'Closed Casket' is the new Poirot novel
Dr.Sheppard
Oxford, UK
Yesterday at the Frankfurt Book Fair, it was announced that Sophie Hannah has been commissioned to write her second Hercule Poirot novel. Publication will be in September 2016, the 126th aniversary of the appearance of Hercule Poirot. 
Comments
Dr Sheppard
I am not Able to Attend the Festival for reasons I don't wish to go into here Secondly I don't wish to read the Book which I don't approve of, It might be brilliant AS A BOOK I am not saying it isn't just that I don't believe it should ever have been Written because Agatha Christie Killed off Poirot and Agatha Christie is the only person who should in my view Authorize the Writing by someone else of a Book with Poirot, I have stated over and over again that if Sophie had chosen another Character Miss Marple or Bundle or Battle for instance to have as the lead Character I would applaud the idea but I do not want to waste my time reading a book I Fundamentally disagree with, If you enjoyed it I am very pleased fpr you but I will not ever read it or any others the Writer Writes featuring Poirot, I dpn't quite understand your last point If Agatha Christie had written a book and Harper Collins had Published after of course I would read it Curtain was published years after it was written wasn't it? And I have read that.
I have just purchased a full ticket to the Agatha Christie Birthday Celebrations on 15th September in Torquay. Part of the programme will be Sophie Hannah reading an extract from the new Poirot Novel Closed Casket, which I am looking forward to.
I was at an Agatha Christie conference on 20th June, held at Exeter University, where Sophie was a Keynote speaker, and she read a chapter from the new book. Poirot again teams up with Edward Catchpool, but there is an intriguing murderer 'that challenges Poirot's theories'. Sophie had a copy of the American paperback with her, from which she read the extract and it certainly captivated the audience and there were many questions from the enthusiastic fans. Can't wait to read it on 6th September.
In seeking to qualify what is Christie's legacy, I wonder what fellow forum members will think if I say that, in this day and age, Poirot is rather like the television character Dr Who. He can come in all different guises, and change his character completely, and it still fans are enthusiastic about 'the brand' as some have called it. Just as it doesn't actually matter who act as Dr Who, it doesn't matter a great degree who writes the Poirot story: it is still 'the' not 'her' (as in Sophie Hannah) new Poirot. He is a bit like Father Christmas now, too. Anyone can be him, and we still love him for all the warm and nostalgic associations.?? I'm not sure a university is quite the just setting for a conference, however, because it suggest a certain set of academic conventions, in terms of authenticity and primary sources.
I thought the use of 'her' might be more acceptable to individuals that feel 'the' should only be associated with Agatha Christie herself. Anyway, the plot for the new book sounds interesting; Sophie had to give the audience a little background to the story, as the chapter she read was from the middle of the book.
In this novel, Sophie Hannah has developed the relationship between Poirot and Catchpool and the story is much more enjoyable to read, Catchpool appears to have matured in his ability to solve a crime. There are all the usual aspects of the Christie story that fans will love, and as you might expect, there is the gathering of all possible suspects where Poirot explains how he solved the crime, however, at 41 pages, it is perhaps a little too long. This is a story that all Poirot fans will enjoy and should read. Congratulations to Sophie Hannah. I can well imagine there will be a further story to come.
Perhaps the current following of this site are more serious in their fanship than you give them credit for being. If I went to a book club to study and discuss the works of Shakespeare, I would not expect to be handed the graphic novel version of Macbeth. We like Agatha Christie - that's why we like discussing her books.
And I think there should be more discussions on the books. I've been reading NEMESIS as of late and I've been adding onto a post from the book on the Miss Marple forum, trying to revive the discussion but there hasn't been much feedback.
@Griselda, you make an interesting point about the graphic novel (of which there are some Christie stories in this form), my own research and interest is the AC novels, however, you will find Christie fans discussing the film adaptations and TV dramas on this site. So, as the Closed Casket is being promoted on this site by AC Ltd, it is the correct place to discuss it - particularly with fans of Christie and her famous detectives.
The previous threads to this discussion has had 134 views and 17 comments (to date) and the thread to The Monogram Murders has 1.3K views and 97 comments. People are interested.
We have no idea what Agatha Christie would have thought about this, well in a way we could make a guess based on the fact that she killed off Poirot.