24 June 2016

Review #467: Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“Everyone is a potential murderer-in everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill-though not the will to kill.”


----Agatha Christie



Hercule Poirot is back again with another new adventure and mystery in Sophie Hannah, an internationally bestselling writer's new book, Closed Casket where the Belgian detective Poirot along with the help of Scotland Yard inspector, Edward Catchpool, solve the mystery surrounding an old rich, aristocrat lady's lavish party at a forgotten Irish countryside where among the guests, there is a killer lurking around and they must try to stop him/her before he/she strikes his weapon to commit a crime.


Synopsis:

The world's most famous detective returns in this ingenious, stylish, and altogether delicious mystery from the author of the instant bestseller The Monogram Murders ("I was thrilled" -- Gillian Flynn).

"What I intend to say to you will come as a shock..."

With these words, Lady Athelinda Playford -- one of the world's most beloved children's authors -- springs a surprise on the lawyer entrusted with her will. As guests arrive for a party at her Irish mansion, Lady Playford has decided to cut off her two children without a penny . . . and leave her vast fortune to someone else: an invalid who has only weeks to live.

Among Lady Playford's visitors are two strangers: the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, and Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard. Neither knows why he has been invited -- until Poirot begins to wonder if Lady Playford expects a murder. But why does she seem so determined to provoke a killer? And why -- when the crime is committed despite Poirot's best efforts to stop it -- does the identity of the victim make no sense at all?


Poirot and Catchpool are among the list of guests attending Lady Athelinda Playford, the popular and bestselling children's detective series books' grand party at her mansion in Clonakilty, County Cork. The reason behind to throw this party is to tell her children as well as their spouses/partners about the sudden change of her old will which she has changed under her lawyer's presence and has left all her property and fortune to her dying and extremely sick secretary without any apparent reason and she is certain that someone might try to commit a crime, hence she has invited the two detective so that they can try to prevent it from happening. But still a murder happens despite the presence of the famous Hercule Poirot, so can Poirot identify the killer's face?

There is also this twist from the guests' POV that they are not aware about the reason why they are actually invited to the party, no one have a clue about it, yet the readers are quite aware about it, so in someway, the story at this point, sounds like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Well, Hannah's portrayal of this Poirot mystery is simply fantastic, although at times, the story dragged a bit with too much back story which sounds is bit irrelevant in the story.

The plot is a complete pot-boiler with millions of twists and turns which will leave your brain more puzzled if you try to figure it out on your own, so guys, leave it to Poirot, he will guide you with his brilliance to the end of this complicated maze. Poirot's charm is unmatchable and the author has captured it quite vividly into her story just like she did in the previous book. This Poirot is, although, a more of an evolved version than Christie's, anyhow, the best part is that Poirot is back and he will continue to surprise as well as entertain and challenge the readers with his mysteries. So I suggest that Christie's Poirot fans must at least give this version of Poirot a chance to let him fly his wings of unbeatable wit to solve some gruesome crimes in England.

The writing style of the author is quite crisp and emphatic although I'm not comparing her with Christie. Sophie has got some flair in her style of depicting this tale of mystery and also her narration is very articulate. The writing is laced with tension and suspense as the author pulls her readers into the depth of this baffling maze. The pacing is sometimes quite fast but at times, it dragged, but overall, its swift and the readers will easily sway with the story's flow.

The mystery is unfolded diligently by the author as there are so many twists ans turns that will not only blind side the readers but will also keep the readers guessing and anticipating about the killer's identity until the very last page. The author's building of the plot is smart and clever as she gradually develops the characters with all their flaws and secrets that play an important role in the story line.

The huge cast of characters that Sophie has created is tastefully spun and their depth is eventually unrolled with the progress of the plot. The character's backstory will help the readers to easily connect with them and also will help them to look through the characters.

In a nutshell, this riveting crime thriller will constantly keep the readers on their edges, with its new twists and evolving story line and the unexpected challenges. So over a large cup of hot coffee, enjoy Poirot's thrilling adventure as he solves the crime with his trademark charm and cleverness.

Verdict: Poirot is back with an exciting new and enthralling adventure, so don't miss to grab this book. Oui!

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Sophie Hannah's publicist from Harper Collins UK, for giving me the opportunity to read and review her book.
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Author Info:
Sophie Hannah is an internationally bestselling writer of psychological crime fiction, published in 27 countries. In 2013, her latest novel, The Carrier, won the Crime Thriller of the Year Award at the Specsavers National Book Awards. Two of Sophie’s crime novels, The Point of Rescue and The Other Half Lives, have been adapted for television and appeared on ITV1 under the series title Case Sensitive in 2011 and 2012. In 2004, Sophie won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her suspense story The Octopus Nest, which is now published in her first collection of short stories, The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.
Sophie has also published five collections of poetry. Her fifth, Pessimism for Beginners, was shortlisted for the 2007 T S Eliot Award. Her poetry is studied at GCSE, A-level and degree level across the UK. From 1997 to 1999 she was Fellow Commoner in Creative Arts at Trinity College, Cambridge, and between 1999 and 2001 she was a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. She is forty-one and lives with her husband and children in Cambridge, where she is a Fellow Commoner at Lucy Cavendish College. She is currently working on a new challenge for the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous detective.
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