Scan barcode
A review by annashiv
The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah
1.0
This was so bad. Definitely the worst mystery book I've ever read, which is all the more a crime since it is sanctioned by the Agatha Christie estate.
Catchpool is the most incompetent and unlikable detective I've ever read. He literally does nothing competent. And he's afraid of dead bodies essentially. Like, he's in the wrong field. He had no original thoughts. His only role was to keep repeating how he had no idea what was going on and refute Poirot's theories (which are always correct). What was the point of having him otherwise? Couldn't tell you.
There is no subtlety or room for the reader to be smart or read between the lines. We are treated as dumb as Catchpool. The author carefully lays out everything in such a crude, transparent manner. And yet the one part she failed to lay out in a clear way was the end who-dun-it. It was disjointed, and far too detailed on points that didn't matter. Anyway, it was basically too much hand-holding and bad writing. No hints or clues were craftily hidden and pulled out later unexpectedly. You knew when something was a clue. It was just a matter of how it all fit together, which hinges on such convouted things like, they used this word in this order, so that MUST mean they meant this (several times). Or 'no one would do this in such a situation, where it is totally plausible some might.
Characters never felt real. They didn't act like real people. Their decisions and interpretations (especially in the village) were such caricatures and felt in no way natural or realistic.
The word that kept popping up in my mind almost every page was 'contrived.'
I have another book in the series by the author I got for like a dollar but I'm not going to bother wasting my time on it.
Did we really need more Poirot stories anyway? There are 47. And then there are more with Miss Marple and such. This did not need to exist.
Catchpool is the most incompetent and unlikable detective I've ever read. He literally does nothing competent. And he's afraid of dead bodies essentially. Like, he's in the wrong field. He had no original thoughts. His only role was to keep repeating how he had no idea what was going on and refute Poirot's theories (which are always correct). What was the point of having him otherwise? Couldn't tell you.
Spoiler
The plot twist/reveal involved one of my main gripes I had from the beginning of the book - the people were never verified to be who they checked in the hotel as. They never questioned if the witnesses who saw these people were all talking about the same person. It bothered me and it was important in this case, and it annoyed me that I caught on that from the beginning. Basically, if they had just done the most basic and obvious thing to establish from the beginning. If they had, the whole book would have fallen apart.There is no subtlety or room for the reader to be smart or read between the lines. We are treated as dumb as Catchpool. The author carefully lays out everything in such a crude, transparent manner. And yet the one part she failed to lay out in a clear way was the end who-dun-it. It was disjointed, and far too detailed on points that didn't matter. Anyway, it was basically too much hand-holding and bad writing. No hints or clues were craftily hidden and pulled out later unexpectedly. You knew when something was a clue. It was just a matter of how it all fit together, which hinges on such convouted things like, they used this word in this order, so that MUST mean they meant this (several times). Or 'no one would do this in such a situation, where it is totally plausible some might.
Characters never felt real. They didn't act like real people. Their decisions and interpretations (especially in the village) were such caricatures and felt in no way natural or realistic.
The word that kept popping up in my mind almost every page was 'contrived.'
I have another book in the series by the author I got for like a dollar but I'm not going to bother wasting my time on it.
Did we really need more Poirot stories anyway? There are 47. And then there are more with Miss Marple and such. This did not need to exist.