Poirot's Mythology Lesson: The Labors of Hercules 2.0

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"In the period before his final retirement he would accept twelve cases, no more, no less. And those twelve cases should be selected with special reference to the twelve labors of ancient Hercules. Yes, that would not only be amusing, it would be artistic, it would be spiritual." 

-The Labors of Hercules, p. 14

The Sum of It: 

Poirot is going through one of those phases where he's being kind of dramatic about retiring. In that he's like should I retire? Should I not retire? Should I work on my vegetable marrow cultivation? (The whole vegetable marrow obsession of Poirot's is one of my favorite things in all of Christie's writing.) He's having a little night in with a rando pal named Dr. Burton and they're discussing retirement among other things and Dr. Burton randomly pivots to ask the history behind Poirot's first name: Hercule. Dr. Burton is wondering if it's like a family name? Were his parents really into reading The Classics? Poirot is like uh IDK, also IDK about The Classics, NEVER READ THEM. The next day Poirot is feeling lame for not having read The Classics, particularly those tales about his namesake, Hercules, and, after learning a bit about said Greek hero, decides he will give himself a little challenge: before he retires he will accept only twelve more cases, and each case will match up with one of the twelve labors of Hercules. 

What follows in this book is twelve short stories outlining these twelve "final" cases of Poirot (as we know, Poirot rarely follows through with his retirement ultimatums and always gets pulled into doing "one more!" so we can never take the word "final" very seriously). Besides the mythology connection theme, there isn't necessarily an overarching mystery thread going between them all, but this is kind of a welcome change to Poirot's usual stories, and we get to see a lot of different cases involving kidnapped dogs, missing school girls, disgraced prime ministers, blackmailed hotel guests, and even Poirot's old girlfriend, Countess Vera Rossakoff! 

The YOA Treatment:

As you probably heard time and time again during our initial Year of Agatha, Emily and I were not huge fans of Agatha's short story collections. Nothing against short stories in general, we just prefer a longer, more in-depth mystery in novel form. However, reading The Labors of Hercules might have converted me to a short story liker, if not a full blown short story lover. I was not very familiar with these particular cases (since Emily read them for our first Year of Agatha, and I can't remember if I had ever read this book as a kid!) so it was fun to experience some puzzles that were unfamiliar. The concept seems a bit gimmicky, but Agatha does a good job of presenting plausible cases that tie into Hercules's labors and with a bit of a lighter tone than some of her other short stories. It was also interesting to see her, as she has done with other short stories, test out some ideas that make it into her later novels. The most obvious example from this collection is the similarities between The Girdle of Hippolyta and Cat Among the Pigeons. I was a little sad to not see Hastings by Poirot's side in this set, but Japp and Poirot's ever-faithful valet, George, make several appearances. 

Overall, I heartily recommend The Labors of Hercules as a fun, easy Poirot that can be read in multiple sittings or, honestly, just one dedicated afternoon. And if you're usually averse to short stories, I dare you to give this one a chance and see if it doesn't make you a convert as well.

-A.

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A Quartet of Red Herrings: Murder in the Mews | 1937

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"Leave it to Hercule Poirot. The lies I invent are always most delicate and most convincing." 

-Hercule Poirot, Murder in the Mews, p. 116

The Sum of It:
We have returned, dear readers, to the short stories this week. Murder in the Mews is actually the name of the first short stories in a collection of four, all of which feature the most darling of the Belgians, Hercule Poirot. I shall give a petite summary for each below:

1.) Murder in the Mews: a young woman returns home one evening to find that her roommate has shot herself. However, there is not a single suicide note to be found, and a mysterious man was perhaps the last one to see her alive...smacks something of murder rather than suicide, does it not? Hercule Poirot teams up again buddy cop style with Chief Inspector Japp and it's the most the delicious fun: Japp is always telling Poirot to "stop jabbering to yourself" and Poirot educates Japp on fine French cuisine (Omelette aux Champignons?! #YASPLEASE). Oh and did I mention this whole thing started because the two of them were out celebrating Guy Fawkes' Day together? #BFFs

2.) The Incredible Theft: it's your typical weekend house party of an eclectic mix of government big wigs, various Lords and Ladies, and (#wildcard) a super hottie woman who is definitely maybe a spy. But of course some very important documents will be stolen! Hercule Poirot is summoned quite literally in the middle of the night to sniff out the culprit. This story contains one of my favorite Poirot moments to date as he attempts to recreate the cry of a maid which startles a suspect:

"Here I scream," said Poirot helpfully. He opened his mouth and emitted a shrill bleat. Lord Mayfield turned his head away to hide a smile and Mr. Carlile looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Allez! Forward! March!" cried Poirot. "It is your cue that I give you there."

