andiwin's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
entrescritos_ynovelas's review against another edition
4.0
La verdad es que me ha encantado la edición y la historia. Pese a no haber sido escrito por la mítica autora, este libro te permite volver a las historias de misterio y detectives protagonizadas por el archiconocido Hercule Poirot. Muy entretenido y fácil de seguir, siempre te deja con la intriga, pensando en quién ha podido ser el asesino, hasta el final. He tardado, quizá, más en leerlo porque lo empecé cuando me fui de viaje, pero en el momento en que lo retomé no pude parar de leer hasta terminarlo. Es cierto que la pluma de la autora difiere un poco de la original, pero a los fans de los detectives les invito a darle una oportunidad, los sorprenderá.
rants_n_reads's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
agnieszka_na_grzbietowisku's review
2.0
It was an ok novel, but the ending, when Poirot tells who the murderer is, was a bit off. The admission of guilt and the story of the culprit took sooo much time that it made it all unrealistic and unconviencing.
blarin_erin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bellawinterbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I apparently don’t know how to read the cover of a book and only realized halfway through that the author was in fact not Agatha Christie, but one approved by her estate after her death. With that being said, I loved it! It stays so close to the original authors style! The twists and turns weren’t at all expected, and it wrapped up rather nicely! This was a well written book and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes suspense or murder mystery books. Great read!
mizza895's review against another edition
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
chazzareads's review
3.0
The Closed Casket is Sophie Hannahs second Hercule Poirot mystery - The Monogram Murders being her first.
The story is set in Lady Playford's mansion, where she has decided to invite Hercule and Edward Catchpool to a dinner party along with her two children, their partners, two lawyers, her secretary and his nurse in order to tell them the changes to her will - That her children, Harry and Claudia, have been cut off and instead her fortunes should go to her ill secretary who has weeks to live.
I rated 'The Monogram Murders' 5 stars as i absolutely loved the plot and its characters. However, in this book i feel like it was lacking the main character, Hercule. It seemed to me that this was an Edward Catchpool mystery instead of a Hercule Poirot mystery.
While Catchpool and Poirot were investigating, Poirot was hardly there! I know the Monogram Murders was mainly set in the narrative of Catchpool, but at least Poirot was in every chapter. However, in this book he was absent from quite a few chapters. And with this, i am not sure how he was able to solve the murder while being absent and only gaining knowledge from what Catchpool was telling him.
I also felt like Hercule Poirot was dumbed down this time. Last book, he was very smart and could have instant theories from a little piece of evidence and noticed every little detail in order to lead to the answer. However, in this book he was not so quick and even missed big details such as
I gave it three stars as it look me way longer to read this book than it would normally - over three weeks! I can usually read a book within a few days, but i just felt like the start dragged a bit and because of this, I was dreaded getting back to it. But i'm glad i didn't add this to my DNF list as i generally enjoy Sophie Hannahs writing and novels, and will be looking forward to reading the next Hercule Poirot Mystery.
The story is set in Lady Playford's mansion, where she has decided to invite Hercule and Edward Catchpool to a dinner party along with her two children, their partners, two lawyers, her secretary and his nurse in order to tell them the changes to her will - That her children, Harry and Claudia, have been cut off and instead her fortunes should go to her ill secretary who has weeks to live.
I rated 'The Monogram Murders' 5 stars as i absolutely loved the plot and its characters. However, in this book i feel like it was lacking the main character, Hercule. It seemed to me that this was an Edward Catchpool mystery instead of a Hercule Poirot mystery.
Spoiler
Firstly, i did like the set up of Josephs murder, and generally was lost to how it would play out. But i did kind of guess that Kimpton and Claudia would be in the mix somehow. I didn't really like their characters, and felt like the whole obsession with Shakespeare was a bit dragged, and so it got a bit tedious.While Catchpool and Poirot were investigating, Poirot was hardly there! I know the Monogram Murders was mainly set in the narrative of Catchpool, but at least Poirot was in every chapter. However, in this book he was absent from quite a few chapters. And with this, i am not sure how he was able to solve the murder while being absent and only gaining knowledge from what Catchpool was telling him.
