"The Labors of Hercules"

We are talking here, not about the labors of the classical Hercules, the Graeco-Roman mythological hero. Rather, we are talking about the labors of a modern Hercules - or Hercule, as in "Hercule Poirot." Poirot's creator, Agatha Christie, wrote a collection of 12 short stories called "The Labors of Hercules," in which Poirot deliberately sought out and solved twelve different mysteries which could be thought of as parallel to the original labors of Hercules in the classic myths. This collection is reviewed in full on today's Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to it here.

Because the stories are by Agatha Christie, they are all ingenious, and the modern puzzles are readily linked with the original 12 labors of Hercules. The case of "The Nemean Lion," for example, begins with the kidnapping of a Pekingese dog, while "The Stymphalean Birds" involves a group of female blackmailers. Not all are murder mysteries, but all are fascinating, full of Christie's twists and turns - yes, and fair play as well. The Herculean link - pun not really intended - makes this one of her better short story collections.

Curiously, Amazon seems to think this is out of print, and the text link above takes you to an Amazon page with a long list of available dealers and editions. However, a mass market paperback edition seems to be available through Barnes & Noble, and I'm sure that just about any mystery book dealer will either have a copy or have no difficulty finding one for you.

Comments

[Xavier Lechard]

Anything by Dame Agatha going out of print is hard to imagine indeed. I like "concept" short story collections and "The Labors of Hercule" is undoubtedly one of the best.

[Les Blatt]

Xavier, I agree with you on both counts - I was amazed to find that Amazon
didnt seem to have this one in print, particularly since BN does seem to
carry it. But then, Ive never understood why John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen
and so many others have gone out of print. I suppose orphaned rights may have
a lot to do with it, but there must be a way at least to make these books
available electronically, with some fees set aside in case the orphan rights
are claimed. But obviously thats not the problem with
Christie!