Reviews

The Monogram Murders, by Agatha Christie, Sophie Hannah

spicywine's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

Catchpool’s an idiot. Poirot had more patience than I did!

k5tog's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Hercule Poirot is back - albeit under a different author’s pen. Poor, hapless Inspector Catchpool is left struggling to match his “little grey cells” with Poirot’s as they try to solve the mystery of 3 murders at the Bloxham Hotel that appear to,occur almost simultaneously. Poirot suspects much right away, while Catchpool grapples with uneasiness at being around dead bodies (rather odd for an inspector...).

It’s hard to recreate a character that someone else did such a good job creating in the first place. Some things seemed pretty well done; others not so much. Yet, overall it was a fun read.
.

readingvoyage's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

vita_s_west's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

cholderly's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

annie_122's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

mxinky's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This was a fine book. It seems a lot of the bad reviews are based on people comparing it to Christie and, as someone who has read nearly everything Christie ever wrote, I think many people do not remember what Christie's writing is like. Maybe they are comparing this novel to the Miss Marple or Poirot TV shows? I'd hope not!

Poirot is silly. Christie wrote him that way. Otherwise he would not be so proud of his mustache and he would not repeat "the little gray cells" in every single story. There's no reason to be protective of Poirot.

Try it, maybe you'll like it!

rants_n_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

a9nes's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

marilynsaul's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.0

What a convoluted, disastrous mess. I could forgive the author for coming nowhere close to portraying Poirot. After all, she's no Agatha Christie. I could also almost forgive her for Catchpool, an irritating idiot whose only role was for Poirot to correct and for Catchpool to grouse "why didn't I see that". But the plot and the reveal were so entirely ridiculous and such an outrageously complicated attempt to create an Agatha Christie-like detective story, that it was a laughable parody not coming close to Christie's talent. And it was an insufferable 400 pages.