Spoiler
Carrying on from this, at the beginning Catchpool said he was avoiding Poirot as he said since the Monogram Murders were solved, he was labeled as the 'dumb incompetent officer' and so didn't want to be around Poirot. But then we hear no more of this, and he doesn't bring this up to Poirot. Instead, saying he missed him not being at the mansion and being best buds again. I was a bit confused by this.I also felt like Hercule Poirot was dumbed down this time. Last book, he was very smart and could have instant theories from a little piece of evidence and noticed every little detail in order to lead to the answer. However, in this book he was not so quick and even missed big details such as
Spoiler
Josephs face being obvious to poisoning and saying the water was bitter.I gave it three stars as it look me way longer to read this book than it would normally - over three weeks! I can usually read a book within a few days, but i just felt like the start dragged a bit and because of this, I was dreaded getting back to it. But i'm glad i didn't add this to my DNF list as i generally enjoy Sophie Hannahs writing and novels, and will be looking forward to reading the next Hercule Poirot Mystery.
organchordsandlightning's review against another edition
4.0
One-sentence synopsis: Poirot and his new buddy Catchpool are called to witness a dinner party, wherein a rich old woman changes her will so that everything goes to her terminally ill secretary - unfortunately, he gets murdered overnight.
While it wasn't perfect by far, I did like this leaps and bounds better than the Monogram Murders, and that in itself is deserving of 4 stars, because I really did not like the Monogram Murders.
The cast of characters is a lot more likable this time around. Don't get me wrong, they're all jerks, but jerks that you love to hate. I would've been pleased with any one of them being the actual murderer. I also liked Catchpool a lot more in general - having gotten over Hastings' tragic disappearance from these novels, Catchpool is an okay replacement. There's a hilarious scene in the beginning that's practically just "Poirot and Catchpool wishes they were not invited to this dinner party."
Unfortunately, there are still some serious pacing issues in the novel. It feels like it takes half the book to find out who Iris is, and she ends up being the character that closes up the entire thing. There's also some clues that don't feel particularly clever or fair - for instance, Sophie thinks she's telling the truth, but it turns out that she's just seriously misremembering and this comes out in the last 30 pages of the book. I also didn't think Scotcher's big twist was all that shocking. While he was faking for different reasons than I thought he might be, I thought it was going to be obvious that he wasn't actually dying.
While I thought it was a definite improvement over #1, it still felt weak towards the end and not like an actual mystery the audience was supposed to jump into. Still looking forward to #3!
While it wasn't perfect by far, I did like this leaps and bounds better than the Monogram Murders, and that in itself is deserving of 4 stars, because I really did not like the Monogram Murders.
The cast of characters is a lot more likable this time around. Don't get me wrong, they're all jerks, but jerks that you love to hate. I would've been pleased with any one of them being the actual murderer. I also liked Catchpool a lot more in general - having gotten over Hastings' tragic disappearance from these novels, Catchpool is an okay replacement. There's a hilarious scene in the beginning that's practically just "Poirot and Catchpool wishes they were not invited to this dinner party."
Unfortunately, there are still some serious pacing issues in the novel. It feels like it takes half the book to find out who Iris is, and she ends up being the character that closes up the entire thing. There's also some clues that don't feel particularly clever or fair - for instance, Sophie thinks she's telling the truth, but it turns out that she's just seriously misremembering and this comes out in the last 30 pages of the book. I also didn't think Scotcher's big twist was all that shocking. While he was faking for different reasons than I thought he might be, I thought it was going to be obvious that he wasn't actually dying.
While I thought it was a definite improvement over #1, it still felt weak towards the end and not like an actual mystery the audience was supposed to jump into. Still looking forward to #3!
constancely's review against another edition
challenging
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0