Description
The world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot—legendary star of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile—puts his little grey cells to work solving a baffling Christmas mystery.
It’s December 19, 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are looking forward to a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday, when they are called upon to investigate the murder of a man in a Norfolk hospital ward. Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother, insists that Poirot stay with her in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while he solves the case.
As Poirot digs into the mystery, he discovers that the murdered man was a retired post office master, and by all accounts very well-liked. The local constabulary’s investigation failed to uncover how someone could have entered a hospital room and killed him under the noses of the staff. Cynthia’s friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital, and his wife is convinced he will be the killer’s next victim, though she refuses to explain why.
With no obvious motive or suspect, Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to escape from this nightmare scenario and get home in time for Christmas. Meanwhile, someone else—someone utterly ruthless—also has ideas about what ought to happen to Hercule Poirot…
My Thoughts
I’ve been hit or miss with the Sophie Hannah Poirot/Catchpool series. I enjoy Hannah’s writing but I have found past entries in the series to be a bit muddled with convoluted plots and way too many characters. They’ve all been salvaged by Hannah’s brilliant writing, though.
While I found a bit of both in this newest, there was something about this story that kept me reading. I have come to appreciate the relationship between Poirot and Catchpool, and in this instance, Catchpool’s overbearing mother adds an interesting and maddening wrinkle.
The end result is that this twisty mystery takes some careful reading to keep everything straight, but it’s worth it. Fans of the series will enjoy it and I will be recommending it to mystery fans.
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Published By: William Morrow
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy
It's All About the Book 