3.) Dead Man's Mirror: Poirot receives a rather vague letter from a Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore (the names, Agatha, the names!) inviting him to his huge estate to talk about a "family matter." Poirot shows up, but only to find Sir Gervase already dead. Oh, it's suicide? Of course it's not! #MURDER Poirot works through a vast cast of very eccentric characters to find the truth of who killed Sir Gervase, and, more importantly, what exactly happened to his mirror.

4.) Triangle at Rhodes: Poirot is on vacay by the sea, mostly hanging out with the other single randos, when in stumbles a love triangle of a beautiful aging actress Valentine, her jealous husband, and a handsome young potential boy toy. Poirot watches from the sidelines as the jealousy escalates from not only from Valentine's brooding husband, but boy toy Douglas's mousy young wife as well until Poirot can take no more and attempts to prevent the inevitable #MURDER. Alas, the lovely Valentine is poisoned in full view of everyone, but of course, Hercule has already worked out who has slipped a little something into her glass.

The YOA Treatment:
One thing #DameAgatha does very well is the red herring. Or, as Poirot likes to call it, the "kippered herring." While Agatha (like many mystery novelists) employs this tactic in many of her novels, it's a particularly prevalent mechanism in this set of short stories. It also seems like Agatha was doing some trial runs of some of her ideas in this book - most obviously Triangle at Rhodes. The setting and characters are nearly identical to her later full length novel, Evil Under the Sun (although much of the murder plot line is different.)

I do enjoy many of Agatha's short story collections, but this was not one of my top favorites. In a review of this collection from 1937 in The Times Literary Supplement, Simon Nowell-Smith also felt this was not Agatha's best work and astutely observed: "The fact is that the reader of today demands to participate in a detective story, and no living writer, unless occasionally Miss (Dorothy) Sayers, can find room in a short story for this extra detective." I completely agree with Mr. Nowell-Smith. These four stories were fun, but I didn't feel the same excitement of following along the trail of clues with Poirot and Japp as I do in so many of her novels that I love.

-A.

All the Cloaks and All the Daggers: The Big Four | 1927

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"It is a duel to the death, mon ami. You and I on the one side, the Big Four on the other. They have won the first trick; but they have failed in their plan to get me out of the way, and in the future they have to reckon with Hercule Poirot!" - The Big Four, p. 16

The Sum of It:

So you know that thing where you go to see the latest James Bond movie and it's all spy-ish and everyone is constantly dressed in evening wear and you're like yeah, I could be a spy? Well it seems like maybe Agatha Christie had that same feeling right before writing The Big Four. This third Agatha novel featuring Hercule Poirot and his ever faithful sidekick, Arthur Hastings, takes the air of adventure we were introduced to in The Secret Adversary to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. I mean, look at the different cover art this book has had over the years - they are very Bond-esque.

   

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The Big Four begins with a sort of Gift of the Magi situation with fairly-newly-married Hastings making the long journey back to England from The Argentine (where apparently he has turned cattle farmer since the end of The Murder on the Links). He is super stoked to surprise his bestie, and shows up at Poirot's door only to see a pile of suitcases because OF COURSE Poirot was already on his way to South America to visit Hastings AT THE SAME TIME. Hastings is like okay great to let's just hang in England because I'm already here, but Poirot is like nope, sorry I just got offered an enormous amount of money by an American bajillionaire to go and investigate some "hocus pocus" in Rio so how about you drop me off at the station. However, as they are literally walking out the door for the train station, a man staggers into Poirot's apartment, scribbles the number 4 all over some paper, and then promptly DIES. (Hastings suggests perhaps he has "brain fever" - Poirot says uh no, you are not a doctor, Hastings.)

