Death comes within kissing distance of Hercule Poirot when his dentist is mysteriously killed shortly after Poirot visits him. The murder seems difficult to solve initially because Morley was such a harmless man-- who would murder a dentist, after all? It becomes even more difficult later when it becomes apparent that there were a plethora of possible suspects, and a web of motive that reaches deep into the changing society.

An old maid finds herself thinking that one of her relatives are trying to murder her after she takes a fall down the stairs. Her family says she tripped on her dog's ball, but she knows better. She contacts Poirot,too late. By the time the letter reaches him, she is dead. People says she dided of natural causes, but Poirot wont hear of it. A very great book!

Hercole Poirot's wit is in fine form in this well plotted and over looked mystery that not many of Agatha Christie's fans may know about. All the characters are well drawn and even a fox terrier is given a supporting role. In fact, the book is dedicated to a dog. One of Christie's longer stories, I really think this one deserves to be back in circulation. Nicely structured and the typical surprise ending is here... one that is sadly moving, too.

Goldberg writes a fast easy read similar to Sheldon, whom I just love. Very interesting topic, gets you going, but the end leaves something to be desired. Too cliche.

This book received favorable reviews in the travel section of several major newspapers in the U.S. and in England: The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, a number of regional newspapers and best of all, in the Sunday Times of London.

Charmingly written as if the author is sharing tea with the reader. So whether you actually head to Christie's England or stay in your comfy armchair, this is a nice way to bring literature to life. Actual locations from Christie's stories are pinpointed. Explanations are provided for some aspects of British life that have Americans puzzled. One could really explore London or Harrogate or other Christie places with the assistance of addresses and phone numbers included. Maps provided are okay for the armchair traveller. Towns and villages outside of London are given as much attention as suggestions in the city. I can't wait to ride the Orient Express myself!!

Like many murder mysteries, this one revolves around money. You see, the Cloade family was promised by their bachelor uncle that they would inherit his wealth when he dies seeing as that he has no heirs himself. Imagine their disappointment when he suddenly marries a young woman and then goes and gets himself killed in a German air-raid. Now the young bride inherits all the money...the money that the Cloades sorely need.

'Taken at the Flood' was not one of Christie's best although it is enjoyable enough for a quick afternoon read. Red herrings are piled right and left to confuse the reader as per usual. And if you can spot the major clue which Christie practically signposted on page.....well, all I'm saying is that if you can spot it then you'll probably have a good hunch who did the dirty deed.

Or would you?

For the case IS puzzling as more bodies begin to pile up (three people die in the book). Poirot himself is confused and asks, "If A has a motive to kill C and B has a motive to kill D, would it make sense if A killed D and B killed C?"

Perfect book for that 2-3 hour plane, train or car ride.

You might be able to think you know who done it here but once again, Christie makes the obvious deliberately hard to decipher. A really fine plot line contains probably Agatha's best story involving a will and the many characters fighting over the contents of it. The final twist is a delightful gem.

This is one of the most original mystery of all times. Agatha Christie treated the readers to not one, not two, but three deaths, each death being a very clever deception! The final outcome is almost guaranteed to please all mystery fans. The fourth deception is the title, which I personally thought seriously failed to convey anything meaningful to the contents.

During an air raid in London, World War 2, Poirot happened to overhear a Major Porter musing over a news report he just read. Mr Gordon Cloade, rich old man and once thought to be a confirmed bachelor, had married a young girl Rosaleen shortly before being hit by enemy bombing of London. The widow and her brother were the only people succesfully rescued, the rest of the household staff perished and Gordon Cloade did not awaken though the rescuers dug him out too.

Major Porter mused that he had known the first husband of Rosaleen in Africa, a colonial by the name of Robert Underhay. The couple realised that the marriage was a mistake. Pious Roman Catholic Underhay confided in Porter that he might do an "Enoch Arden" (in reference to Alfred Tennyson's poem of the same name), letting the world think he was dead and enabling Rosaleen to move on with her life. Whatever the case, word came to the colonial office that Underhay died in the outbacks and later, Rosaleen had a lightning marriage with rich Gordon Cloade, only to be widowed again shortly.

