Sept 2016

The Monogram Murders – Sophie Hannah

Rebecca M’s choice.

And now for something completely different… Chosen because it would provide a different type of novel than the usual contemporary fictional drama chosen.Difficult for a book club unless you’re all avid crime fiction readers and really helps if you’ve read a lot of Agatha Christie. Not everybody fits that category but it was still an interesting discussion. Regardless of knowledge, all agreed that the protagonist, a detective very much in Poirot’s shadow, was without a doubt in the wrong job. Would Agatha Christie have written him that way as well? We thought unlikely. Was it as good as Agatha Christie would have written? Also unlikely. Is Sophie Hannah the right person for the reimagination of Poirot? Well Sophie Hannah (from experience of her other works) is very much of the psychological crime drama ilk and Agatha Christie very rarely strayed down that route, so in that case no. Sorry, Sophie Hannah.