Crime & detection · 1947 · story collection

The Labours of Hercules

by Agatha Christie

The Labours of Hercules is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1947 and in the UK by Collins Crime Club in September of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence (8/6, 42½p). It features the 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 associates (his secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon, and valet, George/Georges) make cameo appearances, as does Chief Inspector Japp. The stories were all first published in periodicals, all but one during 1939 and 1940. (The lone exception was initially published in 1947.) In the foreword, Poirot declares that he will carefully choose the cases to conform to the mythological sequence of the Twelve Labours of Hercules. In some cases (such as "The Nemean LionThe Capture of Cerberus" has events that correspond with the twelfth labour with almost self-satirical convenience.

Wikipedia contributors · encyclopedia introduction, whitespace normalised · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & contributors · Reuse licence

This link leads to an author, publisher or reference page. It is not a free ebook offer. This library provides descriptions and recommendations.