The story moved on to a year after the end of the war and life in Britain was difficult for most people, not the least to other members of the Cloade family. Gordon Cloade was the financial protector who had actively encouraged the other Cloades to venture out on their own, tacitly promising financial backings to pick them up if they fall or to take care of them. The quick succession of his marriage and death meant that all his money went into a trust for his widow instead. Though the Cloades were not parasitic, one by one, they ran into difficulties in post-war Britain, ranging from a housewife whose pre-war investments shrank, to a farmer struggling to make his farm viable, even those in the medical and legal profession had financial problems. They might have come to terms with the apparently simple-minded Rosaleen but for her outrightly hostile brother David Hunter.

Things became very interesting when a man arrived in their village claiming to be Enoch Arden. An inn's maid overheard David Hunter being blackmailed with news of Underhay still being alive. Shortly afterwards, Enoch Arden was found murdered.

Agatha Christie normally provided readers with one strong highly involved enigmatic girl who was either instrumental in the plot or in providing insights, such as Elinor Carlisle in Sad Cypress, Joanna Burton in The Moving Finger, and Veronica Cray in The Hollow. It was a rare treat in this novel that she had two such female characters: Frances Cloade, wife of Jeremy Cloade the lawyer who was determined to save her husband at all cost and show him that she loved him and had not married because he saved her father before, and Lynn Marchmont, a discharged WREN trying to decide if she still wanted to marry Rowland Cloade the farmer who stayed behind during the war to farm the land, or it was a different person she wanted.

Agatha Christie's female characters were always more interesting than her males, their insight, sheer determination and tenacity would quickly dispel the myth of women being the weaker sex.

In a true Christie style, readers were given a glimpse that each of branch of the Cloade family had something to hide. In a novel twist, none apparently is what could usually be guessed.

This book ranks with one of Christie's must-read, along with Death on the Nile and Murder On The Orient Express.

Imagine- you have the strength of many men, you are famous for your feats, and you're a short Belgian detective named Hercule Poirot. Poirot's strength is not in his muscles like the legendary Greek hero, but instead in his mind, where his 'little gray cells' make him fantastic at what he does. Christie is possibly the best mystery writer of her time, the depth and intrigue in her stories are amazing. The Labors of Hercules wasn't a great story for its mysteries, though. Its outlook on society and everything we believe in was phenomenal, and what topped it all was the metaphor between Poirot and Hercules. 2 heroes, yet of 2 completely different times, going about their 'labors' in completely different fashions.

If you've never read a Poirot before, though, don't read this book first. You'll enjoy it a lot more if you go through the earlier books first.

Creative, ingenious but farfetched; still - some of Agatha's more detailed, colorful stories. (Farfetched only in that Poirot wants to retire after 12 cases and miraculously finds 12 in which to do so.) Miss Canaby in the first tale reappears in the Flock of Geryon, which later on: became the basis for a longer version in the novel The Pale Horse. (Some elements are nearly the same in short story and novel form.) The Erymanthanian Boar is set in a remote ski lodge on top of a tall mountain, which was the same location as the 1960's film version of Christie's Ten Little Indians. The writers even used the broken tramcar premise in the screenplay, perhaps inspired by or lifted from this piece. It's one of Poirot's more violent cases. Finally, The Learnean Hydra is almost an exact duplicate of the story the Cornish Mystery from the Underdog collection of stories, proving that maybe Christie might have written way too much in her long career, or simply liked to expand on her previous works. She was more prolific in her day than Danielle Steele is in this one.

