The Horses of Diomedes: a Hercule Poirot Short Story

Hercule Poirot #0.46

by Agatha Christie

Swedish / Svenska

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Agatha Christie, Fiction, Crime, Classics, Audiobook

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1940

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.
Poirot and his friend bust up a drug ring. Crocket and Tubbs would be proud.
*cue Miami Vice theme song*



The wild horses in this case are 4 wild young sisters that Poirot needs to 'tame' in order to save them from ruinous behavior. Although, what self-respecting woman wants to be tamed?
This one was simply ok.
Christie usually comes across like a frumpy old woman when she writes about drugs, and this story is no exception.

Originally published in 1940 in The Strand Magazine & put together with 11 other stories in 1947 and published as The Labours of Hercules.
These 12 cases are chosen by Poirot as his own labors of Hercules that he will undertake before his supposed retirement.

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bra, men gillade Christies andra noveller mer. Kändes lite kort i slutet och uppgörelsen var väldigt snabb.

[Jenny (knasentjej) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Väldigt tråkig novell med en ytterst tråkig "gåta" som ska lösas. Jag är inget större fan av Poirot, tyvärr. Jag skulle gärna vilja vara det, men nej, kan jag kommer jag att undvika honom i framtiden.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ultimately I am quite torn about this story. Poirot is called over by a doctor after a party got out of hand once people moved from alcohol to cocaine. In the process of taking drugs a person was injured and Poirot was called in to find the source/ distributor of the drugs.

On one side it was a VERY BORING story. Not too much too it. On the other side however, a whole story focusing on drugs, drug taking, the distribution of and the evil effects of drugs is purely ground breaking and exceptionally forward thinking by Agatha Christie.

There have been many authors that have touched upon alcoholism, addiction etc. With the exception of Stephen King (in Dr Sleep) that has tackled the subject or recovery with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) no one has actually specifically focussed on such a subject. Rather ground breaking, but, alas, didn’t fully work.

[Mikael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh no drugs!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 Stars.

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. Alcohol and drugs, Agatha Christie takes on both in the "Horses of Diomedes." The short story first appeared in "The Strand" in 1940, then as one of 12 in "The Labours of Hercules" collection of 1947, and finally, as the 46th of 51 in "Hercule Poirot The Complete Short Stories" in 1999. Hercules of Greek mythology confronted the four killer mares owned by Diomedes as his 8th labour, and Poirot of detective fame meets here the four sisters of retired General Grant of the Anglo-Indian army. One of the young women, Sheila, has been found by Doctor Stoddart languishing in a bedroom after a booze and cocaine party put on by Patience Grace. He asked Poirot to come quickly and, although it's past 1 am, he does! Poirot knows that the police have been cracking down on drugs recently and warns that they will surely be interested in the party. Stoddart hopes his young friend can avoid the police. But Poirot wants to know who supplied the drugs. Was it the sinister Tony Hawker? Or who? There's the story; it's a stretch. And the message is too prominent IMO (in my opinion). (May 2021)

[Agnes Fridell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Skildrar kvinnor i stort (4 systrar) som idioter som inte kan tänka själva

[Milton. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vafan!? What in the daytime-telenovela shit var detta? Ett virrvarr av onödiga karaktärer, en ointressant story, helt enkelt onajs! 😩🤚 Det enda positiva med novellen var det ganska intressanta slutet, bra liten tvist!!

[Hellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in the lovely edition published by the Swedish Novellix as part of the Agatha Christie quartet published in September '15.

My ranking for the 4 of them:
1. The Blue Geranium (Den blå pelargonen)
2. Dead by Drowning (Döden i floden)
3. The Horses of Diomedes (Diomedes hästar)
4. The Unbreakable Alibi (Ett vattentätt alibi)

I enjoyed all of them in the little snack size they came in and I will return to Agatha Christie's short stories, which make the perfect nightcap for someone like me who sometimes has trouble putting her mind to rest in the evening. However, I still prefer Christie's novels. It seems tricky fitting her formula in a mere 30 pages, and some of the things that make her special to me didn't make it to this size. In her novels there are often hints that can help you with figuring out who committed the crime for yourself, which didn't happen in these shorts (which I guess makes sense). The other thing was that the crimes appeared to have to be more far-fetched than usual to make the story interesting, while it's usually some interaction between the characters that make the showdowns so interesting.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A doctor determines that his patients came to him through cocaine use. He requests Poirot to determine who is the supplier of the cocaine. Poirot accomplishes this through his connections and his conversations.

