This week I read a Poirot story with a difference. The Monogram Murders is a modern return to Hercule Poirot, written by Sophie Hannah and approved by Agatha Christie’s estate.
Having heard it discussed at last year’s crime writing convention by the editor of the Estate (who was really interesting and of course a great salesperson when it came to this story) I decided to buy it when I saw it in a charity shop.
I am fascinated by the idea of continuing a set of stories created by another person, and how well – or otherwise – a voice may be captured. In this book, I didn’t feel that Hannah was trying to recreate Christie’s voice as such; I have not read all of her work but it didn’t feel the same as the stories I have read. However, she was trying to make Poirot live again.
I feel a little unsure about this one. In terms of the story, I enjoyed it and it was an easy, quick read despite being nearly 400 pages long. It was engaging and I was wrong about who I thought had done it, and why – there are twists and these worked for me.
But it didn’t feel like it needed to be a Poirot story – marketing-wise I’m sure that was helpful! but it felt more like a story that happened to have Poirot in it than a story in which he was integral. This is an important point because I have actually felt that about another Poirot story I read, called The Hollow; and maybe this treatment of the character is more reflective than I appreciate.
I didn’t read this with a particular learning point in mind but I did want to successfully read something after my last efforts were wasted! However, from a reading point of view I can say that the style of the ‘golden age’ of crime writing really appeals to me. I do not like violent, graphic crime and the slick cleverness of this one was much more entertaining to me than a lot of modern crime writing.
I don’t know if I’d choose to read Sophie Hannah’s other books – she writes psychological thrillers usually, which aren’t really my preference – but I’d read her other Poirot to see how it compared.
I would want to compare it to an original Christie though!
Until next time,
Happy reading,
EJ
🙂
Becoming a writer 