Hercule Poirot's Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

 

                                                                           

Hercule Poirot's Silent Night by Sophie Hannah-362 pages

December 1931.  Poirot and his sidekick Inspector Catchpool of Scotland Yard are invited to spend the holiday in a mansion that will soon crumble into the sea to solve a murder.  Convinced that the man of the manor will be next murder victim, the rush is on to solve the murder and get back to London before Christmas Day.  Ms. Hannah tries her best to mimic Dame Agatha.  Not quite the same suspense but an enjoyable read.

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah

 

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill by Sophie Hannah-272 pages

Hercule Poirot is travelling by luxury passenger coach from London to the exclusive Kingfisher Hill estate. Richard Devonport has summoned him to prove that his fiancée, Helen, is innocent of the murder of his brother, Frank. There is one strange condition attached to this request: Poirot must conceal his true reason for being there from the rest of the Devonport family.

On the coach, a distressed woman leaps up, demanding to disembark. She insists that if she stays in her seat, she will be murdered. A seat-swap is arranged, and the rest of the journey passes without incident. But Poirot has a bad feeling about it, and his fears are later confirmed when a body is discovered in the Devonports' home with a note that refers to "the seat that you shouldn’t have sat in."

Not as good as her previous "Agatha Christie" novels.  It was ok.  Even though I am still looking forward to reading her next Hercule Poirot mystery.

Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah

Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah-299 pages


Hercule Poirot and his sidekick from Scotland Yard are invited to Lady Playford's Irish mansion.  Both are puzzled as to why.  True to form, there is a murder that only Hercule Poirot and his little grey cells are capable of solving.

I enjoyed this book very much.

The Mystery of the Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah

                                             


The Mystery of the Three Quarters by SophieHannah 344 pages

This is a book with one of my favorite characters in it, Hercule Poirot.  Someone has sent out letters in his name to 5 different people. In these letters he is accusing all five of these people with murder.

Twists and turns abound in Agatha Christie style.  And of course the solution doesn't come out until the final chapter.

Anyone who enjoys and misses the grand dame of mystery will enjoy reading this as I have.

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

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.

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.