First published in book form in 1947, The Labours of Hercules comprises an even dozen mysteries starring Christie's most popular sleuth, the ever-dignified Hercule Poirot. The introductory chapter of the collection sets up the rest of the book. At a dinner party, another guest compares the labors of Poirot to those of Hercules, and the little Belgian is not amused. He has already decided to retire, but makes up his mind to take on 12 great cases — each somehow reflecting the labors accomplished by Hercules — as a farewell to crime solving. All of the cases are quite different from each other, from searching for a lost poet to hunting down a particularly ferocious murderer, from solving mysterious deaths of religious cult members to saving a young would-be politician from potential blackmailers. Frequent Christie interpreter Hugh Fraser brings stories like "The Cretan Bull" and "The Apples of the Hesperides" to dazzling life.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Agatha Christie was born in Torquay in 1890 and became the bestselling novelist in history. She wrote 79 crime mysteries and collections, and saw her work translated into more languages than Shakespeare.
Hugh Fraser is known to millions as Captain Hastings, assisting Hercule Poirot in A&E's Poirot and in the Agatha Christie Mystery! series on PBS.
--This text refers to an alternate
Audio CD
edition.
Hugh Fraser is known to millions as Captain Hastings, assisting Hercule Poirot in A&E's Poirot and in the Agatha Christie Mystery! series on PBS.
From AudioFile
Hercule Poirot attempts to read about the Greek heroes, only to be bored witless. Then he hits upon a plan: Why not compare himself with the mighty Hercules and correspondingly begin his own 12 labors? So we have this fun series of 12 short mysteries. Hugh Fraser is an old hand at the Christie stories, and it's a pleasure to turn oneself over to this capable and talented actor. Fraser is able to paint a blustering dandy at once overblown and loveable. He is a master at creating little moments of humor with just a stutter or hesitation--his timing is perfection. He presents an Hercule who is our old friend and whom we are always happy to invite back into our lives. D.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Can't get enough of the Hercule Poirot Mysteries? You've probably already experienced Hercule Poirot in book form, DVD version and on television, but here's a fourth method. It is great fun. I just pop one of these disks in my car CD player and my tedious communute to and from work becomes a time of pure enjoyment as I roll along the highway. The Labours Of Hercule Poirot is by far my favorite. As usual, Amazon did a great job of processing and mailing me this order in a timely manner. I highly recommend this product.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
These are twelve short stories of about half an hour each. Many are split between two CDs. Since they are short stories, the plot and character development is not as extensive as in novels.
Hugh does a good job of changing his voice for each character which makes following the story easy.
Hugh does a good job of changing his voice for each character which makes following the story easy.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The 12 labors is a fun audio presentation. I think it is a creative and illuminating book that presents Hercule in a good light. It occasionally gives insight into his thinking process, which sounds great, but in practice slows everything down. The reader / listener actually wants to be surprised by his thinking process, and then enjoy it afterwards, not during the actual solving. In all the books I've listened to, this is the only one where that happens, so I still recommend it highly.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hercule Poirot -Delivered by Prime-TERRIFIC!
If you ever watched any of the Poirot tv episodes, you know that Hugh Fraser played Hastings to David Suchet's Poirot. Read more
Published 29 days ago by M. Sagor
The Labours of Hercules
Agatha Christie Audio CD (BOOKS ON TAPE) are absolutely wonderful . I have purchased all of mine from Amazon.com and will be purchasing more in the future from Amazon. Read more
Published on September 23, 2008 by Patrick M. Simmons
Agatha Christie Fan
I am probably too biased to review anything done by Agatha Christie. The story is well read, easy to understand and provided hours of enjoyable listening. Read more
Published on March 7, 2006 by Tweet
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
