first published in book form in 1947 the labours of hercules comprises an even dozen mysteries starring christies most popular sleuth the everdignified hercule poirot the introductory chapter of the collection sets up the rest of the book at a dinner party another guest compares the labors of poirot to those of hercules and the little belgian is not amused he has already decided to retire but makes up his mind to take on 12 great cases each somehow reflecting the labors accomplished by hercules as a farewell to crime solving all of the cases are quite different from each other from searching for a lost poet to hunting down a particularly ferocious murderer from solving mysterious deaths of religious cult members to saving a young wouldbe politician from potential blackmailers frequent christie interpreter hugh fraser brings stories like the cretan bull and the apples of the hesperides to dazzling life