The Grey Cells of Mr. Poirot (Annotated and Illustrated): 23 Hercule Poirot Short Stories

by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie was an English mystery novel and short story writer, and playwright. Her enduring works include 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, especially those featuring the two recurring characters of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, “The Mousetrap,” a murder mystery, and six romance novels under the name of Mary Westmacott. Hercule Poirot, a Belgian detective, is one of Christie's most famous long-lived characters who appeared in 33 novels, one play (“Black Coffee”), and more than 50 short stories published starting in 1923 in “The Sketch,” a British illustrated weekly journal that ran for 2,989 issues between February 1, 1893 and June 17, 1959. This book collects all 23 stories published in The Sketch” in 1923. Later on, the stories were published in book form, sometimes under a different title, as part of “Poirot Investigates” (1924) and “Poirot’s Early Cases” (1974).

Genres: Agatha Christie, Mystery

313 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 6, 2019

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

[Isabella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miss Aggie needed some new tropes because every time the person who reported the crime was actually the criminal they blamed it on a nondescript Chinese person 💀

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I didn't exactly read this volume, but I did read a collection of 25 of the Hercule Poirot short stories, so not 100% sure how much overlap there is. But anyway, I enjoyed the compilation of stories; full-length murder mysteries often feel too long to me, but 10-15 pages is about right: enough time to establish the crime, the suspects, throw a few clues at us, and then resolve. As its a compilation, some of the stories were better than others, and a few definitely had weird twists that I didn't think made sense, but overall this was a highly enjoyable read.

[Leah Joob · Rating 2 out of 5]

25 very short stories. Without the hundreds of pages of witty banter, oodles of tea, and romps through the British countryside, all thats left are my least favorite parts of Hercule Poirot stories: the insufferable personality of Captain Hastings, the period typical racism/sexism, and the incredibly contrived mysteries.

The complex mysteries work well when spread out over a couple hundred pages. When condensed into 10 page short stories read one after another, it quickly loses its charm.

[Megan Brule · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Agatha Christie and I love Hercule Poirot but these were misses for me. Poirot always has the best twists and finds the craziest solutions, but in these super short stories they just seemed un fathomable to me. And not to mention I can’t stand Hastings and he drive me nuts in these.

[Preston Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

bite sized stories that somehow always remained surprising and exciting despite following a similar formula

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF ~50%
These mysteries are ridiculous and I hate the characters...thought I remembered Poirot and Hastings being remotely likable.

[Robert A Keene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short, short stories

I truly love Agatha Christie and M. Poirot but these 23 early short stories were either too early or too short. If you want a quick read and spread the reading over a longer period this book might be a fun read.

[Nana Goodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sleuth

Great Read! Msr. Poirot is so very clever. He has the answer so very quickly. I have to re-read to see what I missed.

[Russell W Davidson]

AgathaC

[Dina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guessed just ONE killer.

[Camellia Schwartzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved seeing how quickly Poirot could solve the murders and mysteries!! All of these little stories were very intriguing!!

[Judee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining read

Quite a nice collection of Poirot stories. Easy to read one at a time or one after the other for a lazy afternoon.

[Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)
it was fun ! i liked how they were all quick digestible stories, but at the same time i was craving a longer, more developed story