Poirot Investigates: A Hercule Poirot Collection

Poirot Investigates (1923) (Poirot # 3) by Agatha Christie. This is the third outing for Poirot and his Watson, Captain Hastings. As narrator to the eleven tales herein Hastings does a serviceable job, his lack of understanding of the various cases only serving to underscore Poirot’s brillance. No matter what the case, from blackmail, jewels that have gone missing, an unusually inexpensive apartment in a very costly block of flats, missing Prime Ministers or Egyptian curses (keep in mind Dame Agatha’s husband was an archeologist) our detective shines his searchlight of an intellect and reveals the hidden truths.The thing to remember with a book such as this is that this is the basis for much of what comes later. I’ve seen the film and television adaptations of Dame Agatha’s detectives, but going back to the source material is very refreshing. Poirot is still a “NEW” detective. His quirks are not expected but fresh, his “little gray cells” are not a cliched saying for him but rather a novel look at the detection process (okay, purists will look to Mr. Holmes and his bowl full of shag as meditation device) and his habit of not acting like a bloodhound but sitting and thinking carefully, well, that is still brand new.If in long form or the short story, Poirot never fails to entertain.

Poirot Investigates (American Version), Christie

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11 3 different not-so-short stories: that did not really engage me.

All were: featuring a person who asked for help, Hastings being a lost as ever, M. Poirot being as clever as ever, but without much of a story or clues. After a brief explanation of the situation and a short discussion between M. Poirot & Hastings; VOILA! M. Poirot has the solution.

1. The Adventure of "The Western Star": Jewel thievery & duplicity at the Full Moon

2. The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor: M. Poirot investigates a murder made to look like suicide

3. The Adventure of the Cheap Flat: Two spies, Naval Plans, a murderous Italian in a cheaply sublet flat

4. The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge: A wife & maid are locked out of the room while the man of the house is killed by a bearded stranger,

5. The Million Dollar Bond Robbery: A banker's nephew is sent abroad w/ a million in bonds, when they disappear en route to their destination, M. Poirot investigates

6. The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb: Death by curse of several Egyptologists, a nephew in need of money, a wife convinced of the curse

7. The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan: A rich woman goes to her room in order to show M. Poirot her exquisite pearls, but she find they are gone!

8. The Kidnapped Prime Minister: On his way to a very important & secret peace conference the Prime Minister is waylaid, M. Poirot sets out to find him.

9. The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim: Mr. Davenheim goes out to post some correspondence, he does not return to meet his visitor... The safe's contents are missing... M. Poirot solves it all and never leaves his chair

10. The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman: A telephoned cry for help from the Count, the butler takes a stroll, a table set for dinner and then cleared

11. The Case of the Missing Will: An Uncle leaves his clever niece a will, but then he writes a second one and hides it.... M. Poirot is hired to find it.

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12. The Veiled Lady: A jewel theft in broad daylight, a young woman being blackmailed, and a Chinese Puzzle Box

13. The Lost Mine: Poirot was once given shares in an ancient Chinese mine as payment for an investigation, but the papers were lost and a visit to an Opium Den was necessary to locate them

14. The Chocolate Box: M. Poirot's one "failure" to uncover the murderer of the French Deputy who was living in Brussels and was about to play an important political role in the separation of Church & State

This collection of fourteen Hercule Poirot short stories shows just how difficult it is to work well in the format, especially when it comes to mysteries. It's very hard to include many red herrings or an expanded cast of potential guilty parties when you don't have hundreds of pages of narrative at your disposal, which means that it's very hard to trick your readers and leave them in the dark until the final denouement. (This is also why mystery television series composed of standalone episodes have never particularly appealed to me, as I can't remember the last time I remained in the dark for the entire 43 minutes of an episode. The poor writers simply don't have enough time to build a really good mystery.) Still, there are some interesting bits here, both in terms of the mysteries themselves and in terms of revelations regarding Poirot himself, but it's just not up to the level of the novels.

A selection of early Poirot short stories, set in the interwar years (originally published in 1924),, many of which have thriller-ish overtones. Plenty of fun to be had, with the relationship between the slightly obtuse Hastings and the conceited, but always right, Hercule Poirot. Slight and short, a quick read with a sense of time and place. Came back to this as I'm listening to the entertaining podcast "All about Agatha" (available on many streaming platforms).

This is a collection of eleven mysteries solved by Hercule Poirot using in most cases as he says," his grey brain cells". Some involve murder, disappearances, hidden wills, robberies, locked room mysteries up to the kidnapping of the Prime Minister. The little Belgian detective solves most by observation of a room or the actions of the people involved in the incident. Some of his solutions seem a little far fetched but he always describes how he arrived at it in the end.It was an entertaining and quick read. Recommended.

A collection of short stories with Hercule Poirot, knowing all the answers and poor old Captain Hastings bumbling about afterwards having everything explained to him. Poirot's little grey cells do much without evidence, and sometimes he disappears gathering facts only later presented to the reader. So as such it can be disappointing if you're trying to guess the solutions - but that's not really the point of Christie's' writing. They're all fun little character studies, and enjoyable.