I liked this book because while it's a collection of short stories, it is also a long story featuring Herclue Poirot. These 12 stories are almost more fun to read then a long murder mystery, because you can put down the book for a long time and then pick it up again without having to try to remember who all the characters are. One of my favorite Agatha Christie mysteries, I'd recommend it to all of her other fans.

Entertaining little collection including the very funny title story; one of Poirot's most hilarious cases. As stated in another review, the Cornish Mystery is identical to another tale in the Labors of Hercules (with a few slim changes)while the Plymouth Express is a very close prelude to Christie's longer story (in novel form) The Mystery of the Blue Train (again with almost identical similarities.) Some of the tales are in third person then abruptly turn to first person when Col. Hastings takes over to round out the remaining adventures. Overall: a nice, diverting addition to the Christie library, if only to compare the stories to their different versions. P.S> The Submarine Plans was also published in Murder on the Mews under the title the Incredible Theft; again with some slight modifications.

The stories herein first appeared in various magazines; they're sorted here by original publication date rather than order of appearance in the book.

"The King of Clubs" - (March, 1923) Valerie Saintclair, the famous dancer, has just been all over the papers, having discovered the murdered body of Henry Reedburn. Prince Paul of Maurania comes to Poirot, since he proposes to marry her, saying (in one breath), "We are living now in more enlightened days, free from the old caste prejudices," while *also* saying that 1) it'll be a morganatic marriage (i.e., the children would be out of the succession), and 2) it doesn't matter because she's actually the daughter of a Russian grand duchess. (He says that she's bound to secrecy, but has let him guess that much).

In other words, Prince Paul is a pompous idiot, who half-suspects Mlle. Saintclair of murdering Reedburn, based on her reaction to a fortuneteller's card reading turning up the king of clubs (a fearsome man holding her in his power), and he's hiring Poirot to find out what really happened. (If you have even a passing acquaintance with that method of fortunetelling, incidentally, don't let Christie's misuse of terms distract you from the facts of the case.)

"The Affair at the Victory Ball" - (March, 1923) The Victory in question was the end of WW I. Young Lord Cronshaw and his fiancee Coco Courtenay attended the ball with several friends, all dressed as characters from the Italian Comedy, he as Harlequin, she as Columbine, and both died that night, she from a cocaine overdose in her flat, he with a table knife through his heart at the ball. (There are no Quin or Satterthwaite appearances, incidentally, despite the Harlequin references.) This story is that rare animal, a Christie creation that pauses and offers a challenge to the reader before revealing the solution.

"The Plymouth Express" - (April, 1923) Flossie Halliday Carrington, soon-to-be ex wife of the Honourable Rupert Carrington, who married her for her father's money, was found murdered during a train journey, and her father has hired Poirot to find the killer (he wants his own man, not just the usual police investigation). This story strongly resembles _The Mystery of the Blue Train_, but the actual puzzle (i.e. who/how/why) isn't really the same, so don't be misled.

"The Market Basing Mystery" - (October, 1923) Japp, Hastings, and Poirot are spending a weekend on holiday in Market Basing, and Japp is called in on a local locked-room mystery. This case bears a striking resemblance to another locked-room case, "Murder in the Mews"; see the book of the same name if you'd like to compare them.

"The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" - (November, 1923) The cook in question, a middle-aged, respectable, plain woman working in a private household, quit without a word of warning; no formal complaints, no quarrel with the only other staff member. She just went out on her day off, never came back, and sent for her trunk (not even formally resigning). Her now-ex employer wants to find her, since it's *very* fishy, and good cooks are hard to come by.

"The Cornish Mystery" - (November, 1923) Mrs. Pengelley, a plain, ordinary woman of about 50, is afraid that her husband is slowly poisoning her - whenever he's away, her 'gastritis' gets better, the weed-killer is running low, and he's got a young blond hussy of an assistant. (He's the one with the money, though.) Poirot finds it interesting, partly because of Mrs. Pengelley's unusual reaction to her suspicions; but his arrival in Cornwall the day after she hires him, it turns out, is too late. The general framework of the story resembles at least 3 other Christie stories, one quite strongly (each for a different detective), but they differ in detail, so don't jump to any conclusions.

