Poirot Investigates: Detective Hercule Poirot (Best of Mystery & Thriller Detective Stories Collection by Agatha Christie)

The best thing for a Bookwork.. Totally Recommend it.. Poirot's wonderful Adventures...

‘Poirot Investigates’ published in 1924, is Agatha Christie’s first ever collection of short stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings, following the first two novels featuring the little Belgian detective published in 1920 and 1923 respectively. It is evident from details like celebrity clients, baffled police inspectors, country estates, train journeys and telegrams that Agatha Christie was greatly influenced by Arthur Conan Doyle’s books… Poirot even wears a dressing gown in one of the stories, though it is a garish silk one instead of the drab ones favoured by Sherlock Holmes!The plots of two stories in this collection are directly inspired by Conan Doyle. ‘The Adventure of the Cheap Flat’ is nothing but Christie’s version of ‘The Red Headed League’. Similarly, ‘The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge’ owes much to ‘The Case of Identity’. On the other hand, the stories in this book also feature cars, aeroplanes, cameras and telephones – which had little or no role in the saga of Holmes and Watson.“If the military and the police of two countries have not found him, how shall I?” asks Poirot in ‘The Kidnapped Prime Minister’. This story opens with two cabinet ministers visiting Hercule Poirot in his flat to inform him that the British Prime Minister had been kidnapped in France, where he had gone to attend an important conference. They implore him to locate the missing premier within 24 hours. This story is set in the midst of the First World War and it appears highly incongruous that seasoned ministers would have engaged a private detective of Belgian origin for such a delicate mission.If one looks beyond the plots, Poirot’s growing idiosyncrasies are quite apparent. “Once more shall I be myself again, the great Hercule Poirot, the terror of evil-doers!” he declares, while recovering from a bout of influenza. In another story set in Egypt, Poirot chooses to dress exactly the way he did in London. “My boots, of the neat patent leather, usually so smart and shining. See, the sand is inside them, which is painful, and outside them, which outrages the eyesight. Also the heat, it causes my moustaches to become limp – but limp!” There are also frequent references to “little grey cells” and Poirot’s opinion of the traditional image of the fictional detective: “He must be full of energy. He must rush to and fro. He should prostrate himself on the dusty road and seek the marks of tyres through a little glass. He must gather up the cigarette-end, the fallen match? That is your idea, is it not?”The language is generally simple, but there are some memorable phrases, eg “I disdained to argue, and entrenched my curiosity behind a rampart of pretended indifference.”I had ordered the hardbound version of this book, thinking that it was one of the affordably priced facsimile editions of Agatha Christie’s books which I have been collecting over the past two or three years. The book I have received is a hard bound version published by General Press, New Delhi, which is quite different from the facsimiles – it is larger, it lacks a dust jacket and its paper is thinner than expected. It contains some annoying typos, eg ‘Exaptly’ on page 67 and ‘Continong’ on page 172 instead of ‘Exactly’ and ‘Continent’ respectively. Despite such shortcomings, this hardbound edition provides fairly good value for money.

Paper quality of the book is very good.Stories are short yet thrilling and intriguing.Nice book for a gift !

Very interesting. Enjoyed thoroughly. Hercule poirot at his best full of suspense . A must for all crime book lovers.

Although they are sort of ok .. but that build up and the long unnecessary but charming details that are available in the long stories are sorely missed here ... prefer the longer ones :)

The quality of the book is really good👍🏻

Gripping and interesting. A good read

Finest short stories from Agatha Christie.Each one holds the reader's attention and gives them a climax unexpected.Thouroughly enjoyed it.

Particularly enjoyable to viewers of Poirot series as origins of many scripts are here. Some story lines are repetitive or similar to other detective tropes.

Como não gostar da Rainha dos Mistérios

If like me your wary of approaching a full novel or don't have the time to absorb the characterisations and depth of such a book. This short story collection is a a great way to introduce you to the work of one of our greatest crime writers.Despite an average of about 10 pages Christie has the knack of beginning a tale developing it and still supplying us with a plausible ending. Subjects covered include murder and robbery but also spys.What I also enjoyed that due to the at times complex nature of the plots invariably a re-read was required so I could close my mouth after a shocking ending. Not always do you see it coming, the twists are invariably ingenious.Hard to pick a favourite. Let's just say I enjoyed them all. Do buy the book. You won't be disappointed.

No wonder why Agatha Christie is considered one of the greatest writers of all time!11 stories, 11 cases, 11 mysteries cleverly written in a way that makes you guess to be surprised and amazed at the end. It’s so impressive how she is able to write stories in a way that keeps you guessing and end up wrong m, no matter how right you think you are.A book very hard to put down once you started.

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