22 October 2014

Review #31: The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah and Agatha Christie



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“It is the brain, the little gray cells on which one must rely. One must seek the truth within--not without." ~ Poirot

Hercule Poirot returns to life, 38years after being killed off by his creator, Agatha Christie in Curtain, in Sophie Hannah's new book, The Monogram Murders, who is the bestselling writer of contemporary psychological crime thrillers.

That short-height, Belgian man with a moustache, who trusts in his gray cells more than what he is made to believe in, is back with a fresh new adventure in London. But unfortunately, Poirot's new leash of life simple left me disappointed. I was jumping with joy, when I got the opportunity to read this book, but unfortunately it failed my excitement and anticipation.

Synopsis:
Poirot runs into a woman in a coffee parlor who confides in him that her life is in danger and that he should not look for the killer, when three guests are murdered in the most posh and reputable hotel in London. And all three were murdered in the similar fashion- poisoned to death and a monogram signed as "PIJ" is put between their lips. Scotland Yard investigator, Catchpool and Poirot jumps into the scene and starts building the puzzle which left everyone shocked and scared to death. Who is this woman in the coffee shop? And why continuously Poirot's mind is bugging with this mysterious woman's whereabouts? Will she be the fourth one to be murdered?


From the blurb itself, the book sounds compelling, but once I started reading, I found my mind diverting away a lot of times. Well honestly, the book started very poorly, Poirot didn't strike me with his remarkable demeanor. The characters were well-developed, also the mystery was very brilliantly unfolded. But after reading so many Christie's book, I was expecting the book to be one of her creation, and that was my mistake! Remember, this is not Agatha Christie's book, this book is written by Sophie Hannah, so don't expect it to turn out to be another Agatha Christie novel.

The plot is a complete pot-boiler, millions of twists and turns which will leave your brain more twisted if you try to build the puzzle, so guys leave it to Poirot, he will guide you with his brilliance to the end of the complicated maze. Poirot's charm is unmatchable but still the author has captured it quite vividly. The best news is that Poirot is back, and I think he is going to stay around a bit by surprising us with new adventures.

Although I never read any of Sophie's books before, but I think her writing is quite crisp and emphatic and I will not compare her with Christie. Sophie has got some aura in her chosen words to pen down the tale and also her narration is very articulate. The huge cast of characters that Sophie has created is tastefully spun and their depth was eventually unrolled with the progress of the plot.

Such a gruelling plot is hard to miss, but then again people are judging this book based on Agatha Christie's Poirot. Oui! But this is entirely Sophie's creation and she has successfully delivered her key character to her readers.

The cons would be at times, I felt I could not connect with the plot. Also at some places, I felt like I was losing interest due to introduction of too many unnecessary details. The book could have easily been made much shorter and some scenes and events could be easily avoided from the plot! Yeah! Boring Alert! at least in more than 10 chapters.

Read this intriguing book, if you merely enjoy reading a good detective novel. But if you are reading with hope that you might find Christie's once remarkable and notorious character Hercule Poirot then you can easily give this book a miss!

Courtesy:
Thanks to the author, Sophie Hannah, for giving me the opportunity to read and review her book.
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Author Info: 
Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.  Read More

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