Reviews

The Early Cases of Hercule Poirot by Agatha Christie

isabellarobinson7's review against another edition

4.0

Rating: 4 stars

An actual conversation I had with myself after finishing this book today:

Reading Slump Brain: Wow! We've read only Agatha Christie books this month!
Normal Brain: That's because we've only managed to read two books in April.
RSB: Well, two is better than none!
NB: We have little to no brain power during the day and find it hard to read, that's why.
RSB: We tried our best!
NB: We would've been fine without you. We can read 20+ books a month without you.
RSB: ...
NB: ...
RSB: ...
NB: ...
RSB: We've read only Agatha Ch-!
NB: Oh shut up.

Anyway, in terms of this book, it was a reattempt for me from a couple of years ago and I am ultimately glad I decided to pick it up again. A few stories required a certain suspension of disbelief, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed reading more Holmes and Watson uh, I mean, Poirot and Hastings. Yeah, I know they are basically copies at the start, but I read Agatha Christie before I started the Sherlock Holmes cannon, so it doesn't really bother me.

isabel_laranjo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

2.75

izzatiidrus's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

rach_s's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

These stories aren't all bad, but the usual charm of reading them wasn't there. It's probably cause they were short stories that made it boring. In usual Agatha Christie books we get to see the pieces and try to form the picture (failing most of the time), but that's the fun of it. In this book, since its a collection of short stories, most of them were rushed and we don't see all the puzzle pieces. It's more fun to have it all laid out and still be proven wrong, which was the key element missing for me in these stories. 

nov1kowa's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious relaxing medium-paced

3.5

marzipanwonderland's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Drug use, and Murder

enbyglitch's review against another edition

4.0

I imagine these stories would be more enjoyable in small doses than sped through one after another, but I won't hold that against them. Hercule Poirot is a fun character, though his interactions with Inspector Japp and Hastings quickly become repetitive. The cases are interesting enough, and I respect Christie for often as not having the perpetrator among the upper class.

Many -isms of the time annoyed me, but maybe more than anything I got the feeling that these stories would be the perfect place for some queer characters, though unfortunately none showed up.

zellapaige's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

A great many of the short stories in this collection were already included in one of Christie's other short story collections. The stories I recognized as having previously read include; "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim", "The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan", "The Plymouth Express", "The Adventure of the Western Star", "The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor", "The Kidnapped Prime Minister", "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery",  "The Adventure of the Cheap Flat", "The Mystery of the Hunter's Lodge", "The Chocolate Box", "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb", "The Veiled Lady", "The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman", "The Case of the Missing Will", "The Submarine Plans", and finally "The Lost Mine". So many of the stories in this collection were previously published in other collections that fewer new shorts are left to discuss.

“The Affair at the Victory Ball” was a very clever all based on costuming. 

I found every single character in "The King of Clubs" story to be entirely insufferable. I don't think they are supposed to be likable, but the level I hated them rendered the entire story unenjoyable.

"The Adventure of Johnny Waverly" was probably the most clever mystery of the collection.

While I thought the mystery of "The Marked Basing Mystery" was clever, I greatly disliked the story.

"The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" was incredibly unexpected. This crime truly shocked me.

Out of the whole collection I found "The Cornish Mystery" to be the most sensational story. This one was truly a pleasure to read, despite the distasteful nature of the murder.

The theft in "The Double Clue" was particularly interesting or a clever crime. As an introduction to a recurring character of the series though, I enjoyed the story.

By far the longest short of the collection, "The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding" was a very fun case of jewel theft. The Christmas theme of the short and Poirot's distaste for the occasion was also quite adorable.

"The Lemesurier Inheritance" was a cute little murder mystery and satisfying because Poirot was able to prevent a murder in this case, but still a bit of a let down to end the book.

luna545's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

rosarita's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

2.0