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madamenovelist's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Murder, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
It feels there is somehow even more racism/xenophobia in Christie’s short stories than her longer works. Her plotting, pacing, and personal knowledge of chemistry/medicine are fantastic but it’s hard to focus when slurs against Asians show up without preamble.thequeeraunt's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is a collection of short stories that amount to brief summaries of some of Hercule Poirot's cases. Most of them are recounted as being told by Poirot to Hastings (and by extension the reader). This is a case of narrative being told rather than shown. And, as with my comments regarding The Big Four, I must warn potential readers about some very casual racist slurs and xenophobia in some of the shorts.
One redeeming quality of this collection is that because the individual case stories are short, it's an easy book to pick up and put down without feeling like you have to finish just one more chapter. I found myself able to enjoy a more leisurely pace through Poirot Investigates, and even with that in mind, I finished it in under a day.
I do think that Christie, like many classic authors, is worth a passing study. Just be aware before you begin reading her works that they now exist in a context very different from the one in which they were originally written.
One redeeming quality of this collection is that because the individual case stories are short, it's an easy book to pick up and put down without feeling like you have to finish just one more chapter. I found myself able to enjoy a more leisurely pace through Poirot Investigates, and even with that in mind, I finished it in under a day.
I do think that Christie, like many classic authors, is worth a passing study. Just be aware before you begin reading her works that they now exist in a context very different from the one in which they were originally written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and Sexism
fraise's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, and Sexism
Moderate: Drug use and Xenophobia
Minor: Classism, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
annelives's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Might be my least favorite Poirot mysteries. Most of the mysteries were uninteresting and there’s scattered pockets of racist language throughout towards Chinese, Japanese, and Egyptian peoples. I know Agatha Christie is the product of her time, but with other books they’ve cleaned up at least racial slurs but in this one not so much. There’s always going to be a bit of an imperialist tone in her works, because she’s English during Imperialism, but it was just more obvious and distracting in this collection of short stories.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Racism
bibliophilemama's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
academicanko's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
A nice collection of short stories dealing with a variety of crimes. Love Poirot as always!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
josefinceh's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Poirot Investigates is a collection of 11 short stories.
Overall the stories are fun and comforting as you might expect from Christie and the smaller scale did not hinder her from deliviring interesting characters and humour.
My personal favourites:
Chapter 3: The mystery of the cheap flat
Hastings is having dinner with a group of new acquaintances. Among them is a young woman and her husband who had recently come across a flat for a surprisingly low price. The suspicious part of the flat is that it's been on the market for months and yet noone has snatched it up.
Chapter 7: The Jewlery Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan
Poirot greets a wealthy couple in a hotel resturant, the woman is in distresse as one of her favourite and most expensive jewels had been taken. The only person who had been in the room was the maid. However, she was never there alone and the jewel is still nowhere to be found.
Chapter: 9 - The Disapperance of Mr. Davenhime
Chapter: 9 - The Disapperance of Mr. Davenhime
Poirot is challenged to solve the disapperance of mr. Davenhime without leaving his flat, soley from information comunicated by Japp.
The lowest point in this collection is it’s first story: The Adventures of the Western Star
A young actress appears at Poirot's office with a number of letters threatening to steal a valuable jewel of hers, The star of the West. Coincidently, another young woman appears later at Poirot's office who had received the same threats as the actress regarding her jewel, The star of the East.
This story relies heavily on Asian stereotypes and this fictional legend regarding the star of the East and the star of the West. Along with stereotypes there were also racial slurs and a potential case of yellowfacing.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
Slurs against asians used in the first story