The Cretan Bull: A Hercule Poirot Short Story

Hercule Poirot #0.45

by Agatha Christie

As we move to the seventh challenge facing Hercule Poirot, we encounter the Greek myth of the Cretan Bull,. The bull from Crete is the father of the Minotaur. Pasiphae, the wife of Minos was Minotaur's mother. Greek hero Hercules was commissioned by King Eurystheus to capture the bull in Crete.

One of the Labours of Hercules.

Poirot is approached by a young woman, a determined young woman, about her engagement to Hugh Chandler. She states, "Hugh broke off our engagement because he thinks he is going mad. He thinks people who are mad should not marry." Strange things have been happening in and around the Chandler estate of Lyde Manor, sheep being killed late at night for example, and people think Hugh is responsible. Diana Maberly asks Poirot, "Can you do something?" Is the Cretan Bull present? Can Poirot meet and conquer him?

Librarian's note: this entry is for the story, "The Cretan Bull." Collections of short stories by the author can be found elsewhere on Goodreads. Individual entries for all Poirot short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: "a Hercule Poirot Short Story."

Genres: Mystery, Agatha Christie, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Classics

22 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Agatha Christie also wrote romance novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott, and was occasionally published under the name Agatha Christie Mallowan.

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

This best-selling author of all time wrote 66 crime novels and story collections, fourteen plays, and six novels under a pseudonym in romance. Her books sold more than a billion copies in the English language and a billion in translation. According to Index Translationum, people translated her works into 103 languages at least, the most for an individual author. Of the most enduring figures in crime literature, she created Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. She atuhored The Mousetrap, the longest-running play in the history of modern theater.

Associated Names:
Agata Christie
Agata Kristi
Агата Кристи (Russian)
Агата Крісті (Ukrainian)
Αγκάθα Κρίστι (Greek)
アガサ クリスティ (Japanese)
阿嘉莎·克莉絲蒂 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

After he calls off the engagement for her own safety, a young lady wants Poirot's help in convincing her fiancee that he isn't crazy.
Is there a dangerous strain of mental illness running through his family tree, or is something else driving this young man mad?



Poirot agrees because when he meets Hugh (the maybe crazy fiancee), he thinks he's a fine young bull of a man and that he can use this case as The Cretan Bull part of his retirement package.
Of course, nothing is as it seems, and Hercule has to unpack a lot of family history and even more family secrets to save these young lovers and perhaps even one of their lives.
Recommended.

Originally published in 1939 in This Week magazine & put together with 11 other stories in 1947 and published as The Labours of Hercules.
These 12 cases are chosen by Poirot as his own labors of Hercules that he will undertake before his supposed retirement.

[Ësrât · Rating 2 out of 5]

আগাথার দুর্বলতম গল্প।

[Brooklyn Tayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is yet another one of my favourites of those 12 labours of Hercule Poirot. Just, wow.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, what a story this was. The story begins with a young lady coming to visit Poirot. Her fiancé has broken up with her, believing he is going mad. Another story in the theme of a family curse/ history. Everyone believes the man is going mad, except his fiancée.

These last few stories, there seems to be a change in Agatha Christie’s writing style. You actually follow the story and try to figure out what is going on. When you are blinded, it is as it should be, a shock and surprise. A rather moving end.

[Imtiaz Hasan · Rating 4 out of 5]

ভালো লাগলো। আনপ্রেডিক্টেবল। পড়তে পড়তে ভাবছিলাম ব্যাপারটা বুঝেই ফেলেছি। তারপর দেখলাম... যাইহোক ভালো। পড়ে ফেলুন

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. In Greek mythology, the story of the bull from the island of Crete is a complicated one, Gods here and Gods there, jealousy, betrayal, and affairs, with his son, the famous half man / half bull Minotaur who remains famous to this day, and Hercules shining through it all. But Christie's short story based on the myth, and the 7th challenge of Hercule Poirot under his Labours of Hercules retirement plan, is less complicated. Just difficult to solve. It's a good one. It is one of the stories in the 1999 collection, "Hercule Poirot The Complete Short Stories," and was first published in "This Week" in America in 1939. Diana Maberly approaches the great detective with a desperate story about her fiancé breaking their engagement. He thinks he's going mad, but she stands behind her man. "He's the sanest person I know." But how to explain the incident of local sheep being killed at night and Hugh Chandler being found covered in blood? It's a scandal for his father, retired Admiral Chandler. His son had been in the Royal Navy. Most embarrassing. Can you find the bull from the Crete? Poirot did. (May 2021)

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poirot is called into this case through the approach of a girl named Diana who wants him to find out whether her love, Hugo, is insane or not. Insanity had run in Hugo's family.

