What a deceptive cover! Take a look:

You can see immediately that this is the new Poirot novel by Agatha Christie, right?

But how is that possible? Was it just recently discovered, lurking in a file cabinet somewhere?

Well, no. It is indeed a new Poirot novel… but it’s by Sophie Hannah, not Agatha Christie; she’s long dead (Christie, not Hannah). Note that the cover doesn’t actually claim that Christie is the author, so all is well. I judiciously cropped the cover just to confuse you, as the publisher attempted to do. The marketeers win again.

What’s going on here? You have probably guessed: the Christie estate has licensed Sophie Hannah to extend the Poirot oeuvre by writing new novels, using her characters and her style. The Killings at Kingfisher Hall is the fourth novel in this series, and it fulfills its side of the bargain with the reader. Style and plot are suitably Poirot-like. Characterization is easy; the advantage of continuing to use a character who is as formulaic as any from Christie is that the author knows how to do so. Setting and plot were always her strong points, and this story has a typically well-done Christie-like plot and setting.

It’s not in the running for Ten Favorite Books of the Year, but it held my attention, so it’s still worth reading,

Categories: Books