Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah

Closed Casket: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah --- 299 pages

Hannah's second attempt to resurrect Agatha Christie's Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in this follow up to The Monogram Murders (2014).  Alas, I am still underwhelmed.

Granted the plot is intricate and as improbable as any Christie original, but the characters are all unpleasant, the dialogue is inane, and Edward Catchpole is no substitute for Captain Hastings. Hercule Poirot is just limp, like a shirt that's gone through the wash too many times, a caricature of a caricature.

This manor house murder is not my cup of tea.  Others obviously don't agree.

Click HERE to watch a Youtube video of Hannah talking about Closed Casket.

Click HERE to read the review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie --- 272 pages

A reissue, with a new title, of Christie's 1938 mystery, previously published as Murder for Christmas and A Holiday for Murder.

A family reluctantly gathers for Christmas in response to the summons of the patriarch, Simeon Lee, whose disdain for his offspring is only matched by their loathing for him. Can anyone really be surprised when the old man is found murdered in a locked room with a fortune in uncut diamonds missing from the safe?

The old man's valet, who has a dubious past, is suspected but able to produce a watertight alibi. The local police, represented by Superintendent Sugden, are stymied, but fortunately the Chief Constable for the County, Colonel Johnson, has a house guest for the holidays who is happy to assist. Enter the redoubtable Hercule Poirot.

This is vintage Christie: a locked room, a family at odds, a fortune at stake, and every suspect with disreputable secrets they are anxious to hide.  The investigation unfolds over seven days, and concludes with Poirot, in typical style, gathering all the suspects together to reconstruct the crime  and reveal the murderer.