The Monogram Murders by Sophie Hannah Narrator: Julian Rhind-Tutt
Series: New Hercule Poirot Mysteries #1
Published by Harper Audio on Sept. 9, 2014
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 11 hrs 12 mins
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
Add on Goodreads
Hercule Poirot's quiet supper in a London coffeehouse is interrupted when a young woman confides to him that she is about to be murdered. She is terrified – but begs Poirot not to find and punish her killer. Once she is dead, she insists, justice will have been done.
Later that night, Poirot learns that three guests at a fashionable London Hotel have been murdered, and a cufflink has been placed in each one’s mouth. Could there be a connection with the frightened woman? While Poirot struggles to put together the bizarre pieces of the puzzle, the murderer prepares another hotel bedroom for a fourth victim...
I have been a Poirot fan for as long as I can remember, so of course I had to pick up The Monogram Murders. I have to admit I was disappointed. As a mystery, it was okay, if you can overlook the horrible Scotland Yard detective Poirot has paired himself with, Catchpool. He’s incompetent and spends way too much time dwelling on events in his childhood, on his weaknesses. The mystery, the way the murders are committed and how the bodies are laid out is interesting enough. There’s even a nice little bit that confuses the time of death and the clues fit together well. The mystery itself could have been good, but it relied on the Poirot hook and in that it failed. Maybe give me an original character, or even a better sidekick and I would have felt differently.
Poirot is just not Poirot. He’s too Poirot, if that makes sense. It’s like he’s overly conscious of his own mannerisms and quirks. The book is just trying too hard. It doesn’t feel natural, it feels forced.
I listened to the book, but I’ve listened to other Poirot stories, ones actually written by Christie, so that wouldn’t have solely colored my opinion. Rhind-Tutt did a fine job as narrator, she blended into the story, differentiated the characters well, even managed to almost make Catchpool bearable.
About Sophie Hannah
Sophie Hannah is a Sunday Times, New York Times and Amazon Kindle UK No. 1 bestselling writer of crime fiction, published in forty-nine languages and fifty-one territories. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. She writes contemporary psychological thrillers and, at the request of Agatha Christie’s family and estate, the new series of Hercule Poirot novels.
In 2023, Sophie won the Crime Writers Association’s Dagger in the Library Award for her body of work, and in 2013 her thriller The Carrier won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Sophie is also a poet and has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A Level and degree level across the UK.
In 2018, she created the How to Hold a Grudge podcast, based on her self-help book of the same name. More recently, she has published two other self-help books: Happiness: A Mystery, and her latest, The Double Best Method, which was an Amazon UK Top Ten best-seller and is a guide to making brilliant decisions and avoiding second-guessing and regret.
Sophie is the founder and coach at Dream Author Coaching, a coaching programme for writers and anyone who wants to write. She lives with her husband, children and dog in Cambridge, where she is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College.
Nice review. I enjoyed getting your take on this one. I haven’t read it, and probably never will, but I am interested in how it is received.
I had high hopes for this book but no one is loving it. 🙁
It sounds as though it should be so good…it’s the kind of book I want to be good! Sigh!
I wanted it to be good too. I do so love Poirot.
This seems a popular opinion that Catchpool is just too annoying. Sigh! I love Christie so much and I was looking forward to this read but I don’t think I”ll pick it up.
Yeah, I’d give it a pass if I were you.
Oh, another writer? Then I get it
Oh that’s disappointing. Bummer on that!