Murder in the Mews is the sixteenth book in the Hercule Poirot series - but is pretty misleading considering it's simply a short story collection. Having purchased the Complete Short Stories, I was annoyed to find this wasn't a full Hercule Poirot book like I thought and contained four stories I already had. If I had of known then what I know now and all that jazz.

For a short story collection I found this to be pretty strong, with three of the four stories being rated 4 stars. Murder in the Mews, The Incredible Theft and the Dead Man's Mirror all featuring clever plots with well planned solutions to the crimes. The fourth entry, Triangle at Rhodes, is what lets the collection down. It was bizarre and I didn't really like it much at all. Still three out of four is pretty good for a short story collection and still leaves the entire book with an average rating of 3.5 stars. Individual reviews and ratings below.

16.1 MURDER IN THE MEWS: Poirot and Japp team up once again, when their dinner out speculating on why no one commits more murders on Guy Fawkes day results in a dead body and a shot no one heard fired. I enjoyed this one. I like Japp and I love him and Poirot teaming up. Japp ribs him something fierce and it's hilarious.

“So that’s what you were getting at!” Japp sighed. “Always have to get at things in such a tortuous way.”

Christie, Agatha. Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (p. 597). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Poor Japp. I like Japp better than Hastings too. He's much smarter for one. Even when he's not entirely sure where Poirot is going with things, he is usually aware something is going on. 4 stars.

16.2 THE INCREDIBLE THEFT: Important plans are stolen when a prominent political figure throws a party. I liked this one. Once again I guessed parts and completely missed others but I enjoyed it all the same. 4 stars.

16.3 DEAD MAN'S MIRROR: Poirot is sent a letter by Sir Gervase Chevenix-Gore requesting his presence to investigate a matter of fraud, but when Poirot arrives, the man is found to have committed suicide. I really liked this one. Mr Satterthwaite (from the Harley Quin series) also makes a brief appearance, giving Poirot his impressions of Sir Gervase. And Major Riddle, the police detective assigned was fantastic. I mean he was no Poirot but I was amused by his conclusions;

“Well,” said Riddle, “everything seems quite clear and aboveboard. Door locked, window fastened, key of door in dead man’s pocket. Everything according to Cocker—but for one circumstance.” “And what is that, my friend?” inquired Poirot. “You!” said Riddle bluntly. “What are you doing down here?”

Christie, Agatha. Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (p. 457). William Morrow Paperbacks. Kindle Edition.

The crime was very clever and I enjoyed the motives. 4 stars.

16.4 TRIANGLE AT RHODES: On holiday at Rhodes, Poirot comes across a love triangle that ends in murder. Well I only guessed half the crime. As in that Chantry killed his wife. Not that he had an accomplice. Honestly, I didn't really get this one. It was strange. 2 stars. ( )

The reason Hercule Poirot is so good at solving mysteries is that Christie has him solving the same murders over and over. Not that I object. ( )

4/8/22

Four solid mysteries, though unfortunately the strongest one is first and the weakest one last, in my opinion. A good spread of Christie tropes-- staged suicides, espionage, locked-room puzzle, dinner parties, Mediterranean vacation. Twists aplenty. Can vouch that it makes for good listening while working on a jigsaw puzzle for six straight hours. ( )

4 stories. I gave a 4 to the collection as a whole.

Murder in the Mews—excellent story. An apparent suicide that wasn’t. I don’t want to say more because it would spoil the fun. 4.5 stars.

The Incredible Theft—very minor story. Christie wrote some good spy/espionage stories (eg. They Came to Baghdad) but this is not one of them. 2 stars.

Dead Man's Mirror—Another apparent suicide. It is a challenge for a mystery writer to make a stab at a convincing “impossible crime/locked door” mystery: where the victim is found dead (shot or stabbed usually) in a room locked from the inside. Christie, however, has done it multiple times. One commentator lists 12 examples—4 Miss Marple stories, one Harley Quinn and the rest are Poirot, like this one. Very well done. The longest and best of the collection. 5 stars.

Triangle at Rhodes—reminded me too much of Evil Under the Sun. 3 stars.
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