Poirot's conversations with Hugo's father and honorary uncle have some serious revelations.

Why did Hugo break off the wedding? Poirot discovered that Hugo's mother had had an affair with the honorary uncle - resulting in Hugo. When "father" found out, he killed his wife and then began to drug his supposed son and then kill animals in horrific manners to make Hugo think he was going mad.

[Farhan Nayem · Rating 4 out of 5]

প্লটঃ নিজের বিয়ে ভাঙার সমস্যা নিয়ে এরকুল পোয়ারোর কাছে হাজির হলেন এক মহিলা। তার হবু স্বামীর ধারনা সে ধীরে ধীরে পাগল হয়ে যাচ্ছে,তাই বিয়েটা ভেঙে দিয়েছে সে। তদন্তে নামলো পোয়ারো,কেঁচো খুঁড়তে বেরিয়ে এলো সাপ!

★রিভিউঃ আমার অত্যন্ত প্রিয় লেখিকা রহস্যসম্রাজ্ঞী আগাথা ক্রিস্টি। আজ পর্যন্ত উনার কোন বই পড়ে আমাকে হতাশ হতে হয়নি। অনেক আগে রকিব হাসানের অনুবাদ করাতার উপন্যাস "দি মাউসট্র‍্যাপ" পড়েছিলাম। ওটা আমায় মুগ্ধ করেছিল। পরবর্তীতে আমি লেখিকার "ইভিল আন্ডার দ্য সান" উপন্যাসটা পড়ি। সেটাও আমার দুর্দান্ত লেগেছিল। যদিও "দ্য ক্রেটান বুল" এরকুল পোয়ারো সিরিজের একটা ছোটগল্প,তবুও বলবো গল্পটা আমায় আগের মতোই মুগ্ধ করেছে। শেষে এসে যখন সকল রহস্য সমাধান হয় তখন সত্যিই অবাক হয়েছিলাম। কারণ শেষটা এরকম হবে আমি সত্যিই ভাবিনি। সব মিলিয়ে,দারুন লাগলো গল্পটা।

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young lady comes to see Poirot thinking her fiancé is under a family curse of insanity. Poirot investigates and finds some weird stuff going on and the mysterious family curse comes to light. In the end, things may have worked out but for the gun shot heard in the woods. Definitely recommended.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alweer de liefde. En het eindigt met de jacht op een konijn.

[Johnny Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent Poirot short story. The Cretan Bull has such fantastic misdirection.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Hercule Poirot short story. Light and entertaining.

[Colleen Downey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery but did not like the information in the story

[Golden Age of Detective Fiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars!

Read my review here:

https://goldenageofdetectivefiction.c...

[Dennis Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this short. It's much better than the previous one. Poirot is a LEGEND!!!

"You said yourself - just now - that it was the best way..."

Classic English Resigned Duty...lol

4.25/5

[Emma Gallacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Zhanna Mi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should have been a longer story IMHO. Very good!

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn't like a poisoner's story In Plane Sight? Hercule realizes/deduces the victim's being poisoned And how from symptoms and story none of us would recognize. QED

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, what a story this was. The story begins with a young lady coming to visit Poirot. Her fiancé has broken up with her, believing he is going mad. Another story in the theme of a family curse/ history. Everyone believes the man is going mad, except his fiancée.

These last few stories, there seems to be a change in Agatha Christie’s writing style. You actually follow the story and try to figure out what is going on. When you are blinded, it is as it should be, a shock and surprise. A rather moving end.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a clever twist on a theme she has used before of inherent madness or evil in a family and the decades some are willing to wait to play it out.

[মশিউর রহমান · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not that great. Good thing it's short.

[Md Tazri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is simple mystery and short story But not bad.🤓🤓

[Jenia Juthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

মন্দ নয়!!