The Monogram Murders, Chapters 16 - 24 Starts anytime.

[Tina]

Reserving last chptr. and Epilogue for reveal, wrap.

No rush. Just erecting thread should anyone want to progress to next set of chapters before they forget details they might want to post and discuss.

All threads stay open so one can post well into the month.

See back here in a few.

[Anastasia]

Starting to get to the end. Certainly getting confusing. You can't believe anyone. Not impressed with Catchpool .With his performance in this case, it is unbelievable that he has a job with Scotland Yard.

[Tina]

Yes, the end got a little busy for me. A great mystery IMHO is multi-layered but I felt one less layer on the last section would've helped. But it's not boring, that's for sure.

I still have to give Ms. Hannah props for taking this project on. I think with forthcoming Poirots (hope there are more) she'll grow into the voice. I still like it more than not.

[Anastasia]

It's not boring and I love having another Poirot. I found it very slow though and certainly not in the style of Agatha Christie. It seemed to take a long time to be introduced to the background and suspects. Everything seemed to be dragged out. It's not really the style of detective fiction that I enjoy and if it wasn't for Poirot, I would not probably read more of this author.

[Mark Pghfan]

I'm afraid I agree with Anastasia--this is not Poirot and not the style of Agatha Christie. I am not quite done yet, but perhaps a Christie-like surprise ending would help a bit. Should be finished in a day or two.

[Mark Pghfan]

I finished the book last night and am totally confused. While Christie's plot were complex, somehow they all seemed to make sense. Not so here. I think I'll read the last chapter again and go through that long, exhaustive explanation by Poirot and see if I can understand the thing.

[Tina]

I thought it was me, Pghfan. But I agree, the wrap was a bit confusing. I would still, however, read another project by this author. I didn't have a problem picturing Poirot moving through the story but maybe that's just me. For a first, I think she did a good job.

[Tina]

As we draw this discussion to a close please note that these threads will remain open and additional comments are welcomed any time. Meantime, any last impressions, comments on the plotting, storyline, characters etc. - feel free to opine.

I'm wondering how Catchpool will work out in the future. A bit on the dim side but then he's near beginning of his crime detection career. Maybe he'll mature, hone his skills.

Either way, thank you all who participated in Monogram Murders, Sophie Hannah's first Hercule Poirot mystery. I do hope the Christie Estate will allow more. I will read them and see the author progress.

So, it was great to meet our new PI friends. Thanks all for participating and making this discussion a success.

[Starfish]

Off thread, but not really off topic.

To ease the Poirot withdrawal pains, has this group considered "Black Coffee", one of Agatha Christie's several plays?
Charles Osborne worked the play into book form. It is not considered one of A/C's best but it is an original Christie as to the idea, the story line and the characters.
The book does read like a play, despite Osborne's best efforts. He could not capture Christies prose. Also, Poirot doesn't seem to like Hastings very much. He belittles him and Hastings is often busy defending himself. Nevertheless, it is an original A/C

Interestingly, this book contains a teaser for another play to book effort by Osborne: "The Unexpected Guest".
To my great surprise what there is of it, all 8 pages(and I wanted more!), read like an intriguing mystery. As Poirot would say, zut alors! I am tempted to find this second Osborne book to see if the very promising beginning holds.

[Tina]

Hey, Starfish! Good to see you. I have read Black Coffee and liked it. I remember the diagram (one of the room layout) which was a fun touch.
Unexpected Guest sounds familiar too. I know I read two of the Osborne books. Thought the second one had to do with Red Spider...something like that.
Now there's a mystery movie coming to PBS (believe it's PBS). Murder Comes To Pemberly. I'll def. want to see that one.
Good to see you again. Enjoy much.

[Mark Pghfan]

I think that Charles Osbourne turned three of Christie's plays into novels--Black Coffee, Unexpected Guest and Spider's Web. As plays, none of them were particularly big hits like Mousetrap or Witness for the Prosecution. Spider's Web has a lot of humor in it, though.

[Tina]

Thanks, Pghfan. I may or may not have read Unexpected Guest but I did Spider's Web.

Oh, I got it slightly incorrect: it's Death Comes To Pemberly not Murder...tamato tomato. lol

[James]

Sorry I'm late. About the Osborne adaptations, I would welcome discussing those. I loved "The Unexpected Guest" actually. That would be fun. Those books are fairly short I remember; I think we can discuss one in a period of maybe 2 weeks.

[Tina]

I think we're all finsihed with the book, James. I'd say it's safe to post spoilers. Maybe just mark them as such.

Would you read another Poirot by Sophie Hannah?


As for moi, I would. She just cut her Poirot teeth here and will probably develop him and plotting, storyline etc. in forth coming episodes. I'd give her another try.

[Allison]

So sorry I missed all the discussion for this book - we were in a hotel for 2 weeks while we finished the (5 month long) purchase of our house and had no internet for the first week in the house. Got internet just last night.

Anastasia & Tina - yes, I agree with you that Catchpool seems kind of dim for a Detective, shouldn't he have some skills on his own to make that rank? It seems as if he is basically an interviewer for Poirot. On the other hand, if he were as good as Poirot then the book would be about Catchpool, lol.

I would probably read another installment written by this author, I think she did a pretty good job over all.

Thank you Tina, again, for inviting me to join this group. I'll try not to move again, lol.

[Mark Pghfan]

Although Hastings was not a particularly good detective (despite what he may have thought) he was a good foil for Poirot. I didn't think Catchpool was either. Catchpool was already an detective, apparently with some successes to his name, which makes this even more incomprehensible.

[Tina]

Allison, life stuff happens and we heed the call. You are more than welcomed to stay and hang with us as we already consider you an integral part of our gang. (Just try getting away. lol).

True that, Pghfan. Yeah, Catchpool did have a few succeses and is also still pretty new to the game so Papa Poirot showed him some moves and all will be well.

[Allison]

I think I like Hastings better because I liked the way he was portrayed by the actor in all the TV movies, etc. He seemed real, approachable and funny.I have no "visual" for Catchpool. I don't take him very seriously and he has no sense of humor.