"The Submarine Plans" - (November, 1923) - Same story as "The Incredible Theft" in _Dead Man's Mirror_; Christie did a little revision, but not enough to make it a different story.

"The Lemesurier Inheritance" - (December, 1923) This case begins with a chance meeting during WWI between Poirot, Hastings, and Captain Vincent Lemesurier, on the night that Vincent receives word that his father is dying of injuries received in a riding accident. The family has a tradition, dating back to the middle ages, that no eldest son of a Lemesurier will ever inherit - and sure enough, Vincent takes a misstep on the train home, and the next in line inherits. Several times over the next few years, one member or another of the family dies: an allergic reaction to a wasp sting here, a shooting accident there. Finally, Mrs. Hugo Lemesurier comes to Poirot and Hastings: her husband, now terminally ill, has a morbid belief that his eldest son won't outlive him. For her part, she doesn't believe that a curse could saw through a vine under the nursery window that the kids like to climb out of. Compare this one with "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" in _Poirot Investigates_, as 2 examples of Poirot's theory of the power of superstition.

"The Under Dog" - (October, 1926) Mercifully, in my opinion, we don't have Hastings narrating this one, although he relates all the other stories in this volume. Hot-tempered Sir Reuben Astwell has been found murdered in his country home, his head smashed with a club in his own study. (Some of the family have travelled in Africa; the club was part of the decor). His fortune is divided between Lady Astwell and his ineffectual nephew Charles. Charles, a failure in business who drinks, is the prime suspect, but Lady Astwell insists that Owen Trefusis, the browbeaten little secretary, did it, and engages Poirot to uncover the truth.

"Unfinished Protrait" will be useful reading for anyone interested not only in Agatha Christie's writing but also in her life. The parallels between the latter and this book at the time it was written (193?) are striking. The main character, "Celia," has one child, is a writer (Christie makes some interesting observations on her writing habits), and loves to travel. She is driven to the point of suicide (and, though Christie probably never made such an attempt, she did disappear for awhile) by her selfish husband's demands for a divorce. Christie herself divorced in 1928, because her husband wanted it, and, despite remarriage and much subsequent happiness, never seems to have gotten over the shock of such a thing happening, sort of how some children never get over their parents' divorce. The ending, also, is on a level with where Mrs. Christie probably felt herself to be, psychologically, at that point in her life.

Of course there are many differences - Christie was not, I think, as close to her mother, and closer, I hope, to her daughter. (Maybe she flipped them, for dramatic purposes.) But much of the childhood - the Victorian grandmother, the trip to France - are in cinque.

The above-mentioned autobiographical parts (especially about the agony of the divorce, and the writing) were extremely interesting and worth reading the book for. The rest, unfortunately, drags, because, without the imposed discipline and contrast of a whodunnit plotframe, Mrs. Christie is just too sweet and gentle. She goes on too long about her character's childhood, for instance. But it is a must for real Christie fans. Read it, perhaps, after reading her legitimate (and actually, less revealing) "Autobiography." (And don't forget her other autobiography, about her life with her second husband, the archeologist Max Mallowan: "Come, Tell Me How You Live.")

I found this book to be both exciting and enchanting. Agatha Christie, as Mary Westmacott, diverges from writing mystery novels to taking a poignant look at the human spirit. As Christie writes this intriguing tale, we see Celia's world unfold before us with many unexpected turns to follow. This book is definitely one to get especially for the romantics at heart.

Acabo de terminar de leer este libro. Un tipico ejemplar de Agatha Cristie con Hercules Poirot como detective. Sin embargo, no se si sera por los libros que he leido de ella que esta vez di con el criminal (ojo aunque no es muy obvio). No es el mejor de Agatha pero de todos modos vale la pena.