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Anne's Reviews > The Erymanthian Boar: a Hercule Poirot Short Story
The Erymanthian Boar: a Hercule Poirot Short Story (Hercule Poirot, #SS-42)
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Anne's review
bookshelves: agatha-christie, mystery, short-stories, read-in-a-different-collection
Mar 15, 2023
bookshelves: agatha-christie, mystery, short-stories, read-in-a-different-collection
After the events of the case of The Arcadian Deer, Poirot decides that he deserves a little holiday. And since he's already in Switzerland he decides to go to a mountain-top hotel and enjoy a funicular ride!
I had to look up what the hell a funicular was, and apparently, it's some sort of a cable car used on the side of mountains. That sounds terrifying for someone like me who not only hates cold weather but also actively avoids any sort of mountainous terrain.
Why?
Have you ever heard of anyone falling off of a cliff?
Yes.
Have you ever heard of anyone plummeting to their death while walking along a beach?
No.
You will never convince me that a snowy vacation in the mountains is anything but nightmare fuel.
Alright.
So on the way up to this scenic (yet terrifying!) hotel, a man who says he's an agent of the Swiss Commissaire of Police slips a note to Poirot asking him to be on the lookout for some gangster shit that might be going down at the hotel. The note uses the term wild boar to describe the leader of said gang, and Poirot decides he can shoehorn that into one of his 12 Labors.
This one is pretty cool as there are a whole bunch of people who get snowed into the hotel and (of course) no one is what they seem. I'd recommend this story for sure to anyone who is interested in what makes Christie's shorts so much fun.
Originally published in 1940 in The Strand Magazine & put together with 11 other stories in 1947 and published as The Labours of Hercules.
These 12 cases are chosen by Poirot as his own labors that he will undertake before his supposed retirement.
I had to look up what the hell a funicular was, and apparently, it's some sort of a cable car used on the side of mountains. That sounds terrifying for someone like me who not only hates cold weather but also actively avoids any sort of mountainous terrain.
Why?
Have you ever heard of anyone falling off of a cliff?
Yes.
Have you ever heard of anyone plummeting to their death while walking along a beach?
No.
You will never convince me that a snowy vacation in the mountains is anything but nightmare fuel.
Alright.
So on the way up to this scenic (yet terrifying!) hotel, a man who says he's an agent of the Swiss Commissaire of Police slips a note to Poirot asking him to be on the lookout for some gangster shit that might be going down at the hotel. The note uses the term wild boar to describe the leader of said gang, and Poirot decides he can shoehorn that into one of his 12 Labors.
This one is pretty cool as there are a whole bunch of people who get snowed into the hotel and (of course) no one is what they seem. I'd recommend this story for sure to anyone who is interested in what makes Christie's shorts so much fun.
Originally published in 1940 in The Strand Magazine & put together with 11 other stories in 1947 and published as The Labours of Hercules.
These 12 cases are chosen by Poirot as his own labors that he will undertake before his supposed retirement.
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Reading Progress
February 9, 2023
– Shelved
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I'm going to be honest, crocodiles don't scare me as much as falling off a cliff. I'm a Florida girl, so I think the fear may just come down to what you're used to.I AIN'T DYING ON NO MOUNTAIN!
I see your bet and I raise you saltwater crocodiles.