The Labors of Hercules

These are twelve short stories of about half an hour each. Many are split between two CDs. Since they are short stories, the plot and character development is not as extensive as in novels. Hugh does a good job of changing his voice for each character which makes following the story easy.

This collection of short stories featuring the loveable Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot are quite delightful. The stories are written in true "tongue-in-cheek" Agatha Christie fastion. In this book we see Hercule Poirot taking on 12 very distinct cases before he thinks he will retire. He tries to duplicate the historical "Labours of Hercules" with these "final" little cases. Each story is truly unique and written in the classical Christie style. There are broad references in these stories to the what is written in the classics about the original "Labours of Hercules", and each story is a gem in its own right.

This 1947 short story collection opens in Poirot's London apartment where he is spending an evening with an old friend, Dr. Burton. The subject turns to names and Dr. Burton asks Poirot about his unusual first name, implying that Poirot does not resemble the original Hercules at all. Poirot, who had not read the Greek myths before, decides to rise to the challenge and undertake his own 12 labors. These labors are related in a linked series of short stories, each adventure is complete unto its self but most contain references to earlier stories in the arc. The stories are names after the origninal 12 labors and are:The Nemean Lion - Poirot unmasks a dognapping gangThe Lernean Hydra - involves rumor, murder and a love triangleThe Arcadian Deer - young love sends Poirot on a long questThe Ermanthian Boar - Poirot captures a crime lord The Augean Stables - Poirot clears political intrigue and scandalThe Stymphalean Birds - Poirot halts a blackmail schemeThe Cretan Bull - Poirot unearths an old scandal to stop a crimeThe Horses of Diomedes - Poirot breaks up a drug ringThe Girdle of Hyppolita - Poirot finds a missing art treasureThe Flock of Geryon - Poirot stops a religious conmanThe Apples of the Hesperides - Poirot locates a missing treasureThe Capture of Cerberus - Poirot enters Hell for an old friend The stories are all Christie gems, usually leading the reader astray and ending with a surprise twist. It is also amusing to see the Poirot interpretation of the labors, the lion becomes a Pekinese dog, the harpies harmless old women etc. This is a good book to take on a trip, the short story format lends itself to reading in interrupted spurts.

As always, Hercule Poirot is on the verge of retirement. But before he settles down to cultivate vegetable marrows once and for all, he decides to take on twelve last cases, in honour of his famous mythological predecessor Hercules. The twelve cases are each quite different: from searching for a lost pet to hunting down a ferocious murderer. Although this is widely considered to be the best of Christie's short story-collections, I do have some doubts about this statement. Personally I am not a big fan of the short stories featuring Hercule Poirot, where Jane Marple has had more success in this format. An obvious weakness of this particular collection is that in quite a few stories the conclusion is so utterly obvious, that you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery. What makes this collection worth reading though is the skilfully incorporated links to Greek mythology: sometimes quite burlesque, sometimes very subtle.The stories listed in this collection are "The Apples of the Hesperides", "The Arcadian Deer", "The Augean Stables", "The Capture of Cerberus", "The Cretan Bull", "The Erymanthian Boar", "The Flock of Geryon", "The Gridle of Hyppolita", "The Horses of Diomedes", "The Lernean Hydra", "The Nemean Lion" and "The Stymphalean Birds".

I thought this book ws great although some stories were a bit boring. Overall though, i think it was great