The Monogram Murders - New Poirot Mystery

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Comments

  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    I hope Hannah is reading all this she will probably take the nice comments and close her mind off to the bad comments without a Care for the people who don't like the idea.
  • SunsetsSunsets Philippines
    I agree with @Tommy_A_Jones I am not really a fan of this book cause, I mean, I'm okay with fanfiction, but the moment they publish that then it just has to stop like,"excuse me, are those your characters, did you make them first? I think not"
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    I love the idea of Fanfiction, It means that people can play at being an Author and who wouldn't want to put teir favourite Characters from any book into an Idea of theirs but In This case as the book in going to be on General Release it is wrong, It is wrong for any body even with the Family of the Authors permission to write a book with a Character which was Killed off by the Author, do it with a Character not killed off by the Author by all means but Poirot was Killed off so the idea is wrong. 
  • @Tommy_A_Jones, be sure to let us know if she tweets you back...
    Several of AC's books are very similar in their lighthearted, very British style to Wodehouse. I think it took her time to develop her own unique flavor. But then lots of people were influenced by him... and she actually dedicates a book to him, and he liked her books (which makes it even more ok). She says somewhere that at first she was thinking of Holmes which is why she had the Poirot-Hastings duo.
    Actually, I'm usually not crazy about fan fiction. For instance, all these continuations and variations on Pride and Prejudice. However, I realize that it proves the huge cultural and social influence of the novel. It is, however, different when it's an official book - published by the estate. That gives it a legitimacy. As @Tommy_A_Jones said, that creates a difficulty when they choose to resurrect the detective that AC purposely killed. So my conclusion is that this book has to be extremely good to justify this move.
    I'll leave it to you guys to tell me whether it makes the grade.
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    She hasn't tweeted back yet, I can't say I am surprised, I read an Interview in a Magazine with another Crime Writer and she seemed arrogant and only took on board the |Good comments and ignored the bad ones and I would think for her own piece of mind she would have to ignore comments she doesn't like.
  • I am a wait and see person also but I bet if Agatha could she would buy a copy and read it with relish just to see what tricks Hercule is up to and to make sure that his 'Little grey cells' are working 100%

  • roamingrover86roamingrover86 United Kingdom
    I'm not at all looking forward to this release, It is sad that the legacy of Christie's work is being sold as a commodity for selfish gains. Got nothing against the author but if she really wanted to write why not create your own characters and test them against Christie's. You can milk the name but you can never match the originality!  
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    I wish I could Cut and paste then I would cut and paste what you just put and send it to the Writer and Matthew Pritchard so that he knows the depth of feeling amongst some people and knew how little this project makes people think of him or the Writer, someone should point I out to them. 
  • When I was 8 or 9 I started reading a lot of mystery novels, among them AC. At that time I read them for the plot and the fun of it. But later, I began rereading AC novels to get to know the author. Every word is a little tiny window into the mystery that was Agatha Christie. In The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Poirot compliments Dr. Sheppard for his reticence and modesty in recounting his version of the murder. I think in that way, Agatha resembles Dr. Sheppard, as well as Sir Eustace Pedlar in The Man in the Brown Suit. But although she intentionally remains in the shadow, we can see Agatha dimly taking shape, it wouldn't be overdramatic to say "as in a glass darkly," in her character descriptions. And just as Poirot gradually sees the character of the murderer emerging through the anonymous letters in the ABC murders, we can gradually see Agatha Christie emerging in her writing. And she is absolutely fascinating. I consider her one of my best friends even though I never met her. So this is a very long way of saying that I couldn't care less about Poirot, Poirot is only interesting to me as a very small dark window into the mind of Agatha Christie. And therefore, if I had my druthers, I would let Poirot rest in peace, along with Miss Marple and the other children of Agatha's pen.
  • AgathasmykidAgathasmykid British Columbia, Canada
    Hi everyone.  I have still not decided if I am going to read this or not.  The website of the hotel is kind of fun however I tend to lean toward Poirot being left alone.  One of the many things that makes Agatha Christie so special is that she is the only one to have written the stories of the characters she has created. 
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    What Hotel?
  • TuppenceTuppence City of London, United Kingdom
    What Hotel?
    It has been revealed that the Bloxham Hotel, soon to reopen in London, is central to The Monogram Murders. More info and a chance to win tickets to their exclusive reopening here: http://www.bloxhamhotel.com/
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

    Oh Thanks

  • AgathasmykidAgathasmykid British Columbia, Canada

    Tuppence is right.  You can access it from this website too.  Some neat features, however it does some like a website mostly developed to promote the new Poirot book.