Who is the cocaine supplier? General Grant. He provided the appearance of an invalid man back from India. He hired four girls to push cocaine and had a scapegoat ready.

[John Hatley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good short read of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

[Amy Knighton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The short story I read is titled The Horses of Diomedes. I'm not sure if this is the same book. If so-it had little mystery to it, but surprised me in that cocaine was a problem even in 1940.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Hercule Poirot short story. Light and entertaining.

[Jakub Brudny · Rating 2 out of 5]

No i proszę, moje pierwsze spotkanie z Agathą Christie! Zacząłem rzecz jasna od Herculesa Poirota, choć niezbyt znanego opowiadania - nie chciałem na pewno brać się za Orient Express, bo choć rozumiem, że książka jest zupełnie innym doświadczeniem niż filmy, czy anime, ale miałem ochotę poznać jakąś inną historię. Nie spodziewałem się, że natrafię akurat na opowieść o narkotykach XD Spodobał mi się tytuł i wziąłem się za czytanie.
Nie wiem niestety czy jest wiele o czym pisać: to było przyjemne doznanie, proza Christie jest tu poprawna I guess, nic więcej, a sama historia nieco przypomina Trudne Sprawy XDD Ale nie zraziłem się absolutnie, jestem pewien, że kolejne podejścia do tematu będą już bardziej satysfakcjonujące.

[Emelie Svensson · Rating 4 out of 5]

En lite annorlunda Poirot historia, där det för omväxlingens skull inte handlar om att lösa ett mord. Istället handlar den om att lösa ett brott bestående av en Narkotika Verksamhet. Jag gillade det snabba tempot i novellen, där det hände något på varje sida som fick historien att rulla på i ett rasande tempo.

[Akemi G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is brilliant. I was starting to think that the stories in The Labors of Hercules are rather predictable, but this one did me. Writing about drug abuse in her days is also quite ahead of the time.

[Jakob Hessius · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tror inte att Agatha Cristi är något för mig. Kanske är det bara hennes noveller som inte riktigt funkar för mig. Tror att det är lite för många karaktärer på för kort format. Får testa att läsa någon av hennes romaner i stället!

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Verkligen inte den bästa bok Agatha har skrivit. Lite för tunn för ett mysterium. Kändes snarare en sammanfattning av en längre bok.

[Pernilla (ett_eget_rum) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tråkig.

[Per Moberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jag älskar Agatha Christie generellt men i den här novellen var storyn alldeles för tunn. Rekommenderar den inte.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

HP dit keer zonder moord of diefstal maar in de drugs. Aardig inkijk in de wereld van 80 jaar terug.

[K YB]

Would’ve wanted more in the end but still good.

[Rosie Lindqvist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Är inte helt såld på noveller överlag och den här ger samma känsla. Det går för fort, är för lite...

[Johnny Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great story, though darker than the average Poirot.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poirot tries to corral four sisters who are into cocaine heavily. This is in an era when drug use looked upon rather differently than it is today. Some of the writing shows this. Recommended

[Liquid.Individual · Rating 3 out of 5]

ingen märkvärdig novell egentligen, men fint skriven och lite lagom underhållande.

[Golden Age of Detective Fiction · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars.

Read my review here:

https://goldenageofdetectivefiction.c...

[Dennis Brock · Rating 2 out of 5]

"What nonsense you talk, Poirot."

This was a weird story! Lol! Weird is definitely not always bad, but in this case, it was.

1.5/5 ((rounded up to 2, just because it's Dame Agatha RIP)) :)