The mystery of the undead detective?

A sneak peek at the cover

So, I was idly flicking through a discarded newspaper (the Evening Standard, I know, vile rag but it just happened to be there) in the works kitchen this week when my eye was drawn to the magic word....Poirot.

It seems that this is old news, google-fu suggests it was first released to the press in September 2013, but a new Poirot novel is being written.  HERESY! I hear you say.  Christie died in 1975 and Poirot, the novelist’s leading man, was killed off in his final tale, “Curtain” slightly earlier that same year. 

Worry not I say, as neither Poirot nor Christie are being brutally raised from the grave.  In fact, as part of what seems to be quite the new trend, a more modern crime writer is putting her name to a Poirot tale, which I understand will be sandwiched into the period between 1928 and 1932 where Christie did not set any of her original tales.

Sophie Hannah is a crime writer of good standing and long time fan of Christie, describing herself as “obsessively” devoted.  Her favourite tale is Murder on the Orient Express, which she has named as one of the books she would take to a desert island. 

The book has been commissioned by the Christie Estate and will be published in September this year to commemorate what would have been Agatha’s 125^th birthday. 

I’m thoroughly looking forward to reading it but I am sure a lot of you out there have reservations.  But, in the words of the author “I regard every word Agatha Christie ever wrote almost as a holy text, so I’m not going to be taking any liberties.  He won’t be taking up rollerskating.”

The author and members of the Christie Estate