From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Labours of Hercules is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie. It features Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and gives an account of twelve cases with which he intends to close his career as a private detective. His regular sidekicks (his secretary, Miss Lemon, and valet, Georges) make cameo appearances, as does Chief Inspector Japp. The stories were all first published in periodicals between 1939 and 1946.

In the Preface to the volume, Poirot declares that he will carefully choose the cases in order to conform to the mythological sequence of the Twelve Labours of Hercules. In some cases (such as "The Nemean Lion") the connection is a highly tenuous one, while in others the choice of case is more or less forced upon Poirot by circumstances. By the end, "The Capture of Cerebus" has events that correspond with the twelfth labour with almost self-satirical convenience.

Contents 1 Stories 1.1 "The Nemean Lion" 1.2 "The Lernaean Hydra" 1.3 "The Arcadian Deer" 1.4 "The Erymanthian Boar" 1.5 "The Augean Stables" 1.6 "The Stymphalean Birds" 1.7 "The Cretan Bull" 1.8 "The Horses of Diomedes" 1.9 "The Girdle of Hyppolita" 1.10 "The Flock of Geryon" 1.11 "The Apples of Hesperides" 1.12 "The Capture of Cerberus" 2 A chronological problem

Hercule Poirot is called in to investigate the theft and then the return of a rich man's wife's Pekingese dog.

The mythical hydra here becomes the savage rumour. Poirot is obliged to fight rumour and gossip surrounding the murder of an invalid wife in a small village. Rumour and gossip spread in the village that the husband has killed the wife, so the hapless husband comes to Poirot to seek his help in the matter.

An auto mechanic in a small town seeks Poirot's help in finding the most lovely girl he had ever seen. Poirot's quest to find her leads him to many countries before finally ending in Switzerland.

Poirot helps track down and capture a ruthless killer hiding in Switzerland.

A noted English politician comes to Poirot seeking help before a wave of negative publicity engulfs him.

Poirot helps a man being blackmailed by a pair of unscrupulous women.

Poirot must figure out why a seemingly healthy young man is apparently having blackouts and killing local farm animals.

Poirot is asked by a friendly doctor to resolve the drug addiction problems of four beautiful sisters.

Poirot must solve the mystery of the theft of a painting by Rubens.

The woman from the story about the Pekingese dog returns seeking Poirot's help to get her friend away from a charismatic cult leader.

Poirot is called upon to find out what happened to a jewel-encrusted chalice that disappeared many years ago.

Poirot must break up a drug trafficking ring being run out of a popular nightclub.

In the final story, "The Capture of Cerberus" Poirot meets once again the closest that he has to a love interest, Countess Vera Rossakoff. We are told that "it was something like twenty years since he had seen her last", placing the events of this story roughly twenty years after the events outlined in The Big Four(1927). This makes sense if, as is sometimes suggested, Poirot stories generally take place at the time that they are first published. Nevertheless, it creates a significant problem for any attempt to establish a chronology for Poirot's career, since it means that Poirot's detective agency is still in operation twenty years after his retirement to cultivate marrows in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).

Agatha Christie
Detectives: Hercule Poirot • Miss Marple • Tommy and Tuppence • Ariadne Oliver • Arthur Hastings • Superintendent Battle • Chief Inspector Japp • Parker Pyne
Novels: The Mysterious Affair at Styles • The Secret Adversary • Murder on the Links • The Man in the Brown Suit • The Secret of Chimneys • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd • The Big Four • The Mystery of the Blue Train • The Seven Dials Mystery • The Murder at the Vicarage • The Sittaford Mystery • Peril at End House • Lord Edgware Dies • Murder on the Orient Express • Three Act Tragedy • Why Didn't They Ask Evans? • Death in the Clouds • The A.B.C. Murders • Murder in Mesopotamia • Cards on the Table • Death on the Nile • Dumb Witness • Appointment with Death • And Then There Were None • Murder is Easy • Hercule Poirot's Christmas • Sad Cypress • Evil Under the Sun • N or M? • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe • The Body in the Library • Five Little Pigs • The Moving Finger • Towards Zero • Sparkling Cyanide • Death Comes as the End • The Hollow • Taken at the Flood • Crooked House • A Murder is Announced • They Came to Baghdad • Mrs McGinty's Dead • They Do It with Mirrors • A Pocket Full of Rye • After the Funeral • Hickory Dickory Dock • Destination Unknown • Dead Man's Folly • 4.50 From Paddington • Ordeal by Innocence • Cat Among the Pigeons • The Pale Horse • The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side • The Clocks • A Caribbean Mystery • At Bertram's Hotel • Third Girl • Endless Night • By the Pricking of My Thumbs • Hallowe'en Party • Passenger to Frankfurt • Nemesis • Elephants Can Remember • Postern of Fate • Curtain • Sleeping Murder
As Mary Westmacott: Giant's Bread • Unfinished Portrait • Absent in the Spring • The Rose and the Yew Tree • A Daughter's a Daughter • The Burden
Short story collections: Poirot Investigates • Partners in Crime • The Mysterious Mr. Quin • The Hound of Death • The Thirteen Problems • Parker Pyne Investigates • The Listerdale Mystery • Murder in the Mews • The Regatta Mystery • The Labours of Hercules • Poirot's Early Cases • The Harlequin Tea Set
Plays: Akhnaton • The Mousetrap • Witness for the Prosecution • Verdict • Rule of Three • Fiddlers Three