Book 159 - Sophie Hannah - Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot in The Mystery of Three Quarters

Love Agatha Christie…from Joan Hickson’s Miss Marple to David Suchet’s Poirot…the journey to the celluloid screen has at times been incredible. But I have always struggled to get into any of the novels, when my Father-in-Law suggested trying a Poirot not even written by Christie…I hesitated..but then again…I have read James Bond books not by Fleming and Sherlock Holmes books not by Doyle…mostly they were good…some fantastic. So it was a with a certain amount of trepidation I sat down to read this one…wow…it was magnificent and like most of Poirot’s adventures…the hook of the novel caught me within a chapter..probably…if I’m honest…within a page.

Poirot is accosted in the street by someone claiming he, Poirot, has written them a letter…accusing them of murder…within 24 hours…three more people…tell him the same thing…that Poirot, himself has accused seemingly unconnected people of murdering the same man…a gentleman in his 90s who apparently drowned in his own bathtub…months earlier. Therefore there is no crime…but Poirot’s reputation has been tarnished…’J’accuse’…and Poirot will not let this go.

What follows is a wonderful mystery, worthy of Dame Agatha herself…connections between the receivers of the letters are uncovered…alibis are shown to be false and danger lies at every corner of a grand house typical of 1930s England. We visit gentlemen clubs..idyllic homes in Wales and back to the scene of the ‘crime’ in a brilliant romp around the British countryside in the company of the erudite Belgian. You can hear the accent drip from the pages.

As for the outcome…well…far be it from me to ruin a magnificent mystery…a diabolically devious…complex conundrum but I will say this, as layers are peeled back and as the book reaches its climax a thoroughly satisfactory ending is revealed…totally didn’t see it…didn’t guess it but absolutely adored the writing…

I will definitely be returning to this new world that has been developed so well by Sophie Hannah. Brilliant…c'est magnifique ( )

In Sophie Hannah's "The Mystery of Three Quarters," master detective Hercules Poirot is startled to learn that four people have received letters signed by him, accusing them of having murdered ninety-four year old Barnabas Pandy. According to the police, however, Mr. Pandy's death was accidental. He drowned when he fell asleep while taking a bath. Poirot had never heard of Pandy before, and although he did not compose these letters, the recipients believe that he did. Two angrily confront him. The third and fourth are more puzzled than angry. Although Poirot would like to wash his hands of this irksome affair, his curiosity is piqued, and he decides to investigate the strange case with the help of Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard.

It turns out that three of the four men and women accused of killing Pandy had a direct or indirect connection to him. Sylvia Rule's son, Freddie, attends the same school, Turville, as the deceased's grandson, Timothy Lavington. Pandy raised two granddaughters; one of them, Annabel Treadway, received a letter. The third recipient, Hugo Dockerill, is a housemaster at Turville. The anomaly is number four: John McCrodden. Since John has no obvious link to Pandy, why would anyone think that he drowned the old man? McCrodden is the unexplained "fourth quarter." Poirot's little gray cells receive a vigorous workout as he ponders this difficult puzzle, with little concrete evidence to guide him. Instead, he uses his keen understanding of human nature to make sense of what he learns.

Poirot and Catchpool conduct interviews to find out what various individuals know and to uncover carefully hidden secrets that may be relevant to the investigation. Eventually, Poirot comes up with a possible solution, and he summons all concerned to a large gathering, where he intends to unveil who did what to whom and why. Hannah uses Christie's traditional conventions to fine effect. There are colorful characters, each of whom has a well-defined personality, and numerous red herrings to throw us off the scent. Poirot keeps mum as he studies every aspect of the inquiry, and eventually makes surprising inferences that lead him to the identity of the culprit. The author's dialogue, descriptive writing, and settings work well, but the story culminates in a fanciful conclusion that is not particularly convincing. Hannah's central theme is that stubbornly clinging to old grudges is not just futile, but may also end in tragedy. "The Mystery of Three Quarters" is amusing, subtle, and intriguing, but the far-fetched finale weakens the novel's overall impact.
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Full review can be found here:

https://nordie.wordpress.com/2018/08/30/book-review-saga-volume-two-by-brian-k-v...

Written in the style of Agatha Christie, Hannah has captured the style and attraction of Christie--and also the flaws. The plot is delightfully simple, and yet complex and confusing, and is tied up nicely in the end. But, like Christie, a lot of the details are childishly (ignorantly?) innacurate. The tale satisfies as a light interlude between reading more 'meaty' tomes--but is not recommended for nit-pickers. ( )

this book has its moments. I always think of David Sucheet whenever Poirot is described, but seems a. lot longer than it has to be, which is often my complaint with mystery novels vs. mystery short stories.

