Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽'s Reviews > Poirot Investigates

Agatha Christie was an extraordinary mystery writer, and several of her earlier works are now free on Project Gutenberg, where I was poking around a few days ago to see what new books from 1926 are now in the public domain and available for downloading there. I got sucked into this collection of eleven early short stories featuring Christie's favorite detective, Hercule Poirot. The stories are a bit of a mixed bag but it was still fun reading, and Agatha Christie still fools me pretty much every time.



This collection includes:
1. "The Adventure of 'The Western Star'" - written warnings are sent to two women, an American movie star visiting London and a British lady, ordering them to turn over their identical, valuable diamonds (the Star of the East and the Western Star) ... or else. Solid thumbs up for the mystery element. Minus points for the casual use of racial insults to describe Chinese people (keep in mind this was written in the early 1920s, so this kind of thing comes with the territory).
2. "The Tragedy of Marsdon Manor" - a middle-aged man dies in a strange way, leaving a beautiful young wife behind. Was it suicide?
3. "The Adventure of the Cheap Flat" - a very nice apartment is rented for a suspiciously low price. Poirot too is suspicious. Nefarious dealings ensue.
4. "The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge" - Mr. Havering, a baronet's younger son, consults Poirot and his friend Hastings about the murder of his wealthy uncle at their hunting box in the country. Poirot is ill, so the intrepid Hastings goes to the lodge with Havering, sure he can solve the mystery as well as Poirot could. Hastings is, of course, wrong.
5. "The Million Dollar Bond Robbery" - an enjoyable story featuring a cross-Atlantic voyage and a million dollars in Liberty bonds stolen from a locked chest on board. The chest was in the custody of a nice young banker, who’s now in hot water. His distraught fiancee begs Poirot to figure it out. I came thisclose to figuring it out, and a little more pondering probably would have done it. Still, a good story.
6. "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" - this story plays with the popular idea of a deadly curse against those who open ancient Egyptian tombs. Several people die. A solid mystery.
7. "The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan" - How did wealthy Mrs Opalson's opals pearls get taken from jewel case in her hotel room while her maid and the hotel chambermaid were right there, except for about 15 seconds a couple of times when the maid stepped into a connecting room? I like these stolen jewels mysteries, and this is a tricky one.
8. "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" - The British Prime Minister needs to attend a secret peace conference in France, but someone first tries to shoot him and then kidnaps him on the way. Another interesting one that I had half-figured out ...
9. "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim" - A banker mysteriously disappears from his country home one afternoon, and soon after it is found that the safe in his home has been forced open and emptied. More stolen jewels! plus money and bonds. Christie is at her trickiest here. I thought I had the answer but I was barking up the wrong tree.
10. "The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman" - an Italian count staying in England is murdered, his head crushed by a small marble statue. How then did he telephone his doctor for help? And what is one to make of the remains of the dinner found in the count's apartment? Only Poirot knows.
11. "The Case of the Missing Will" - I really enjoyed this one! No murder, stolen jewels, or other dastardly crimes for a change, just a sneaky, rich dead uncle who wants to make his niece prove herself in order to inherit his wealth. Not being stupid, she turns the case over to Poirot.

3.5 stars overall. Not bad at all for a freebie if you like little mystery bites, though I think I like Christie's full-length novels better.