Vicky Hunt's Reviews > Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories

A Grand Adventure Well Underway: Through Agatha's World

I've dabbled here and there over the years, dipping into the mysteries of Agatha Christie a few at a time. Since this year is one hundred years since Agatha's Grand 1922 Adventure around the world, I want to visit as much of her work as possible. That will take some doing, since she is the best selling novelist of all time. Besides her 66 detective novels, she wrote 14 collections of short stories, all of which have been translated more than any other author in the world. This book has over 50 of those short stories and is a fascinating collection!

"There is nothing so intangible, so difficult to pin down, as the source of a rumour."

This set consists of all the short mysteries solved by her character Hercule Poirot. It includes such longer short stories as The Under Dog and Dead Man's Mirror (both of which I loved), quaint gems like Murder in the Mews and Yellow Iris, and even a series of short stories based on the 12 Labors of Hercules, where Hercule Poirot takes cases themed around each of the classic Greek mythical tasks of Hercules. In classic Agatha fashion, the conclusion often has a twist of justice. This collection is well worth reading and re-reading. I enjoyed it on Kindle whisper-sync. I recommend this for anyone who enjoys mysteries.

"Doubtless le bon Dieu knows what he does. But it is odd that he should have permitted himself to fashion certain human beings."