A decently entertaining mystery, but despite the cover, it’s no Agatha Christie.
Summary:
Hercule Poirot, the famous detective, is back! Although on vacation, the speculative sleuth gets roped into a curious case when his evening supper is interrupted by a frantic young woman, claiming she is about to be murdered and that he must let it happen. That same night, Poirot’s friend, Detective Catchpool, is at the Bloxham Hotel investigating three murders of three guests, each in a different room but with the same monogrammed cufflinks in their mouths. Stumped, he turns to Poirot for help. Can they stop the killer before a fourth murder takes place? Or are they too late to stop the events already in motion?
Verdict: 5/10
I was excited to try a mystery involving one of Agatha Christie’s most iconic characters so I picked this one up off my shelf. Only to discover… (cue dramatic music) dun DuN DUUUN: it was not actually Agatha Christie! One of the many cases where an author’s name and stories are prolonged long after their departure from the writing scene. And while that may turn some off automatically, I thought I’d at least give it a shot. It was after all only the first of the posthumous Poirot series.
Sophie Hannah, in imitation/dedication to Agatha Christie, still composed a fairly sophisticated murder mystery. There were many twists, turns, and false trails… Although how many is too many.
By about half way through, I had heard 3 different explanations already. While you want to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, there’s only so much head spinning one can take on a roller coaster. I feel like the book was trying too hard to complicate things, adding in so many elements late in the game, that proved to be a bit too much.
That being said, I still enjoyed the overall storyline and characters. The famous Hercule was delightful and charming in his deductions, a sassier and more OCD version of Sherlock Holmes. Almost like the original Adrian Monk (played by Tony Shalhoub). I can see why readers have long been enamored with his style and approach to the unanswerable questions of mystery and murder.
The other characters were also well written. I enjoyed reading the banter between the coffeehouse waitress and her patrons or Detective Catchpool’s bickering with Poirot on silly tangents. Detective Catchpool is one of Hannah’s new additions as Poirot’s sidekick. His dialogue was entertaining and informational. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his narrative mixed in with his admiration, amusement, and occasional exasperation with his unlikely counterpart. But as far as hearing about his own backstories, hobbies, and inner monologues, I often found myself wanting him to get back to the exciting stuff.
I wanted it to be about the impressive Poirot more than the confused Catchpool.
The ending was sufficient enough, but there was too much to pull together. I know these mysteries are based on detail, and I do enjoy hearing how those details play pivotal roles in the outcome. But there were some details that were there purely to be red herrings and so many false stories to get out of my head that I had trouble focusing on what the real version was. It’s not that I don’t like complicated mysteries, but unnecessary over-complication does little to impress. I missed that ‘a-ha moment’ feeling on the big reveal. I’m not the only one who noticed this as other reviewers say Hannah’s replication can’t compete with the balance in Christie’s originals.
Laura Thompson of The Guardian phrased it well: “The plot is ingenious, and the clues… are reminiscent of Christie. What is not there, crucially, is her sublime simplicity. Loose ends proliferate, then are busily snipped away by metaphorical secateurs. The convolutions are visible, the exposition long and linear. In a Christie – where brevity is the soul of sharpness – everything is distilled within a spare, deceptive geometry.”
All in all, The Monogram Murders was alright to read on a slow day, but I’ve since purchased a few of Christie’s Hercule-an classics to compare. Here’s to say I’m hoping they’ll be a bit faster-paced and more thrilling, minus all the whiplash of this novel.
Commentaires