  • Pat_septemberPat_september Gauteng, South Africa
    Just read the first chapter of The Monogram Murders :) Sophie Hannah is not loosing any time; quite a few well chiseled details, surely leading somewhere :)
  • TuppenceTuppence City of London, United Kingdom
    Anyone else looking to read the first chapter of The Monogram Murders will find it available to download free here: www.AgathaChristie.com/the-monogram-murders/first-chapter

    Currently available in English (UK), English (US) and Portuguese (BR).
  • RinRin Hong Kong, China
    The Chinese version is out as well. The translation is a bit exaggerated as usual.
  • ChristeryChristery Rhode Island, United States
    I'm reading the book now - about 4 chapters in. I must say I am enjoying it and it is not bad. Is it Christie's Poirot? No, it is Hannah's version of Poirot but she has captured enough of him to be recognizable and familiar. Instead of Hastings, we have a new character but he serves the same purpose and there is that fun and familiar back and forth of Poirot seeing things in a different light and seeming to be off on his own tangent. I must say it is fun to have Poirot involved in a new mystery - I just hope it all comes out alright and rings true to the character. To those purists who are having fits, I say just keep in mind that your favorite Television characters ( Doctor Who, Jessica Fletcher, Colombo, etc.) are written by many different people and no one is up in arms - we still enjoy them. I think we are all in agreement that Agatha Christie was truly one of a kind and it's sad that she isn't here to write more novels but I don't feel that should stop us from enjoying a new take on things. Oh well, I'm off to read some more and we'll see how it goes.
  • AgathasmykidAgathasmykid British Columbia, Canada
    Christery said:
    I'm reading the book now - about 4 chapters in. I must say I am enjoying it and it is not bad. Is it Christie's Poirot? No, it is Hannah's version of Poirot but she has captured enough of him to be recognizable and familiar. Instead of Hastings, we have a new character but he serves the same purpose and there is that fun and familiar back and forth of Poirot seeing things in a different light and seeming to be off on his own tangent. I must say it is fun to have Poirot involved in a new mystery - I just hope it all comes out alright and rings true to the character. To those purists who are having fits, I say just keep in mind that your favorite Television characters ( Doctor Who, Jessica Fletcher, Colombo, etc.) are written by many different people and no one is up in arms - we still enjoy them. I think we are all in agreement that Agatha Christie was truly one of a kind and it's sad that she isn't here to write more novels but I don't feel that should stop us from enjoying a new take on things. Oh well, I'm off to read some more and we'll see how it goes.


    That is the whole point though. She was the only one to have written books involving her characters.  That made things even more special. Now that this door is opened, who knows how many authors are going to get a chance to write "a Christie".  Also, Christie's name is still on the front of the book i nreally big letters, that is something that is not right.

     

     

  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    Christery, the problem with your argument about Doctor Who, Jessica Fletcher and Columbo is that The Series's came first and so you can't compare, Midsomer Murders went beyond the books but no-one has written a book with Barnaby apart from Caroline Graham 
  • I have just finished reading chapter one of The Monogram Murders.  To me it was dull and inauthentic, and Sophie Hannah's style is terribly irritating.  I was fed up with all that Flyaway Hair, Flyaway Hair, Flyaway Hair by page 10. 

     

    Frankly I couldn't care less what happens in chapter two.  I'd rather stick pins in my eyes than read any further.

  • I have read the new Poirot book and quite enjoyed it naturally it is not Christie but it is a good mystery written from a different perspective and because Poirot is for a short time absent from his own home it give shope that he will return and in future books Mtiss Lemon and theothers like Japp and Hastings may come along again.

    One point of note sh has Poirot breaking into the French language a lot more than necessary sometimes to people who clearly would not understand what is said but they agree...

  • @SueRaines

    It was obvious in chapter one that Sophie Hannah was going to be tiresome by showing off how much French she knows.  Agatha Christie was far too intelligent to patronise her readers in that way.   

  • alanalialanali San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
    edited September 2014

    I completed the first, downloadable, chapter. It was different, but enjoyable nonetheless. If read from a purists' stance, anything Hannah wrote would offend an aficionado's sensibilities. While a person who has not read or heard of Agatha Christie- they do exist!- would suffer a disservice by being introduced to AC through this book.

    So far the chapter on its own is commendable and has not overstayed its welcome.

  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

    If Purists are  going to be offended by the book and people who have never heard of Agatha Christie would suffer a disservice being introduced to Agatha Christie through this book you must surely come to the conclusion that Hannah should have created her own Character, On  Commercial Point of view, I would have thought f she wanted to get people on side she would have had Hastings, Japp, Miss Lemon, Ariadne, Battle, Spence or even Colonel Raced appear in the Book but I haven't read it and will only read it if given it as a present or in the unlikely event I buy a Kindle so please correct me if there are mnore than just Poirot as a Christie Recurring Character in the book. 

  • alanalialanali San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
    Fair enough @Tommy_A_Jones. But I am honestly ambivalent on whether Hannah should have created her own character. The relevant persons gave their blessings for this venture and the book is in existence. I'll read it so I can critique it, and also because it was released on my birthday! :D
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    The Only person who has a right to giv e their blessing didn't because she is Dead, and to me the only person who has the right to give their blessing is her AGATHA CHRISTIE
  • Tommy_A_JonesTommy_A_Jones Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
    What does that mean Stargazer.tes?
  • AgathasmykidAgathasmykid British Columbia, Canada
    My wife offered to give it to me as a Christmas present and I said "no thank you."  Still bugs me that Agatha's name is in big letters on the front of the book.
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