Reviews

Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah

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pinks_paperbacks's review against another edition

2.0

~~~2.5 stars~~~
***May contain few spoilers***

Hercule Poirot in Sophie Hannah's books is a lot like Joseph Scotcher (a character in this book). What I mean by this is that Hercule Poirot in her books is heavily inspired rather than being revived. Sophie's Poirot is, obviously, merely an imitation of Agatha Christie's Poirot. So when Sophie and her team publish a 'Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot' book they are not standing by it because in reality they are presenting a 'simulation of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot'.

In this particular book it felt as if Hercule Poirot was used as a stepping stone to promote Edward Catchpool, a Scotland Yard officer, and apparently Poirot's sidekick and a character originally created by Sophie. There were three parts in this book and each part had about 12-15 chapters in it. In the second part of the book about 80% of chapters barely mentioned Poirot, it was only Catchpool in action 'as per the orders of Poirot'. It's a Poirot book so I expect to see him in action. Even when he is not revealing his ideas and behaving the way he does I expect to know about that. His absence affected me because Agatha Christie's Poirot in 'Five Little Pigs' was my second grown-up book and it made a deep impression on me. I instantly became a fan of Agatha Christie which encouraged me to read other books and not only her books but other authors' works too. And so when you mention Hercule Poirot I expect Hercule Poirot to be all over the book (not randomly but methodically and purposefully).

Sophie Hannah as a writer is good but I cannot make any other remarks because I have not read her other books (that don't include the apparent Hercule Poirot). When I was reading this book, first of all I felt it to be quite a drag. I think the book could've been slightly more condensed (maybe my review could do the same). Second, I was enjoying it but only when I was imagining Poirot as some other original character by her. But every time that I tried to imagine him as Agatha's Poirot it just seemed off to me. Because I found Poirot to be dominantly comical rather than a character with his authentic complexities. I mean, Poirot was Agatha's creation, in many ways he is a part of her, so naturally when she wrote of him she knew him inside out and that is the reason Hercule Poirot in Sophie's book seems off because it is her interpretation of Hercule Poirot which is not in sync with Agatha Christie's Poirot'.

As far as Hercule Poirot is concerned I am unable to relate him with all the other Hercule Poirots I have encountered in Agatha's books. It seems to me that Hercule Poirot is not just Edward Catchpool's stepping stone. And where Sophie's writing style is concerned, I did like it. Someday perhaps, I'll read some of her absolute original works to get a clear opinion.

So if you are ardent fans of Agatha's works, especially Poirot, then I must caution you that you may not be happy with this book. At the very least we'd be Lady Athelinda Playford (a character in this book).

jemimamc's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

starthelostgirl's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was much better than the Monogram Murders. I really enjoyed it and I’m glad I gave the series another chance. The mystery and characters were good, and though the solution was a bit implausible, so were some of the original books. I did think that the ending was much too long, but the rest of the book moved quickly, which was my main complaint with the first one. Catchpool was very well done in this book: instead of injecting too much of his own boring thoughts and backstory, he is just the receptacle to tell the story. I was a bit uncomfortable with how one character was consistently described as grotesquely fat, as it didn’t add anything to the story and just came across as excessive. Hannah toned down the “little grey cells” and Poirot’s green eyes in this volume, which was welcome.