The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah

Agatha Christie: The Mystery of Three Quarters: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah --- 345 pages including Acknowledgments.

This is the third of the New Hercule Poirot Mysteries, following The Monogram Murders and Closed Casket, produced by British crime writer Sophie Hannah with the authorization of the Agatha Christie Estate.  Clearly, Ms. Christie's heirs are not satisfied to reap the royalties of the legendary author who never goes out of print and whose total sales worldwide are only surpassed by Shakespeare and The Bible.

I am one of Christie's legions of fans who continues to enjoy re-reading the original Agatha, but find myself unimpressed by Hannah's pastiches. True, Christie's characters tended to be types at best and stereotypes at worst, but Hannah's imitations are just silly and stupid. 

In this outing, the story begins when four persons receive letters purporting to be from Hercule Poirot, accusing each one of murdering Barnabas Pandy. Of course the letters are forgeries, and an indignant Poirot begins his investigation with the intention of clearing his own name. Poirot has a new amanuensis in Detective Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard, and the redoubtable Miss Lemon, his secretary, as been replaced by Fee Spring, an ambitious waitress at Pleasant's Coffeehouse.

It takes 344 pages for Hannah to reach the conclusion of her story, and the denouement takes 71 pages to reveal what Christie devotees will have figured out for themselves much sooner: Hannah is no Christie.

Click HERE to read the review in Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review in Kirkus.

Click HERE to read the review from criminalelement.com

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie-315 pages

I watched the new movie based on this classic mystery by Agatha Christie and it was pretty good, so I wanted to read the book, especially since last month was mystery month for the blog. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish it before the month ended, so I am blogging it now. I enjoyed reading the book because the story flows well once it gets going. I noticed some differences between the book and the new movie, such as some of the characters names and/or occupations. I am glad I have read the book and I enjoyed it, overall.

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.

The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah

The Monogram Murders: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah --- 302 pages

Well the estate of Agatha Christie, not satisfied with the continuing flow of royalties from Dame Agatha's prodigious oeuvre, has joined the current craze for commissioning new stories by "authorized" authors.

Sophie Hannah, author of nine psychological thrillers, has produced a new Hercule Poirot mystery, The Monogram Murders, set in 1929. Poirot has ha new sidekick, Scotland Yard Inspector Edward Catchpool, who functions as the constantly clueless apprentice and narrator of the tale.

I have to admit that I was not impressed. This novel weighs in at 302 pages, and I could not but think, as I waded through its convolutions, that in Dame Agatha's competent hands this might have made a decent short story or at most, a novella. The characters were remarkably uninspiring; for the most part they were such unpleasant people that it was difficult to work up any sympathy for them. Even Hannah's portrait of Poirot lacked the human touch. The only character who had a spark of humor in her was Fee Spring, a waitress at Pleasant's Coffee House, who is shunted aside after a promising beginning, to reappear briefly at the end, when it takes Poirot almost sixty pages to dissect the mystery to his satisfaction for the hapless Catchpool's benefit.

I am in the minority in my opinion it seems, as almost review I could find was full of praise for The Monogram Murders. I have included links to three reviews below.

Click HERE to read Alexander McCall Smith's review of The Monogram Murders. for the New York Times.

Click HERE to read the UK's Independent review.

Click HERE to read the UK's Guardian's more mixed review.