Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition

Written by Agatha Christie

Narrated by David Suchet, Hugh Fraser, Nigel Hawthorne and 2 more

At last, a single volume that gathers together all of the short stories featuring Agatha Christie's most famous creation, Hercule Poirot. The dapper, mustache-twirling little Belgian with the egg-shaped head and curious mannerisms has solved some of the most puzzling crimes of the century—and, in his own humble opinion, is ""probably the greatest detective in the world.""

In this complete collection of more than 50 stories, ranging from short tales to novellas, Poirot faces violent murders, poisonings, kidnappings, and thefts—all solved with his characteristic panache. Only Agatha Christie could have devised cases worthy of Hercule Poirot's skill and ""little gray cells.""

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Aug 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063066731

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades.

Reviews for Hercule Poirot

[twink_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Agatha Christie was truly the Queen of Crime. Her books and stories have been enjoyed around the world.But I have to say, my absolute favorite recurring character of hers, is Hercule Poirot. I love his style, mannerisms, dialogue, idiosyncrasies - and those "little gray cells" that drive the investigations. I always have enjoyed the deductions, the piecing together, the reasoning, the seemingly innocuous clue tucked into a sentence somewhere along the way. Christie was a clever, clever writer.Now I'm not much of a short story reader. But! When I saw that Harper Audio had released Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories, an audiobook of 50+ Poirot stories, I knew I wanted to listen. There's 35 hours of listening just waiting for you! Most are just 30ish minutes long, but there are some longer novellas as well. The length of the short stories were perfect - eating lunch, waiting rooms, while crafting and those nights when I can't sleep. There's much satisfaction in having a case presented and solved in thirty minutes. There were some familiar cases and some I'd never read. But each and every one was a treasure.Now, the real reason I wanted to listen - David Suchet is one of the readers! There have been many actors that have portrayed Poirot, but he is the best in my opinion. Suchet portrayed Poirot for twenty five years! Hearing his voice immediately evoked a strong mental image of the character. And knowing the voice drew me right into the stories. Suchet brings Poirot to life with his voice. He captures Christie's work easily, changing the tone, tenor and emphasis as the plot progresses. Now, as excited as I was about Suchet, I was just as excited to find that Hugh Fraser was also a narrator. Fraser played Captain Arthur Hasting, Poirot's sidekick. Again, a familiar voice was like settling in with old friends to hear a tale. Nigel Hawthorne and Isla Blair rounded out the cast. Excellent performances all round.

[quinton.baran · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Agatha Christie's storytelling, characters, and atmosphere. I have seen most of these in the Poirot series starting David Suchet and it was gratifying to read them here, and take note of the similarities and differences.

These are all such great stories and I especially enjoyed the capstone of reading the labors of Hercule Poirot. I have also listened to a significant number of these and that is also a great experience.

[dlmorrese · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My father loves these stories, and the last time we were at his place for a visit, he loaned a copy of this book to my son. He read it in a single sitting and loaned it to my other son. I finally got around to reading it and I can't honestly say why I liked it as much as I did. The the dialog is artificial, the characters are unbelievable, and the stories vary between predictable and unlikely. But I enjoyed each and every one of them. Maybe it's the character of Poirot, the pompous and prissy Belgian private investigator whose self absorption and superior pretensions certainly make him an ass by almost anyone's standards, but he has no idea he's an ass and you can't help sharing his unique perspective. Yeah, I recommend this book. Just don't ask me why.

[leslie398 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A treat for Christie fans! For those who don't care for her writing, the foibles of Hercule Poirot may grate on the nerves as they are more pronounced in these short stories than they were in her full-length novels.Despite the fact that I hadn't read many of the stories before, I was familiar with them from my repeated viewing of David Suchet in "Poirot" on PBS. In fact, so familiar was I with the TV adaptations that I noticed all the variations from their plots when reading these originals!

[dknippling_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fifty Poirot stories...I'm finally getting to the point where I can tell her better short stories apart; some of these gave a lot of clues during the solution. "What? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Like the conclusion of an essay, the solution of a mystery may not provide new information. Nyaa.But, on the whole--enjoyable to read. I just like Poirot, though.

[superphoenix_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes and my interest in Hercules Poirot cases had been limited to the few television serials that i had seen as a child. After reading this book i must say that i am totally awed. I do confess that both the detectives have a different style of working and yes this book may not provide you an exhaustive or detailed account into Poirot's adventures , but it gives you a glimpse into the world of his Grey cells so to speak. Thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. Agatha Christie creates a whole new world through her writing and one tends to get so engulfed in it that time just passes by in a jiffy. I loved the excitement that builds up as you read the case develop and the anticipation would keep you awake all night. Its an easy read and great book (though little too big) to carry on a weekend by the beach or to read on a rainy day. You would love it.