AgathaChristie

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

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#ChristiesCapers @Librarybelle
POIROT INVESTIGATES (1924) is a collection of short stories featuring Agatha Christie‘s iconic detective, Hercule Poirot, and his loyal companion, Captain Hastings. As one of Christie‘s earlier works, it offers a glimpse into the development of her famous sleuth and showcases her talent for crafting clever, compact mysteries, making it perfect for readers who enjoy quick, satisfying detective stories. ⬇️

dabbe Captain Hastings‘ narration adds charm and occasional humor, as his more conventional thinking contrasts with Poirot‘s genius. His bafflement often mirrors the reader‘s own, making the reveals all the more satisfying. Possible Trigger: Reflecting the era in which they were written, some stories contain cultural attitudes and language that may feel outdated or insensitive to modern readers. 8h

Librarybelle I cringed especially through one of the stories and the outdated speech. Good review! 8h

dabbe @Librarybelle TY! Same here! Some language was definitely cringeworthy! 😳 7h

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Librarybelle

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

It‘s time to discuss Poirot Investigates for #ChristiesCapers ! I have 5 questions posted as spoilers. They can be found by searching the book‘s feed, my feed, or the group‘s hashtags.

Our next read is The Secret of Chimneys, the first book to feature Inspector Battle. Official post tomorrow! #AgathaChristieClubR3

janeycanuck, suvata, Aims42, MallenNC, Soscha, Cuilin, kspenmoll, BarbaraJean, PurpleyPumpkin, JenlovesJT47, Lizpixie, MariaW, elkeOriginal, AnneCecilie, Gissy, OutsmartYourShelf, mrp27, Larkken, Suet624, Cailey_Mac, Deblovestoread, ferskner, Marmie7, MaleficentBookDragon, majkia, Bookwormjillk, StayCurious, Teresereading, Laughterhp, Sace, RainyDayReading, Skygoddess1, Morr_Books, PathfinderNicole, dabbe, tdrosebud, MaGoose, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, Tineke, PageShifter, willaful, kimrenee, AnishaInkspill

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Librarybelle

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

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5. Consider this a free-for-all post! What are some elements you read that you wish to discuss with the group? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

dabbe Some elements of detective fiction I enjoyed: Poirot enjoys a dramatic final reveal, gathering suspects to expose the culprit. They're fun, but they literally come out of the blue. Some of these mysteries almost had the “locked-room“ puzzle elements, where the crime seems impossible at first glance and perhaps quite far-fetched. And, like Sherlock, Poirot occasionally lets a culprit escape punishment if their crime was morally justified. 9h

willaful I was a little irked by the character who was acquitted and couldn't be tried twice when he'd been arrested but had never gone to trial at all. I suppose the laws could be different wherever they were, but I think she made this same error in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. 8h

suvata @willaful I think you hit the nail on the head. It would be so awesome if some author would take up these cases and show the legal side of the trials after the arrests. I like legal thrillers too. (edited) 3h

willaful @suvata That would be interesting! 1h

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Librarybelle

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

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4. Themes. The only overarching theme is Poirot himself. But, what are some thematic elements you found within these shorts?

For instance, spiritualism is mentioned and will play a role in later novels in a variety of forms, from the supernatural and witchcraft to seances and hauntings.

I think there was a mention too regarding Poirot's penchant for only helping the rich??? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

dabbe Like Doyle in some of his stories, Christie plays on the early 20th-century fascination with foreign settings (Egypt, jewels from the East, mysterious foreigners). Also like Doyle, some portrayals reflect stereotypes of the time and show racist and biased viewpoints--even with racially-charged ethnic words (e.g., Middle Eastern or Asian characters depicted as exotic or untrustworthy; the use of the word “chink“ ...). 9h

suvata I agree that spiritualism pops up quite a bit in her stories. It must‘ve been quite a fad in the 1920s. Also, a lot of her stories take place in a closed room situation. The ethnic bias is so obvious that I don‘t think these stories would be published in today‘s world without massive revisions. It‘s kind of sad because it‘s good to know how past generations thought of others. I have to remind myself that it was a much smaller world back then. 3h

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Librarybelle

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

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3. Good old Hastings! We experience the Poirot stories through Hastings's voice, and I could not but help think yet again about Watson and Holmes. Hasting shows parts admiration, frustration, anger, and kind of jealousy over Poirot and his methods.

