Poirot Investigates: Agatha Christie’s First Collection of Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings Stories
Because it gathers so many different stories in one book, Poirot Investigates holds the reader’s attention at every moment: each case unfolds in just a few pages, and each one ends with Hercule Poirot’s little grey cells finding the answer nobody else could see.
Author: Agatha Christie (1890–1976)
Title: Poirot Investigates (1924)
Format: English paperback (HarperCollins)
Scope: Short stories; the first Poirot collection
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/0007120702 (ASIN 0007120702)
A Case for Every Taste
The cases range from the murder of a rich young man, solved by one of Poirot’s most unusual strategies, to the theft of bank bonds on board an ocean liner ("The Million Dollar Bond Robbery") and a quarrel involving Italian blackmailers that ends in the most unexpected way. A most unusual will ("The Case of the Missing Will") is another of the puzzles Poirot must solve.
Hastings on His Own
In one of the stories, "The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge", it is Hastings, the famous detective’s tireless assistant, who has to face a strange case in a remote place, because Poirot is laid up with influenza. The mystery is solved through the detailed reports Hastings sends him by telegram.
The First Collection
Poirot Investigates was Christie’s first book of short stories, published in 1924, four years after Poirot’s debut in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The stories had first appeared in 1923 in The Sketch magazine, which commissioned a series of Poirot adventures after the success of the early novels. The British edition contains eleven stories; the American edition, published the following year, added three more.
In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes
The debt to Arthur Conan Doyle is obvious and affectionate. Hastings narrates the cases as Watson did, admiring and often bewildered; Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard plays the role of the professional policeman who is always a step behind; and the stories begin in Poirot’s London rooms, where clients arrive with their problems. Within that familiar frame, though, Christie already shows her own style: a lighter touch, sharper humour and solutions that depend on psychology as much as on physical clues.
Some Highlights
Among the most memorable stories are "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb", in which deaths follow the opening of a pharaoh’s tomb, written in the wake of the Tutankhamun discovery of 1922; "The Kidnapped Prime Minister", a race against time with the fate of a wartime conference at stake; "The Adventure of the Cheap Flat", which starts with a suspiciously good bargain; and "The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim", in which Poirot bets that he can solve the case without leaving his armchair.
Poirot on Television
Nearly all the stories were adapted for Agatha Christie’s Poirot in the early 1990s, with David Suchet, Hugh Fraser as Hastings and Philip Jackson as Japp. The episodes are faithful in spirit and capture the Art Deco charm of the period.
Reading Order
Readers new to Poirot can start here, but The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which introduces Poirot and Hastings, makes an ideal companion.
Why Short Stories Suit Poirot
The short form shows off Poirot’s method in concentrated doses. With no room for long investigations, each story turns on a single overlooked detail or a flash of psychological insight, and the pleasure lies in seeing how quickly he cuts through confusion that baffles everyone else. Hastings’s well-meaning blunders, and Poirot’s vanity about his "little grey cells", provide plenty of comedy along the way.
Why Read It
A compendium of stories full of secrets, mysteries and unanswered questions that only Hercule Poirot can clear up. The short format makes it perfect for reading in short sessions, and it is a great introduction to Poirot and Hastings.
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