Customer Reviews

The Underdog and Other Stories (Hercule Poirot)

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I haven't read Agatha Christie since junior high or so, and I recall her writing as equal parts frustration -- tying my brain in a knot -- and exhilaration -- even if I didn't scry the mystery, I felt smarter for having read Christie. Not wanting to jump back into her writing with what I was sure was going to be a convoluted, complex, and complicated full-length novel, I wanted to reintroduce myself to the world of Hercule Poirot with some shorter-form fiction. Hence, "The Under Dog and Other Stories."

Christie's writing isn't as tangled as I remembered -- and while I still feel smarter having read her, I'm just as frustrated by my inability to be one step ahead of the Belgian detective. There are nine stories here, ranging between 12 and 70 pages in length. And they're all satisfying. My favorites include "The Under Dog" and "The Plymouth Express," but they all have their charm.

One major irritation: In this Berkley paperback edition, the editors opted to insert little text bits before the end of several stories that state something akin to, "It is suggested that the reader pause in his perusal of the story at this point, make his own solution of the mystery -- and then see how close he comes to that of the author."

Christie isn't a juvenile writer, and her work deserves less juvenile treatment. Thoughtful readers will take pause regardless of the editors recommendation.

This book is good for a quick jump into the realm of good murder mysteries. The stories can be read in 15 to 25 minutes, for those of us without enough time to fully appreciate a full length novel. They are however engaging, fun, and nicely thought out. The title story (The Under Dog) is the longest and in my mind the best, as Mrs. Christie had more pages for charater development and story twists. Our favorite detective, Hercule Poirot is featured in all of the stories with multiple appearances of Captain Hastings. Each story had me wondering until the last page. Definately recomended as a before bed reading.

I saw this story as an episode of Poirot on TV and there was one quote I wanted to use in a lecture. I bought the book in order to check the quote and found to my dismay that the line is not in the original. It seems quite clear that a lot of additional material, including some dialogue has been added in order to make the TV episode long enough. Who wrote the additionl material? It is difficult to attribute this to Agatha Christie when the material was obviously written after her death.

I was very glad to be able to get hold of the original at a very good price but the purpose of my purchase was frustrated.