I love the Poirot TV series with David Suchet. However, I have never actually read a Poirot novel until I read this one. Which isn't even written by Agatha Christie. It's probably good that I haven't read the original novels since I have nothing to compare with. But, I must say I was impressed with the story. The humor, the mystery and trying to figure out who sent the letters, before Poirot did.

I could really see David Suchet as Poirot before my eyes all through the book and I was utterly charmed by the story and the writing. I especially like the beginning when Poirot is accused by several people on being the author of several letters claiming that just he/she was a murderer. He took it all in stride (not) and quickly tried to explain that he was not at all the one that penned the letters. Although they didn't want to believe him and hardly listened to his explanations. And, then, of course, he had to try to find out who wrote the letters and if anyone killed poor Barnabus Pandy.

This book not only made me want to read the previous two books by Sophie Hannah, now I want to read the books by Agatha Christie as well. This a truly great book and I recommend it warmly!

Thanks to Bookmarks förlag for the review copy! ( )

I can't find fault with it. It is very much in the vein of the original Hercule Poirot books, and it even had a few funny moments.
Still, Hercule Poirot isn't really my cup of tea, as was confirmed again, and so I won't go on with this new series.

The narrator was great. ( )

Impeccable but for several typos and French errors—spend some money on proofreading, HarperCollins! ( )

Agatha Christie writes and entertains with her mysteries, Sophie Hannah attempts to create a mystery similar to Agatha Christie, but Hannah utilizes too much dialogue. I enjoy learning of all the facets of a character, and dialogue does not give a psychological background. Hannah’s story involves multiple characters, and a list would have provided needed clarification. Sophie Hannah gave an outline of the story in the form of the chapter listing and subtopics which gave a nice background. The character of Hercule Poirot seemed too trite with his constant mention of little gray cells. The story centers on the supposed murder of a Barnabas Pandy, a 94-year-old man and letters sent to four people accused of Pandy’s murder. Along the path to solving the mystery, Inspector Edward Catchpool, narrates the story in the same manner as Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes’ mysteries. Of course, Dr. Watson does a better job. The backgrounds of the characters leak into the story meagerly. An interesting but superficial story. ( )

When you read the book you will understand why I have included an image of a Battenberg cake in my blog post. It is a motif that Poirot uses with great effect in the novel, as he speculates about the relationship between the squares in the cake. Why were there 4 letters sent to people accusing them of murdering Barnabas Pandy when they did not know each other? Or is there some other connection?

And is one of those four a murderer or not, or just waiting in the wings, ready to commit a murder? Poirot works with Scotland Yard's Inspector Catchpoole to work out the motive behind the letters.

There were times when I thought the plot was unnecessarily devious and long winded but the audio production is excellent. ( )

I felt let down with this book. It started off strong and had me intrigued. . . . Then it got muddled and didn't feel like a Hercule Poirot mystery to me. I finished the book out of boredom mostly and not because I really cared about the story or who the culprit was. ( )

I am not a great lover of continuation series, books written by a new author after the death of the much-loved originator. It seems a cynical moneymaking move and I fear it will ruin my love of the original author’s books. I grew up loving Agatha Christie and have not, until now, been tempted to read the new Poirot stories by Sophie Hannah. But about to go on holiday, feeling tired and longing for something familiar but new, I picked up ‘The Mystery of Three Quarters’. And what a delight it is.
The story starts as Poirot is challenged in turn by four strangers, each accusing him of naming them as a murderer. Affronted that fraudulent letters have been sent in his name, Poirot sets out to investigate. He suspects however that the supposed victim Barnabas Pandy does not exist. But Pandy does exist, or did, for 94-year old Barnabas Pandy is dead, drowned in his bath. Told by Poirot’s police sidekick, Inspector Edward Catchpool, this is a clever and mystifying story of Pandy, his two grand-daughters, and long-buried guilt and shame.
Hannah writes with ease and I slipped seamlessly into loving and believing in her Poirot. As with all good crime fiction, I had suspicions about the identity of the murderer but only during Poirot’s customary reveal did I connect together the unpredictable clues laid so carefully throughout the novel. And as always, it is satisfying to know I had guessed correctly. At 400 printed pages ‘The Mystery of Three Quarters’ is longer than Christie’s Poirot novels, which come in at under 300 pages, but I flew through it in one day. Just the ticket for a holiday read.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/ ( )

The latest Hercule Poirot mystery is The Mystery of Three Quarters. Sophie Hannah is now penning this iconic series, with the blessing and permission of Agatha Christie's estate. And this reader thinks she does a good job of it,

London, England 1930. After a pleasant lunch out, Hercule returns home to find not one, but two angry people. They're angry about the letter Poirot has sent them, accusing them of the murder of Barnabas Pandy. Neither of the visitors knows Pandy. The trouble is - either does Poirot. And he most certainly did not send any letters.