Thus begins a truly epic 198 pages of twists and turns as Poirot and Hastings literally put themselves in harm's way to get to the bottom of an international crime ring known as the Big Four. This book reads almost like a collection of mini cases with Poirot and Hastings investigating basically half a dozen murders, all seemingly unconnected...until Poirot finds that one little clue that links the death to the mysterious Big Four. 

Winners:

Stunts: In The Big Four, Poirot and Hastings jump out of a moving train, get into fist fights with thugs, are kidnapped NUMEROUS times, and escape from a country home by climbing down ivy from an upstairs window! 

Hastings: While still self-admittedly several steps behind Poirot for most of the book, Hastings does have a few shining moments, even receiving some kudos from Poirot himself: "How marvelous is my friend Hastings! He knows everything -- but everything! How do they say -- Inquire Within Upon Everything. That is my friend Hastings."

Losers:

English Coffee: Apparently, it is not to Poirot's liking. "Only in England is the coffee so atrocious. On the continent they understand how important it is for the digestion that it should be properly made."

#hastingsinlove: Poor Hastings. Even happily married, he can't help himself wistfully remarking how pretty girls are (sometimes based solely on their name), particularly if their hair is a "delicate shade of auburn." Poirot shamelessly calls him out: "Always looking for romance! You are incorrigible!"

The YOA Treatment:

Poirot makes a thoughtful observation about his friend Hastings in this book: "Your narrative style is masterly. I say to myself, it is a book that talks, not my friend Hastings." Hastings is our window into Poirot's world, giving the reader the perfect person to connect with, for not all of us possess the little grey cells of the Hercule Poirot! 

Without Hastings, Poirot's remarkable genius might feel too unrealistic, too uncanny to make much sense. But Hastings offers the foil that both reveals Poirot's brilliance and ensures that the reader doesn't feel alone in being a step or two behind the best. 

Agatha is obviously not the only mystery writer to employ the not-as-clever-but-good-at-writing-things-down friend as a narrator. Another obvious example is Dr. John Watson's narration of the Sherlock Holmes cases. Like Hastings, Dr. Watson serves as a conduit for the eccentric Holmes's methods to the reader, giving us the facts, and yet also not afraid to pose questions to the famous sleuth, so that both companion and reader can keep up. In her autobiography, Agatha notes the influence of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as she created her own characters and story structures, and in Hastings is perhaps the clearest example. Seeing Poirot's cases through Hastings's eyes is a delight, not only because of the often hilarious exchanges between these two unlikely friends, but also because Hastings's reactions as events unfold are our reactions, particularly in The Big Four, where Poirot is often keeping Hastings in the dark of his clever plans to outwit the villains. 

-A.

Less Golf Than You'd Think: The Murder on the Links | 1923

"The trained observer, the expert, without doubt he is useful! But the others, the Hercules Poirots, they are above the experts! To them the experts bring the facts, their business is the method of the crime, its logical deduction, the proper sequence and order of the facts; above all, the true psychology of the case." - The Murder on the Links, p. 14

The Sum of it All:

This, Agatha's third published book, begins with Hastings (Poirot's sidekick, you'll remember from Styles) in his natural habitat: falling in love with some random girl he's known for five minutes. Not only does she literally appear out of nowhere, but she claims to be an actress, Hastings criticizes her cosmetics, she tells him her temper has gotten her into trouble in the past, and she refuses to tell him her real name and tells him to call her Cinderella. So I mean the falling in love was a foregone conclusion in Hastings' case. (They meet again later and Hastings and Poirot have the following exchange: "Journeys end in lovers' meetings is not that the saying?" "Don't be an ass, Poirot." "Yesterday it was Mademoiselle Daubreuil, today it is Mademoiselle--Cinderella! Decidedly you have the heart of a Turk, Hastings! You should establish a harem!" #mocking #hastingsinlove)

Anyhow, he meets her on his way to London from France, and when he gets there, his now roommate Papa Poirot is bemoaning his toast ("'This piece of toast, you remark him not? Is it square? No. Is it a triangle? Again no. Is it even round? No. Is it of any shape remotely pleasing to the eye? What symmetry have we here? None.' 'It's cut from a cottage loaf,' I explained soothingly") as well as the boring nature of his recent detective cases ("In verity I am reduced to recovering lost lap-dogs for fashionable ladies!"). This problem is soon alleviated by the receipt of a urgent letter from an M. Renauld in France stating that he fears he is in danger and needs Poirot to come STAT. So they go. 

