In 2014, with the blessing of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, Sophie published a new Poirot novel, The Monogram Murders. She has since published two more Poirot novels, Closed Casket and The Mystery of Three Quarters. The Killings at Kingfisher Hill is Sophie Hannah's fourth Poirot novel and I am thrilled to be joining the blog tour.
SYNOPSIS:
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 mystery of who killed Frank Devonport? And can Poirot find the real murderer in time to save an innocent woman from the gallows?
MY THOUGHTS:
In true Agatha Christie style the storyline was very intriguing and a complicated puzzle to solve. A women wrongly accused of murder, another women who confesses to the very same murder and a third women who is terrified that she will be murdered if she sits on a certain seat on the coach. Utterly baffling. And then to add more bewilderment to the plot another body appears!!
This novel oozes the well loved features of the golden age of crime fiction with a large country house, a host of colourful characters - all of who are suspects, plenty of red-herrings along the way, confessions, murder and a gathering at the end for Poirot to deliver his findings and solve the answers to the crimes that only he can decipher. Pure brilliance.
I loved Poirot's sidekick Catchpool, who narrates the novel. Like all good sidekicks Catchpool is a loyal and trusting companion, and compliments Poirot's brash character by adding a softer, slightly humorous personality to the novel. For me, Catchpool is the only likeable character in the novel probably because he is the narrator and you get an insight into his thoughts and opinions, but also I found his determination in working alongside Poirot and trying and beat him in solving the crime, even though Poirot is far superior in this task, very endearing.
Overall, a delightful read, deliciously complex and a clever discombobulating mystery.
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