⭐️Intelligent, Inventive,Intriguing ⭐️

It’s been a while since I read any Agatha Christie books. This Poirot novel by Sophie Hannah gave me all the right Mysterious vibes. A crossover between a classic Agatha Novel and Sherlock Holmes, the book is deliciously twisty with a little bit of mental health awareness thrown in too. While I enjoyed the plot, the investigative techniques & Poirot’s charm, I felt a little blindsided by the fact that Inspector Catchpool was narrating the story. His descriptions were acurate and he is a highly entertaining fellow, but a lot of his confusions hindered me from putting the facts together too. He was little too passive for an Inspector

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

SYNOPSIS (from Goodreads)->

Hercule Poirot is travelling by luxury passenger coach from London to the exclusive Kingfisher Hill estate. Richard Devonport has summoned him to prove that his fiancée, Helen, is innocent of the murder of his brother, Frank. There is one strange condition attached to this request: Poirot must conceal his true reason for being there from the rest of the Devonport family. On the coach, a distressed woman leaps up, demanding to disembark. She insists that if she stays in her seat, she will be murdered. A seat-swap is arranged, and the rest of the journey passes without incident. But Poirot has a bad feeling about it, and his fears are later confirmed when a body is discovered in the Devonports’ home with a note that refers to “the seat that you shouldn’t have sat in.”

Could this new murder and the peculiar incident on the coach be clues to solving the mystery of who killed Frank Devonport? And can Poirot find the real murderer in time to save an innocent woman from the gallows?

REVIEW->

The Plot->

The plot is brilliant and the several threads of mystery that the Author spun are quite captivating. Each new discovery opened a can of worms and it was getting challenging to keep track – in a good way. A Poirot fan wouldn’t be disappointed with the way the story unfolds and how there are things to be figured out till the last page.

The Characters->

The story is told from Catchpool’s point of view and so we only get to see his impression of the characters. I would have liked to see Poirot’s take on everyone but Alas!, That is only wishful thinking. My most liked character would be Daisy. She has a bigger role to play in the book and her personality is very unique and delicately constructed. I admire the risk the Author has taken with this character.

The Writing ->

The writing is certainly commendable. The Devonports are a complicated tribe and Hannah has painted their family ties vividly and in exceptional language. The pain and emotions of the characters sprung out from the pages and the story is a powerful family drama as much as a suspense. I would love to read more of her writing too.

 There is a mystery surrounding the ring on the cover of the book and answer to that did not satisfy me completely. I may have to discuss the book to process my thoughts on that.

Thank you William Morrow Books for gifting me a copy of this book.

Favorite Quotes ->

‘Have you ever tried to persuade a stubborn man that he is wrong and, at the same time, to convince him that you do not disagree with him at all?’

‘Blind obedience in the face of tyranny, it seemed to me’

‘They created a new reality that they could stand to live in – one in which nothing had happened, none of the unbearable, shameful things.’