We've talked about Hastings in the past...has your opinion of Hastings changed? What are your impressions of Hastings's character as seen in these shorts? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

dabbe I'd say that these early stories by Christie were an homage to Doyle's SH and Watson. I find Hastings even funnier than Watson, though, and I love his dissing of Poirot--especially when Poirot makes him feel like a moron, something Holmes was also good at with Watson. Hastings' inserted opinions just crack me up! And I now know that he never met an auburn-haired girl he didn't like. Wonder if he likes titian? He needs to meet Nancy Drew. 🤣 9h

suvata There is definitely a huge resemblance between Sherlock and Watson. Hastings' feelings are a blend of hero-worship, mild frustration, and genuine fondness, rooted in years of shared adventures and mutual trust. I don‘t think I appreciated Hastings in the first few stories as much as I did in this collection. Maybe it took a couple books for him to grow on me. (edited) 3h

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Librarybelle

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

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2. Think about the short stories in this collection. Any standouts? Favorites? Disappointments? We'll talk about Hastings next! #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

MariaW I don‘t like the Davenheim and Cheap Flat stories that much because they seem very far-fetched to me. I liked the Million Dollar Bond Robbery and Kidnapped Prime Minister, they were just more exciting. 10h

willaful @MariaW I think I'm kind of the opposite, I prefer the more domestic stories to the world affairs ones. 9h

dabbe These stories all ran together in my head. The only thing that stood out for me was in pretty much every one of these, the ending came out of left field, making it impossible for the reader to even have a chance of solving the mystery. We don't stand a chance next to those “little gray cells“ of M. Poirot! 🤣 9h

willaful @dabbe yes, she didn't really bother to try to be fair to the reader in the shorts. The novels are more satisfying that way -- you can't guess, but you feel like maybe you could! 😂 8h

suvata They were all very good, but I did have a few favorites that I mentioned in the first question. Christie is unique in that. I usually don‘t like short stories because they don‘t seem to have an ending that kind of wraps everything up but that‘s not true of Christie. They read like a full novel. They‘re like “bite-size Poirot“. 4h

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Librarybelle

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

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1. Welcome to our first short story collection by Christie! This first collection includes stories featuring Poirot, making this the 3rd Poirot book we've read.

Which do you prefer...the short stories or the novels (thinking specifically about the two other Poirot novels we have read so far)? #ChristiesCapers #AgathaChristieClubR3

Deblovestoread Definitely the novels. Short stories rarely work for me although these were ok. 13h

MariaW I prefer the novels as well, even though the short stories have been an easy read inbetween. I‘m always wondering how those short stories keep on being adapted into one and half hour long episodes for TV series. 🤔 10h

willaful I also prefer the novels. I dunno, I've read this several times before but it seems like no matter how many times I try, my eyes just glaze over and I don't absorb anything that's happening for most of them. 🤣 10h

dabbe For me, it depends on how good the story is, whether it be a novel or short story. These stories were in the average range, IMHO, so I definitely would prefer a novel to these selections. But then, my favorite short story involving Poirot is “(TAo) The Christmas Pudding,“ and very few Poirot novels would beat that short story. Does that make sense? 🤔 9h

suvata I think I prefer the long form stories, but she does a really good job with short stories as well. In this collection, my favorites were The Adventure of the Cheap Flat and The Case of the Missing Will. The problem with short stories is that I probably won‘t remember them after a while. Novels seem to stick in my little gray cells much longer. 4h

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MaleficentBookDragon

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop: The heart-warming Korean sensation | Hwang Bo-reum

Well…I discovered #pango.
It‘s going to be dangerous because there are a ton of vintage 1970s #agathachristie covers on there, which the #christiescapers group knows I 😍. I have 3 coming.
Bright side is I‘ve starting selling books there too.

Avanders 😳😯🫣 13h

jdiehr I have been thinking about joining Pango - mostly to try to sell vintage books. What's it like being a seller? 13h

MaleficentBookDragon @jdiehr I just joined last week so I haven‘t gotten a lot of experience but you post your books and set your price. Mango takes 20%. They charge the buyer the shipping and give you a downloadable label or a QR code to take to the post office. Seems pretty easy so far. 10h

dabbe @MaleficentBookDragon @jdiehr I love it. I've been selling for almost a year now, and it's super easy. I only have about 30 books in my “store“, but I've made enough money to allow me to (you guessed it) buy more books on Pango with my Pango bucks. If a book doesn't sell, I then put them in our historic district's Little Free Libraries. 1m

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kelli7990

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

I‘m reading this short story collection for the #christiescapers buddy read. I‘m liking the short stories. I‘m not going to get finished in time for Sunday‘s discussion of this book but I will finish this book before the end of the month.

MaleficentBookDragon Same here. I hope to finish by the end of the month. I had to put this aside because 4 library holds came in at once. 14h

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majkia

Poirot Investigates: Hercule Poirot Investigates | Agatha Christie

Read by Richard Armitage which is always fun. He does a great job always.
I do get tired of the fact that Poirot only ever has any dealings with the very rich. sigh.

#Roll100 @PuddleJumper
#ReadYourKindle @CBee
#ChristiesCapers @LibraryBelle

Librarybelle I do need to listen to these as read by Armitage! 18h

MaleficentBookDragon I 😍😍😍 the ones read by Dan Stevens. (edited) 14h

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