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Reviews tagging 'Suicide'
The Monogram Murders: the Brand New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah
13 reviews
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Decent writing of Poirot, his personality and dialogue. And, did use many tropes I enjoyed from Agatha. I did feel that some of the characters blended together or didn’t have enough depth/motivation. Some had abundant, excessive motivation to carry out what they did where everyone seemed guilty. But, a few it was like wait who are you? I would read more from this author, I do feel that this is at the top edge of a fan-fic
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Murder
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Story - 3/5
Originality - 3.5/5
Characters - 3.5/5
Writing Style - 4.5/5
Denouement - 3.5/5
Overall (Average) - 3.5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
No big feelings about this book. It was dragging at some points and could have been 100 pages shorter, but it’s okay
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide
Minor: Violence
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
the ending was ridiculously convoluted and drawn out, quite laughably so
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Suicide
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This just missed the mark on a Hercule Poirot mystery. Sophie Hannah did a good job writing the beloved character but I found myself jarred out of the story by an uncharacteristic remark from Poirot here and there. The book was longer and the pace was slower (there were still two hours left in the audiobook when Poirot began his reveal) than Agatha Christie novels usually are.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity, Blood
Minor: Animal death
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a very hard plot to follow. Like other reviewers, I was intrigued by the "Agatha Christie" signature all over the cover and missed the true author credit in much smaller font below. While Ms. Hannah did a great job of capturing the overall ambience of a Poirot-period book and some of his nuances there were things that just dragged the potential enjoyment out of the book.
- Although this is ostensibly a Poirot story, there are multiple chapters in which he does not appear in the middle of the book - you just follow Edward Catchpool and his bumbling investigation away from Poirot.
- The general plot itself was intriguing and had the flavor of an Agatha Christie mystery at the outset. Then about a third of the way through the book, it seemed like the options for resolution became unwieldy and got out of hand for Ms. Hannah. The plot really slowed down and became convoluted. By the time I got to the denouement, I felt overwhelmed by the presentation of the evidence. I kept wondering "Is this over yet?"
- There were too many minor witnesses and junk evidence they brought in to the story. Not only did it unnecessarily muddy the waters, it led to a very unsatisfying epilogue to resolve why that was junk evidence.
- Catchpool is a hard character to walk with through the story. He has a very difficult personality - self-critical, snippy, easily manipulated, jealous, and whiny. It is no wonder why Ms. Hannah wrote Poirot as barky toward Catchpool throughout the story. I mentally shouted at him myself.
That being said - I did enjoy the narration by Julian Rhind-Tutt. Honestly, that's the reason I stuck with the audiobook - I found his vocal acting very engaging. His Poirot sounded a lot like David Suchet and I loved that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity
dark
emotional
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've had this for years but have always been a bit reluctant to read it because I knew it wouldn't be as good as Christie's own novels. I got over that and I'm glad I've finally read it, but I also had quite a few reservations.
The plot felt very convoluted and it was the type of mystery where as a reader you aren't really given enough clues to formulate any of your own theories. I also prefer a mystery where there's a clear circle of suspects to consider but that wasn't the case here.
Another flaw for me was Catchpool, Poirot's bumbling detective sidekick, who seemed so clueless that it just became a little irritating. I imagine Hannah intended him to play the Hastings role but I didn't find it that effective.
I don't think I'll be going out of my way to read the rest of Hannah's Poirot stories but I still have about 40 of Christie's books to read anyway.
The plot felt very convoluted and it was the type of mystery where as a reader you aren't really given enough clues to formulate any of your own theories. I also prefer a mystery where there's a clear circle of suspects to consider but that wasn't the case here.
Another flaw for me was Catchpool, Poirot's bumbling detective sidekick, who seemed so clueless that it just became a little irritating. I imagine Hannah intended him to play the Hastings role but I didn't find it that effective.
I don't think I'll be going out of my way to read the rest of Hannah's Poirot stories but I still have about 40 of Christie's books to read anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder
Moderate: Infidelity