Golden Age of Detective Fiction

The Labors of Hercules is a collection of twelve short stories starring Hercule Poirot. Hercule Poirot is entertaining an old friend who is interested in the classics. Together, the friends discuss Greek mythology, and it soon becomes apparent that while Hercule Poirot (and his brother Achilles) are named after Greek heroes, he is woefully ignorant about his namesake and Greek mythology. After his friend leaves, he reads Greek mythology for three days. Like his namesake Hercules, he decides to take on twelve cases of labor before retiring and moving to the countryside to grow better-tasting vegetable marrows.

The Nemean Lion

Miss Lemon gives Hercule Poirot a letter from a man who wants him to find his lost Pekinese dog. Hercule Poirot meets Mr Hoggins. He decides to take this unimportant case because he was summoned by the husband, which is unusual. He disappeared a week ago and then returned. Taken in Kensington Garden when out with a companion and blackmailed for 200 pounds, and the wife paid it because she knew her husband wouldn’t. After Mrs. Hoggins confesses to paying the blackmail, Mr. Hoggins discovers that a fellow club member had the same thing happen to him. The husband wants Hercule Poirot to break up the racket because the wife doesn’t want him to call the police. She fears someone will harm her dog due to threats in the blackmailer’s letter.

On his lead, Shan Tung was with Miss Carnaby along the flower path. Miss Carnaby stopped to talk to a nurse with a cute baby. She Looked down; the lead was cut, and the dog was gone. Nobody at the park saw him being stolen.

In the first post the following day, the kidnapper asked for 200 pounds or the dog would be harmed. If paid, the dog would be returned that night; if the police were involved, the dog would be injured.The letter was to be included with the money. Miss Carnaby shows Hercule Poirot the lead, and he keeps it. Miss Carnaby’s previous employer left her a Pekinese dog that died. He finds several other ladies with the same story who also went to the hotel where she delivered the money and took her letter, but the money was already gone, 

Amy Carnaby took the employer’s dog to her house and switched with Augustus. Augustus ran home, and Amy cut the lead. She’s not clever, is getting older, and has to take care of Emily, so she comes up with this plan to earn money, and they involve many poor companions to build a network of ladies to rob. Hercule Poirot makes Carnaby return the money to Mrs. Hoggins and Mrs. Hoggins to keep her on.

Hercule Poirot believes Mr. Hoggins is a soap manufacturer who poisoned his wife to marry his secretary and is poisoning his current wife. He gives his fee to the Carnaby sisters.

The Review

The first case draws parallels to the Nemean Lion, who was bestowed with claws sharp enough to pierce armor and golden fur that was impervious to human weapons that Hercules eventually slayed and became the first miracle he performed to atone for his sins of killing an innocent family. However, Christie decides to go more comical in retelling the story. The Nemean Lion is replaced with a Pekinese Dog, and other allusions to the mythological tale are called out in a mocking tone by the narrator of the story- this retelling is modern, and Hercule Poirot is, above all, not going to be grappling in a death struggle to vanquish anyone. His battles are singularly of wit, not brawn.

The story is fast-paced and incredibly cheeky while maintaining a lovely little mystery. The way the dog is stolen and how the syndicate of poor companions uses psychology to blackmail their pampered mistresses is prime Christie. She uses her patented technique of burying clues in innocuous comments, conversations, and glances.

Although the mystery is not terribly taxing to “the little grey cells,” it is given pathos by the inclusion of Miss Carnaby’s eloquent monologues about what happens to companions who aren’t clever and how their is little recourse to poor companions who are past their prime. Hercule Poirot shows compassion for the two sisters and gives them his fee- which further establishes the character trait of Poirot. At the same time, he does not condone their methods of blackmail and as a merciful man to people who are not trying to hurt anyone but may have exercised bad judgment. His ire is kept for the evil man, poisoning his wife so that he may continue his affair unimpeded.

I liked the wry tone of The Nemean Lion and am looking forward to the other eleven stories a lot. I studied Greek philosophy extensively in college and am curious to see what variations Christie put on the twelve labors of Hercules. Still, I would like to stress that you don’t need to be familiar with Greek mythology to enjoy this story, which makes it accessible and enjoyable for a wider audience.