ALAS they are too late and when they get there they find that M. Renauld is already MURDERED via a knife in the back, wearing his underclothes and a coat that's too long for him, laying in a pre-dug grave in the midst of a golf course in development next to his Villa. But why is he in his underclothes and why is the door to his house standing open, his wife inside all bound and gagged, telling a wild story about two Chileans with beards? Unfortunately, the French police are already on it, and with them, their star detective, Giraud, who quickly becomes Poirot's nemesis due to his more observational crime solving methods: "Here we have a true clue--a psychological clue. You may know all about cigarettes and match ends, M. Giraud, but I, Hercule Poirot, know the mind of man!"

We also find the recurring theme of the presence of a SURPRISE second will, which switches all the money to Renauld's wife, leaving a son out in the cold. Speaking of the son, he turns up claiming to have been in a totally different city waiting on a ship to South America upon telegramed orders from his Pa, returning when his ship was cancelled...a likely story? He and his father had a heated blow-up the day of his dad's death, all about a beautiful young lady down the lane about whom his dad said NO DICE re: marriage. Poirot meets the young lady and her mother who reminds Poirot of a crime popular in the news long ago. When a second body turns up, things get even more interesting. 

This is the part where I stop explaining the plot because part of the goal here is for you guys, our small but faithful (one hopes) cadre of readers to be inspired by our tantalizing leads and pick up a copy of the book for your own enjoyment! Needless to say, this one has more than one significant twist at the end, and you'll think you have it figured out more than once before it's all over (literally, one of my margin notes is "Whaaaaaat!").

Simon Baker owes it all to Agatha, probably.

The YOA Treatment: 

With this second Poirot book, Agatha makes a point of establishing the difference between him and the more "conventional" detective, a contrast she casts in the form of Giraud. Giraud is showier than Poirot, crawling about on the ground looking for shoe-prints and distinguishing South American matches. Hastings is disappointed in Poirot for letting this guy seemingly get the jump on him constantly with his quickly drawn conclusions, but Poirot is unruffled. 

"He builds a case, as a beaver builds a dam, with a fatiguing industry. But he will not have looked for the things I am seeking--in all probability he would not have seen their importance if they stared him in the face." 

The police, doctors, and M. Giraud move happily along, taking each evident clue at face value, and drawing rapid conclusions, while we see that Poirot is willing to look deeply at each piece of evidence and examine them from multiple angles. While Poirot is methodical always in his thinking, taking each clue and piece of evidence and considering how it fits with the others, then forming a narrative, we see the other detective using initial evidence to form a narrative, and then ditching anything that doesn't fit. Says Poirot, "Always the facts must be twisted to fit the theory! Did not Giraud find the traces of two persons, a man and a woman, in the shed? And how does that fit in with his reconstruction of the case? I will tell you--it does not fit in, and so we shall hear no more of them!"

This contrasting style of detecting remains present in today's popular detective realm, whether we're looking at the standard (yet great, nobody's tryin' to denegrate the bom-bom) crime procedurals of the Law & Order empire, where clue after clue leads Det. Olivia Benson to the real bad guy, or the clever, intuition based skills of crime solvers like Patrick Jane's Mentalist or Shawn Spencer on Psych. While Agatha clearly chose early on which style she felt was more compelling, the constant contrast of Poirot's "little grey cells" (not to mention Tommy & Tuppence's detecting which is based mainly on what they've read in fiction, or Miss Marple whose intuitive-little-old-lady act surprises folks every time) and the traditional police work of detectives like Giraud or Inspector Japp make every one of these stories more rich.

- E.

