A review by chazzareads
Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah
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.