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ellehartford's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating--particularly from a literary point of view, as someone who is slowly reading all the Poirot novels (we'll get to Miss Marple eventually, haha!).
The actual mystery is precisely what you'd expect from Christie and Poirot. I think what interested me was that it really does read like an adaptation of the play: much of the characters' movements and dialogue absolutely seems like it could have come out of stage directions and a script. That's not a bad thing. For me, since I recently had the pleasure of seeing The Mousetrap, I found it really cool to be able to "see" in this novel the way Christie was envisioning Black Coffee. (And from my understanding, she wrote the Black Coffee script first, so I found it enjoyable to compare the two plays and see where The Mousetrap built upon Black Coffee.)
It's worth it for anyone who's serious about Agatha Christie, of course, but it's also a fun little mystery in its own right!
The actual mystery is precisely what you'd expect from Christie and Poirot. I think what interested me was that it really does read like an adaptation of the play: much of the characters' movements and dialogue absolutely seems like it could have come out of stage directions and a script. That's not a bad thing. For me, since I recently had the pleasure of seeing The Mousetrap, I found it really cool to be able to "see" in this novel the way Christie was envisioning Black Coffee. (And from my understanding, she wrote the Black Coffee script first, so I found it enjoyable to compare the two plays and see where The Mousetrap built upon Black Coffee.)
It's worth it for anyone who's serious about Agatha Christie, of course, but it's also a fun little mystery in its own right!
yodisborg's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Feels like a copy of a Poirot story. Seemed rehash of other mysteries
bymaniak's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
thebibliobibuli's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
mbpm's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
3.0
Relatively straightforward and full compared to previous Christie fare. Not a miss like Blue Train but just a light touch instead of a hit.
katie_sterk's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cressida's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.0
This is based on a play Agatha Christie wrote, and I think while it was engaging ultimately it is one I could revisit in a year or two and I would have forgotten about everything. I would love to see this done as a play, hopefully I can do that sometime.
kwhaleshark's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0