Intro to Agatha: The Mysterious Affair at Styles | 1920

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"The company once assembled, Poirot rose from his seat with the air of a popular lecturer, and bowed politely to his audience. 'Messieurs, mesdames...'" -The Mysterious Affair at Styles, p. 160-161.

Welcome to week one of The Year of Agatha! There is no better place to kick off a year of reading through Agatha Christie's complete works than where it all began: The Mysterious Affair at Styles. (FUN FACT: This book was Agatha's first hit, other than a few short stories she had published here and there, and she was so pumped that she named her first house Styles, after this fictional Essex manse.)

The Sum of It:

A cast of thousands (well not literally...):
(But seriously there are a lot of charming auburn haired ladies and manly landed gentry. Plus a troup of Belgian refugees. And farmers. #digress) Styles is the first time we meet Agatha's beloved Belgian: Hercule Poirot. Charming, already notoriously proficient at his job as a detective, "dandified" and astute as they come, we can immediately see why Agatha came back to him again and again, with the reading public in tow. But Poirot is not the only Christie staple we meet in Styles. Captain Arthur Hastings, Poirot's loyal (although prone to being a bit dim and completely lacking self-awareness) companion, begins his long-standing tradition of narration with this case. We also meet Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector James Japp ("Jimmy Japp!" as Poirot calls him) who, despite seeming wholly incompetent at solving crimes, remains with us through the entirety of the Poirot universe (and sometimes moonlights in other books!).

How the "coco" crumbles:
Thirty-year-old Hastings, home in England from the front lines of WWI, spends his month of sick leave with his old pal, John Cavendish, at the Cavendish family estate: Styles. It's all fun and games until John's kind (yet also fairly bossy and with dubious taste in fellas) mother, Emily, dies suddenly in the night. The doctors (yes, two of them show up) cry POISON! so Hastings enlists Poirot (who is a Belgian refugee conveniently refugee-ing in the same village, boy is England small) to catch the murderer. But surely the killer is just her much younger husband (described as basically having the style sense of Rasputin) who stands to inherit everything, right? But could it be that simple? Missing coffee mugs and forced locks and the farmer's wife must all be sorted before Poirot can get to the bottom of who killed poor, rich Mrs. Inglethorp.

And the nominees for best supporting character are...
POISON! Agatha put her wartime pharmacist chemistry skills to great use in this book. You'll never think of bromide in the same way...(assuming you've ever thought of bromide. YOU WILL).

Poirot's Belgian Roommates: They make a very brief appearance (mostly just to tell Hastings that Poirot isn't home), but one has to stop and wonder....did they keep a chores calendar?

Hastings' Love Life: Darling Arthur falls in love with no less than two women in this book. This is not an isolated incidence.

Hefty Cross-Examination: Move over, The Good Wife, there is a new sheriff in town and his name is Sir Ernest Heavyweather, K. C. (aka early 20th century British for attorney).

Scraps of Paper! Please see the actual example below:

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The YOA Treatment:

Styles is the first time we are introduced to Poirot and his uber-methodical process of sleuthing. Agatha doesn't give us too much detail about the Poirot origin story in this case, beyond telling us he a) is a bit on the older side, b) was a big deal in the Belgian police force back in the day, and c) he is a major neat freak. We are also given a delightful first taste of the Poirot Way of Solving Crime. While he does a bit of CSI stuff (collecting fragments of thread, collecting coffee samples for analysis, and picking a lot of stuff up with tiny tweezers), Poirot is most fond of enumerating interesting tidbits in his head to let his "little grey cells" do the hard work. "We will arrange the facts, neatly, each in his proper place," he says to Hastings, while scribbling in a notebook. 

But while Poirot prefers order and method, he isn't too high brow to ignore the good old gut feeling. In Styles Poirot talks about feeling something in your "heart of hearts!" and trusting your instincts. And Poirot isn't the only Agatha detective who relies on intuition when it comes to crime. Check back on Monday (January 11th) for our post on The Secret Adversary, which features a lot of #gutfeeling, and a whole lot of ADVENTURE!

*Extra Bonus Points: This great post about Styles becoming a Penguin paperback on A Penguin a Week blog.

- A