Like The Labors of Hercules , the twelve cases Poirot must solve in this captivating collection of short crime fiction stories are dangerous, demanding, and positively ingenious. In appearance Hercule Poirot hardly resembled an ancient Greek hero. Yet--reasoned the detective--like Hercules he had been responsible for ridding society of some of its most unpleasant monsters. So, in the period leading up to his retirement, Poirot makes up his mind to accept just twelve more cases: his self-imposed "Labors." Each would go down in the annals of crime as a heroic feat of deduction. "A finely shaped book, richly devious and quite brilliant--by far the best volume of Poirot shorts." -- "San Francisco Chronicle" "Hercule Poirot was and is the gold standard among brilliant and quirky detectives, and the Christie touch with plot and puzzle has never been equaled, much less exceeded." -- "John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author, praise for the author" "Twelve little masterpieces of detection. Poirot and Agatha Christie at their inimitable best." -- "Sunday Express (London)" Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and another billion in a hundred foreign languages. She died in 1976, after a prolific career spanning six decades. Hugh Fraser , an Earphones Award-winning narrator, is an English actor and theater director who is best known for his portrayal of Captain Hastings in the television series Agatha Christie's Poirot . He studied acting at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and is an associate tutor, director, and member of the audition panel at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, specializing in Shakespeare.