First look: Poirot returns in Closed Casket

Hercule Poirot is one of the world’s favourite detectives and although his creator, Agatha Christie, is long dead, he’s to return in a new novel penned by Sophie Hannah. We’ve just been sent an early review copy and… isn’t it shiny?

Released on 6 September, this is the second Poirot continuation novel to be written by Sophie Hannah. The first one was The Monogram Murders, sanctioned by Agatha Christie’s estate. No long is it referred to as Agatha Christie’s estate, though. It’s now Agatha Christie Ltd.

This time, the little Belgian is summoned to County Cork in Ireland where Lady Playford is about to sign a new will, cutting her two children out of her fortune. Alongside Poirot, Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard is a guest at the party, but neither is sure why. Poirot begins to suspect that Lady Playford herself is expecting a murderer to strike. When the crime inevitably is committed, the victim is not whom Poirot thought it might be. Cue the deployment of those little grey cells.

According to Sophie Hannah, this book will feel ‘spectacularly Agatha-ish’… which, I suppose, is the general idea. In a letter to reviewers, she writes: “The devoted Christie fans among you will know that in some of her very best books (Orient Express, Roger Ackroyd) the solution can be conveyed in four words. As a writer who tends towards complex, labyrinthine plots, I never dreamed that I would be capable of having a brilliant, simple-yet-unguessable four-word idea. I will probably never have one again, but I’m trying not to get depressed about that.”

You can pre-order your copy below, and check out a couple more images of this very shiny block foil cover treatment. We’d love to know what you thought of The Monogram Murders, so do post your comments below.