rhymes in her work, the Dame turned to Greek mythology to play with. In the introduction we also learn that Poirot has a brother named Achille. But if I remember correctly, didn’t Hercule invent his twin back in The Big Four some twenty volumes earlier to throw his enemies off track? Perhaps he prefers to keep Japp in the dark about the truth.

Due to its structure, I found the collection somewhat uneven. Some stories matched their mythological counterparts better than the others. Some mysteries also read as a filler, rather than genuine whodunits. I did really enjoy The Erymanthian Boar, that reminded me of Christie’s better locked-room mysteries, The Stymphalean Birds, with its exceptional gothic elements, and The Flock of Geryon, which features a great secondary character underutilized earlier in the book. I also noticed that topics like extra-marital sex and children are discussed more freely than in her earlier novels, which could be the sign of changing times in conservative England.

The labors of Hercules

Teaghan Grayson

12 great Poirot short stories, though there's a lot of variance in style and length.

Giulia Pianta

This was a fun collection of short stories. It was not my favourite maybe, possibly because it didn’t involve much murder. But I liked the use of the 12 labours of Hercules that reflect Poirot’s cases.

There were a few outstanding stories, such as The Erymanthian Boar, which I really like for the setting, or the The Flock of Geryon which I remembered from a previous reread, or The Lernean Hydra, which is the only one that really concerned murder, even if I could see the solution immediately.

While the mysteries were not as complex and intricate as in the full-length novels, I still had a lot of fun.

The Labours of Hercules

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