A good take on a well loved character and style of stories, not ad good as the real thing, but well worth a read.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for letting me review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book as I adore Poirot but there were so many things that just didn't make sense.

I didn't like any of the characters, including this version of Poirot and I just couldn't wait for the book to finish - to the point where I found myself skimming huge chunks.

It was at that point that I just had to give up,

I have loved reading Agatha Christie since i was a teenager and Sophie Hannah does her a great justice

A great mystery with lots of twists and plenty of read herrings until its all gets tied up at the end in her typical fashion

Adored this

Agatha Christie's Poirot mysteries, and Sophie Hannah's continuation of the series, are my go-to cosy reads, and this one set around Christmas was especially cosy. Very enjoyable!

Thank you, #NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was fine. Enjoyable, interesting. But not a patch on Agatha Christie. A bit too slow and without the pizazz that made Poirot what he was.

Sadly I found this not as interesting or well thought of as the first Poirot book from Sophie Hannah. A little too slow and difficult to get into

Sadly I couldn’t finish this as I just found it quite slow however I don’t think this is because there’s anything fundamentally wrong with the book, I’ve just discovered that Poirot’s books aren’t for me, including those by the legend Agatha Christie. I’m a huge fan of the character on screen but I just don’t get the David Suchet version from the books (I understand the books from AC came first) and that makes it really difficult to enjoy the books.
I’ve still given it 3 stars because I do believe it’s well written and someone who loves AC’s Poirot books would definitely enjoy this so please do not be put off by this review if you are a fan of AC’s work

Hannah lends a new and exciting voice to a timeless classic hero, maintaining just the right level of Christie's original creation with her own inspiration and a more modern attitude. I enjoyed the novel, whilst admittedly I did not find the mystery the most compelling or surprising that I've ever read, the plot was still cleverly crafted and it was an enjoyable conclusion. A great read, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and mystery lovers all round!

This is the second of Sophie Hannah’s Hercule Poirot novels that I have read. I look forward to them with interest and then feel slightly let down by them. She is not Agatha Chrisite! In some ways it has the makings of a really good story. Set in a large mansion with a number of characters who dislike each other and then throw Christmas into the mix and it should have really captured the imagination but somehow it never really got off the ground for me. I have read every single Agatha Christie book and loved them all but I found this slightly hard going. It does have its moments though. I particularly liked the character of Inspector Mackle who was amusing and the ending of the story was quite unexpected. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me and ARC of this book.

We meet the eponymous Belgian detective and his friend, Inspector Catchpool, as they accompany Catchpool’s mother to her friends’ family home in order to solve a murder, and perhaps prevent a second, over the festive season.

In true Poirot fashion, what follows is a classic whodunit, with a small cast of potential murderers all going about their eccentric ways in a strange old family home.

The characters are fairly intriguing, but I didn’t feel as though I knew any of them particularly well by the end of the book. The conclusion was interesting, but isn’t one that jumped out as ingenious in the way that the classic Christie solutions did.

It was an enjoyable read, however – 3.5 rounded up to 4.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Another great murder mystery from Sophie Hannah's take on Poirot. I really enjoyed it, a country house setting with twists and turns and characters who are not who they say they are. I've read each one since Christie and they are very enjoyable, I hope there are more to come!

Hercule Poirot is looking forward to a peaceful, Christmas as is Inspector Catchpool of Scotland Yard. With less than a week to go, Catchpool’s mother turns up at Poirot’s and demands that he and her son come and solve the mystery at the Norfolk house she is staying at.

Her host is convinced that when her husband goes into hospital he will be the next person to be killed, as recently a man was murdered in the ward where her beloved husband is about to be admitted. Add to this a cast of stranger relations and even stranger servants and Poirot and Catchpool find themselves very much in the tradition of the big house setting for a crime which is so popular in these novels.

The question is though, will they solve it and be back in London for their own planned quiet Christmas!

Very much in the spirit of Christie, perhaps with a slight modern perspective but certainly as if Poirot is in the room (and David Suchet is playing him in my mind!)

This addition to the exciting series keeps Hercule Poirot alive. The plot is intricate and well-written, although it doesn't quite match Dame Agatha Christie's mastery - but then, few could.

It's Christmas and Hercule Poirot has been lured to Norfolk to investigate an inexplicable death. His mission: solve the crime in time to get home for Christmas day. Will finding justice be so straightforward though?

I've read a lot of Agatha Christie, but this is my first time to one of Sophie Hannah's stories which give a different angle on one of her most famous creations. The plot was intriguing, though it was a struggle to keep going at points, and Hannah captures Poirot's voice well enough. It isn't always easy to remember which character is which; they often lack much in the way of distinctive characteristics.

This novel rates somewhere around The Murder on the Blue Train on my Agatha Christie quality meter. It's ok, but if it means we can spend a little more time with Hercule Poirot, who can really complain?

I’m a big fan of Agatha Christie’s Poirot and enjoyed reading Hannah’s first number of Poirot novels. However, I found this novel very slow-paced, the storyline wasn’t as attention-grabbing as her other stories and the last chapter was missing something. The characters also seemed quite bland. The story being told through the eyes of Poirot’s assistant Inspector Catchpool just didn’t work for me as I don’t think he really added anything to the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the arc.

I’m so enjoying Sophie Hannah’s take on Poirot and this book is no different. I found this mystery Intriguing and well thought out. The only thing is the ending, the very last chapter, it didn’t quite work for me. A good mystery.

I have enjoyed a few of Sophie Hannah's Hercule Poirot books now, and I think she does well in staying true to the character Agatha Christie created, while also adding her own style. This was a great story for reading over the festive period - full of twists and turns and kept me reading. I hope there are more new Hercule Poirot stories to come.

This is book 5 in the new Hercule Poirot mystery series but it works well as a standalone. I enjoyed the characters and setting and it does feel very Christie.

Hercule Poirot and Inspector Catchpool from Scotland Yard are spending the run up to Christmas in a country house in Norfolk as they have been asked to solve the case of a murder at a nearby hospital. Of course things are not what they seem and Poirot wants everything tided up before Christmas so he can escape the country house and enjoy the peace quiet away from the forced festivities.

An enjoyable read that has enough twists to keep you interested.

I do find these new Poirots inconsistent. I don't believe in Poirot as a character after getting to know Christies creation for so long. Yet I keep reading them! I think this was an okay read, fairly easy to see who did it I believe. Catchpool and Poirot still fail to make sense as a friendship, would Poirot truly wish to spend Christmas day with him? Unlikely

I was a little disappointed with this book, because I felt the eventual explanation of the crimes was a cop out. Which is a very bald way to begin a review, but this was my main feeling about the book.

Sophie Hannah has written several Poirot novels now, and there's a lot of good in them. But obviously she is beginning with a character that was already created and very well-developed, which is a big help. And once you get the hang of the language and how the dialogue should sound, it feels like half the job is done.

In this novel, Poirot and his "assistant" Inspector Catchpool end up whisked away to a mansion by Catchpool's mother in order to solve a murder. While there, of course, another murder takes place. So far so predictable.

As I have felt with some of Hannah's other books, the plot doesn't quite hang together well enough. We start with what sounds like a ridiculous assertion - in this case a woman's belief that if her husband is admitted to hospital he will be murdered - and go from there. But it felt like we had an overly complicated premise (which is eventually explained) but it didn't need to be quite so ridiculous.

As usual, not everyone is who you think they are, and there are connections that the reader doesn't initially know about. But as I already said - it's predictable.

In general murder mysteries see the reader gathering clues over the course of the novel and finally understanding why a murder took place. Without giving away the plot, this book is a let down in this respect.