The Labours of Hercules (1947)

Dame Agatha Christie may have become restless after perfectly mastering the British mystery novel. For her 65^th-or-so work, she challenged her famous fictional detective Hercules Poirot to choosing cases that conformed to the Twelve Labours of Hercules. Well, of course, she did—he’s HERCULES Poirot. Some of the cases correspond more closely than others, but the resultant short-story collection, like all of Christie’s books, is simply fun.