The Under Dog and Other Stories

Entertaining short stories with Hercule Poirot, often accompanied by his Captain Hastings. Nothing wrong with these, they are stories quite in the style of Sherlock Holmes', but as I have commented on other reviews, Christie is at her best at novel length, when she can really develop her clever plots and characterization.

The Under Dog and Other Stories is solely a Hercule Poirot collection, featuring nine short stories. My favourites were The Under Dog and The Cornish Mystery. My least favourite, The King of Clubs. Overall the collection has a rating of 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars. Individual ratings and reviews below.

THE UNDER DOG: ****
THE PLYMOUTH EXPRESS: ***
THE AFFAIR AT THE VICTORY BALL: **
THE MARKET BASING MYSTERY: ***
THE LEMESURIER INHERITANCE: ***
THE CORNISH MYSTERY: ****
THE KING OF CLUBS: *
THE SUBMARINE PLANS: ***
THE ADVENTURE OF THE CLAPHAM COOK: ***

THE UNDER DOG: ****

A lady hires Poirot to investigate her husband's murder when the man's nephew is accused. I liked this one for the most part. I wasn't a big fan of the whole hypnosis bit, show more but I enjoyed that Poirot took Lady Astwell's 'intuition' to be her subconscious rather than writing her off. And that George the valet makes an appearance with his usual stiff English upper lip attitude. 4 stars.

THE PLYMOUTH EXPRESS: ***

A lady is found murdered on a train, her expensive jewellery missing. Her father hires Poirot to investigate. This was alright, pretty straightforward. I sort of guessed where it was going with the woman being impersonated, I didn't guess who the culprit was, although I probably should've. It was the maid. Poor Japp though, he can never get it right. 3 stars.

THE AFFAIR AT THE VICTORY BALL: **

Inspector Japp comes to ask Poirot's advice about a murder and a suicide that took place on the night of the Victory Ball. I enjoyed this one. Hastings has got the right of it here though;

“Poirot,” I cried, “one day I shall murder you! Your habit of finding everything perfectly simple is aggravating to the last degree!” “But when I explain, mon ami, is it not always perfectly simple?” “Yes; that is the annoying part of it! I feel then that I could have done it myself.” “And so you could, Hastings, so you could. (p. 9)

I wish I could claim Poirot's little grey cells but unfortunately my own are much more on a par with Hasting's. 2 stars.

THE MARKET BASING MYSTERY: ***

Poirot, Hastings and Japp are on holiday when the local police ask for some help when they find a dead man in a locked room who couldn't possibly have shot himself. I found this one interesting. It wasn't the best but interesting nonetheless. And I liked Japp's comment on Poirot living a life of crime.

“I agree, yes; but it would have been simpler and better to slip the key back inside the room under the door. Then it would look as though it had fallen from the lock.” “Ah, well, you can’t expect everybody to have the bright ideas that you have. You’d have been a holy terror if you’d taken to crime. (p. 190)

It kind of makes me wish that Christie had done a Poirot reimagined crime series. 3 stars.

THE LEMESURIER INHERITANCE: ***

Poirot investigates a family curse that prevents the eldest son from inheriting. This was alright. I liked the fierceness of the mother and her disbelief in the curse when it threatens her son. Interesting twist at the end too. Poirot suspects the son isn't the father's, ergo the curse wins. 3 stars.

THE CORNISH MYSTERY: ****

A wife asks Poirot to prove that her husband is poisoning her. I liked this one. I totally guessed who was guilty - my little grey cells were right on the money. And I enjoyed Mrs Pengelley's thoughts;

“You have contemplated leaving him, then?” “I don’t intend to let him have it all his own way. Women aren’t the downtrodden slaves they were in the old days, M. Poirot.” (pp. 276-277)

4 stars.

THE KING OF CLUBS: *

A dancer is accused of murder and her fiancee hires Poirot (and Hastings) to investigate.

“Is this your eloquence, or that of the Daily Newsmonger?” inquired Poirot.
“The Daily Newsmonger was in a hurry to go to press, and contented itself with bare facts. But the dramatic possibilities of the story struck me at once.” (p. 29)

Honestly Hastings. If Poirot has Order and Method are his gods. (p. 28) You definitely have drama and stupidity. I was a little baffled by this one - I didn't really understand why the dancer and her family are ashamed of each other? This wasn't my favourite beyond Poirot poking fun at Hastings. 1 star.