Those familiar with Poirot will recognize his habits, mannerisms, speech, deduction process (beware the typewriter with the faulty 'e') and more. What missing for me is Captain Hastings. He has been replaced with Scotland Yard detective Edward Catchpool, whom we met in previous Sophie Hannah Poirot books. I've been on the fence about him. He serves as the obligatory sidekick and foil for Poirot, but has a lesser role in this book than the previous. Who I am quite taken with is Fee, the waitress at Poirot's favorite bakery. I hope this character continues to grow in future books.

I really enjoy the 'old style' of solving mysteries - the deductions, reasoning, following the clues, interviews and that seemingly innocuous clue tucked into a paragraph along the way. Christie - and Hannah - force the reader to pay attention. And I always enjoy that final 'reveal', uncovering the whodunit and how Poirot got there.

Those looking for a book written as Agatha Christie won't find it in Closed Casket. But those looking for a classic mystery written in the style of Christie will enjoy this book. I did. ( )

Three people approach Hercule Poirot saying they have received a letter from him saying that he knows they murdered Barnabas Pandy. They deny it and threaten Poirot with legal action. Poirot decides he must investigate and contacts his friend, Inspector Catchpool. It's a complicated investigation hingeing on finding a typewriter with a broken "e" character. The suspects all have alibis but Poirot gathers them together for the final reveal. ( )

This is a worthy addition to Ms. Hannah's Hercule Poirot stories. She has faithfully portrayed Poirot and done a good job of creating creating a complex mystery story. There's actually a question of whether there has been a murder. A good read. ( )

Entertaining. The author avoids the repetitive idiosyncrasies that marred some of Christie's later Poirot stories. But also does not capture the complete Poirot character, too generic. I find the author's non-series novels to be more memorable. ( )

Someone purporting to be world-famous detective Hercule Poirot has sent letters to four people accusing them of murder. An elderly gentlemen, Barnabas Pandy, had drowned in his bath but the death has been officially declared an accident. One of the recipients was Pandy’s granddaughter and she swears that no one in the household could have possibly murdered her grandfather. With the aid of his ‘little grey cells’ and inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard, Poirot sets out to find out who sent the letters and what really happened to Pandy.

The plot of The Mystery of Three Quarters by author Sophie Hannah is an entertaining and well-written historical mystery full of twists and turns and even a nice touch of humour. This is the first of Hannah’s Poirot novels I have read and I was pleased to note that Sophie’s Poirot is close enough to the original with his many eccentricities without being a carbon copy and Catchpool, who stands in for both Hastings and Japp as well as acting as narrator, makes a fine sidekick. My one quibble with the book is the denouement – one of the things I love best about Christie’s writing was her ability to create a complex puzzler full of misdirections and red herrings and then sum it all up in a very few pages, explaining everything, leaving no loose strings. Here, the denouement just seemed to go on much too long. Still, overall, I found this a most satisfying read, enough that I intend to go back and read the other entries in the series.

Thanks to Edelweiss+ and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

The Mystery of Three Quarters is Sophie Hannah’s latest in her successful series of Poirot-inspired mysteries. More of an homage than imitation, Hannah’s version would satisfy ardent protectors of Agatha Christie’s legacy, as well as a more contemporary audience reluctant to select anything older than themselves. The novel manages to somehow preserve the wit and charm of the classics, without the antiquated references and assumptions of social structure integral to the Christie era. In this installment, narrated by Inspector Edward Catchpool, Poirot is confronted by four individuals who insist that they have received libelous letters from Poirot. Each of the receivers have been accused in their letters of murdering a man that some of them claim to be completely unacquainted with. Poirot and Catchpool are tasked with discovering who sent the letters and if a crime has truly occurred. As is typical of these intricate detective mysteries, discovery of the truth and the hidden inter-connections between characters is the plot’s driving force rather than nonstop action. Enjoyable, entertaining, funny and light, Hannah’s The Mystery of Three Quarters is a refreshing entry in a genre that currently seems burdened by an excess of violence and brutality. Recommended as a good summer read and a nostalgic nod to the innovative cleverness of Christie’s work. ( )

Very well done, indeed. Felt like I was reading Ms. Christie all over again. Good mystery, didn't guess who done it. Thanks to Edelweiss for this Nook ARC. ( )