Reviews

The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie

cpjeanz's review against another edition

mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

naomisbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

hydenseek's review against another edition

3.0

So as I am reading this I thought: I am pretty sure Poirot would approve. I liked the namesake aspect. The redoing of Hercules 12 labors....I mean...only a few people are vain and smug enough to even think about recreating them. Overall, this collection screams Poirot on every level.

1outside's review against another edition

4.0

Took me weirdly long to get through this short story collection!
Thought it would be a nice accompaniment to my non-fiction readings, a story here and there, but it turned out I didn't find it all that easy to tune into the whimsical tone repeatedly, since I was rarely in the right mood for it.

But I respect Christie for choosing the slightly dark-comedy sort of tone and sticking with it. And after all, it worked marvellously in TV form with David Suchet's Poirot.

I rated the stories separately, but now that I've read them all, I think a weak-to-solid 4/5 is probably a fair rating for the collection. I personally could have done without the Labors of Hercules framing...felt sort of shoehorned in in places. (Plus as interested as I am in ancient history, and as big a fan of Endeavour Morse as I am, I'm actually largely ignorant of the "classics" as the Brits call them.)

27 books in, this collection will certainly not crack my top 10, but it's still a well-written, occasionally funny, highly quotable piece of detective fiction writing!

nickimags's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

eososray's review against another edition

3.0

I like the idea of the 12 mysteries that Poirot must solve and how they match up with the labours of Hercules. It is a fun concept.
The short stories are not on par with the full length books, missing depth and enough time to make the twists work.

xenb's review against another edition

3.0

It was a very interesting idea - the twelve labours of Hercules. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but somewhere between 'The Horses of Diomedes' and 'The Girdle of Hippolyta' I completely lost interest, but short stories are generally not my cup of tea.
Out of nowhere plot twists are no doubt the essence of Christie's book and I like them, but somehow it felt a bit too much. Nevertheless, I was entertained and that means the purpose of this book was fulfilled.

sankoekenpan's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

maria_clara's review against another edition

challenging funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

orphiq's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5