Saturday, September 10, 2022

The Under Dog and Other Stories - Classic Mystery Review

Goodreads:  The Under Dog and Other Stories and Other Stories by Agatha Christie

Rating: Really Liked It! (4 Stars)
Source:   Purchased

Description:  A dead heiress, a murdered recluse, and a slain playboy are but a few of the unfortunate victims of confounding crimes committed in the pages of Agatha Christie’s "The Under Dog and Other Stories," a superior collection of short story, mystery fiction all featuring Hercule Poirot.

The beautiful heiress was found dead on a train. The forgotten recluse made headlines after he was shot in the head, and the wealthy playboy was stabbed through the heart during a costume ball. We shouldn't forget the elderly woman who suspected that she was slowly being poisoned to death, and the prince who feared for his reputation when his fiancée became embroiled in another man's murder.

Who but Agatha Christie could concoct such uncanny crimes? Who but Belgian detective Hercule Poirot could possibly solve them? It's a challenge to be met, and a triumph of detection.

Genre: Mystery - Classic, Short Stories

My Impression: This collection of short stories is exclusively Hercule Poirot stories and while I love Poirot I find that I prefer the collections with a mix of detectives.  Other then that tiny issue this is a fun mix of stories.  "The Under Dog" is the longest story in the book and is an interesting locked room mystery with lots of misdirection.  There are several stories that seem to be practice for full length mysteries that were published later and they were fun to read.  

I always enjoy Christie's short story collections and this is a solid read but is lacking in any real standout story like some of her other collections ("Three Blind Mice" and "Witness for the Prosecution" for example).  

Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy Agatha Christie - especially her Poirot books - I think you would very much enjoy this short story collection.

5 comments:

  1. I have to go back to Christie's books. There are so many great ones. This sounds good too.

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  2. I want to choose a really good Agatha Christie to read as my first Christie.

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  3. Terrific review. I like the idea of starting with short stories.

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  4. I've read a lot of Christie's mysteries, but never any of her short stories. I should really rectify that.

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