THE SUBMARINE PLANS: ***

Plans for a new British submarine are stolen at a house party and Poirot and Hastings are called in to retrieve them. This is a pared down version of The Incredible Theft, so I vaguely remembered the solution but it was still enjoyable. 3 stars.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE CLAPHAM COOK: ***

Poirot on the case of a missing cook and finds a murder, a theft and deceit. This one was alright. I liked Mrs Todd, the woman who hires Poirot. I didn't love the resolution though. The cook's manoeuvred out of her position so that the lodger can have her tin trunk to hide a body. Like why? Why specifically hers? How did he even know she had one that was acceptable? I don't know it was kind of weak. 3 stars. show less

The synopsis on the back cover of this book declares that the nine short stories contained within are Hercule Poirot's "Nasty Nine". Agatha Christie's sophisticated Belgian sleuth matches wits against nine of the worst criminals in order to solve these most baffling mysteries. A dead heiress on a train, a murdered recluse, and a wealthy playboy slain at a costume ball are only a few of the unfortunate victims of the confounding crimes committed in the pages of Ms. Christie's The Under Dog and Other Stories, a superior collection of short mystery fiction all featuring Hercule Poirot as the investigator.

The reader is invited to accompany Agatha Christie's most famous detective creation on a twisting trail of baffling mystery, shattering show more violence and delectable deduction as once again Hercule Poirot proves that his magnificent mind is mightier than the swiftest, stealthiest hand of a murderer. Here is Monsieur Poirot at the peak of his powers. Here is Agatha Christie at her spellbinding best.

I thought that this book was vintage Agatha Christie - these were nine of perhaps the most intriguing, most perplexing, yet highly entertaining mysteries that I've read in quite a while. I do enjoy Agatha Christie's writing style, but will say that as with many of her stories, I had trouble concluding "who done it." I give The Under Dog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie an A! show less

Some I had read before, others Christie used as a base for novels, and still others were a bit too dependent on the supernatural... but Hastings can be a fun narrator and, for the most part, was.

Also, the new HarperCollins covers are my favorite. Such fun art.

Audible.com released this short story — long enough for a novella, actually — from Dame Agatha Christie’s 1951 short story collection, eponymously titled The Under Dog and Other Stories. Read as usual by Hugh Fraser, the story deals with the murder of Sir Reuben Astwell for which his ne’er-do-well nephew Charles Leverson has been arrested. Despite overwhelming evidence, Sir Reuben’s widow, Lady Astwell, a great believer in intuition, is certain that her nephew by marriage is innocent and summons detective Hercule Poirot.

No need to doubt that the Belgian detective will apply his little gray cells to the problem and come up with the truth. It even has a finale in which Poirot gathers all of the suspects into the Tower for a show more dramatic reveal! “The Under Dog” is a great way to while away a few hours.

Merged review:

Audible.com released this short story — long enough for a novella, actually — from Dame Agatha Christie’s 1951 short story collection, eponymously titled The Under Dog and Other Stories. Read as usual by Hugh Fraser, the story deals with the murder of Sir Reuben Astwell for which his ne’er-do-well nephew Charles Leverson has been arrested. Despite overwhelming evidence, Sir Reuben’s widow, Lady Astwell, a great believer in intuition, is certain that her nephew by marriage is innocent and summons detective Hercule Poirot.

No need to doubt that the Belgian detective will apply his little gray cells to the problem and come up with the truth. It even has a finale in which Poirot gathers all of the suspects into the Tower for a dramatic reveal! “The Under Dog” is a great way to while away a few hours. show less

A collection of Christie short stories starring my favorite detective, Hercule Poirot. Most of them were good Poirot mysteries, sometimes with Hastings bumbling along. My least favorite story was probably "The Lemesurier Inheritance". I didn't quite make the connections in that story that Poirot did. I could've used a few more details to help me out. But, it was still a good story. No story stood out as a favorite because I enjoyed so many of them.

If I had to think of one word for this book that word would be "uneven".

Some of the stories are brilliant, some are transparent, some are just not very good. If you average them all out you've got yourself a three star book. If you are a Christie fan and can't imagine yourself going through life and not having read one of her books then by all means read this one and you'll probably enjoy it....otherwise there are better books and better ways to spend your time.