During my younger years I read every Agatha Christie mystery that I could get my hands on. They were readily available in the small convent school library and evoked less critical response from my parents than the Stephen King and Harold Robbins books that I had also discovered around that time! Poirot was probably my least favourite of her detective characters. The cranky old Belgian with his OCD tendencies had little for a teenage me to connect with.

The Mystery of Three Quarters sees author Sophie Hannah picking up the reins with Poirot and creating a new puzzle for him to solve. It is quite the revelation. A Poirot who is a little less prickly! Or maybe the older me has just developed an understanding of why he is quite so pernickety! When a number of seemingly unconnected people all receive a letter purporting to be from Poirot and accusing them of the murder of Benjamin Pandy Hercule just has to find out what is going on – to get the little grey cells going. The unravelling of the threads of the story have you bouncing between all of the major characters convinced that they are the guilty party.

It is always going to be controversial when you write for such a well known character but The Mystery of Three Quarters is a worthy addition to the Agatha Christie canon. If you’re looking for something a bit more genteel with your murder mystery then look no further.

Supplied by Net Galley and Harper Collins in exchange for an honest review.

Agatha Christie's iconic Belgian detective is brought to life again in Sophie Hannah's masterful novel. Hannah captures all of the idiosyncrasies of Poirot in a plot more than worthy of the Queen of Crime.

Apparently this is the 3rd in the “new series” of Poirot stories but the 1st that I’ve read.
This starts out apparently simply enough. Four people turn up, individually, to confront Poirot – each claim to have been accused by him of murdering Barnabas Pandy by drowning him in his bath.
Personally offended, by the quality of the letter if nothing else, Poirot begins to investigate.
The story is not written in the previous style of Poirot, with the introduction of a new Scotland Yard character, Inspector Edward Catchpool, who is writing the story.
Euphemia Spring, a waitress at Poirot’s current favourite café, bakes the four square Church Window Cake (read: Battenburg) to a secret family recipe. She is irate that the exact same cake is being sold in another establishment and insists Poirot finds out how her recipe was stolen by a previous colleague of Spring’s. It is the four quarters of the cake, metaphorically representing the 4 people accused of Pandy's murder that gives rise to the title of this novel.
It is the interactions of the suspects that bogs this story down and I found it a little too “fiendishly clever”. In the end I really didn’t care as I was bored trying to remember how each person was related to the other.
It boils down to working out the relationships between the four accused, dogs, trees, what was said the night before the death, wills, who was where they said they were, rumours of illegal medical procedures, body image and the pressure some feel in order to look a particular way in order to land a husband, betrayal and guilt.

AMAZON/GOODREADS REVIEW
'The Mystery of Three Quarters' is the latest of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories. It's not actually by Agatha Christie of course – she died in 1976 – but by Sophie Hannah, who is now regularly turning out more books to continue the franchise.

Hannah has written an archetypal English country house mystery set in Combingham Hall. The denouement even sees Poirot gather all the characters in the drawing room in classic Christie style.

Sophie Hannah’s approach is more concerned with psychology than many of Christie’s own books, with the key to the mystery being locked in childhood memories that one of the suspects has repressed. Poirot tricks people into the expression of emotions (guilt features a lot) that they might have been unaware of. In the end, though, the mystery is solved conventionally enough. The plot seems unduly elaborate and the red herrings ruddier than ever, but the pieces of the jigsaw come together to reveal the murderer’s face.

'The Mystery of Three Quarters' doesn't take itself too seriously, which is all to the good. There are one or two good jokes and Hannah often shows an ironic writing style which raised more than the odd wry smile. There are, perhaps, rather too many jokes based on the inability of the English to pronounce Poirot’s name, but that's hardly a disastrous failing. I did sometimes feel that I was reading about the Poirot of the TV series, rather than the original from the books, but it is almost impossible to imagine Poirot now without seeing David Suchet, so this, too, is forgivable.

'The Mystery of Three Quarters' isn’t a bad book, though there are better whodunnits on the market. Christie fans, though, will enjoy seeing Poirot live again – even if Christie herself dismissed him as “a detestable, bombastic, tiresome, ego-centric little creep”.

THIS BOOK IS ALSO DISCUSSED ON MY BLOG

Hercule Poirot is back and yet again written by the wonderful Sophie Hannah. Now I know that some die-hard Agatha Christie fans have hated the fact that Sophie has written these Poirot novels, but as a total fan of the queen of crime fiction I love them totally and you should too! I can hear Poirot as I read these books, and I do think that Sophie Hannah has captured him on paper perfectly. I also love the fact that in these books he has a new side-kick in the guise of Edward Catchpole who is the author of these novels and is always there at hand to lend a role in the police proceedings.

This book starts with a letter - one which accuses a woman of murdering a man she has never heard of, a Mr Barnabus Pandy, who apparently died whilst in the bath. The author of this letter is one Mr Hercule Poirot! After being accosted by this rather angry lady, Poirot finds himself blamed for the sending of not one, not two but four letters in total; all saying the same thing - that the recipient has murdered Barnabus Pandy!

This is enough for Poirot to investigate the case, despite the police ruling it an accidental death initially, and with Catchpole at his side, he visits the home of Mr Pandy to find out more about his demise from the women who lived with him - his daughters and granddaughter and to find out the truth. But of course, as more seemingly unrelated characters are brought into play, we soon learn that not everyone is being honest with Poirot.

Did my own "little grey cells" work out whodunnit in this cleverly crafted plot? No of course they didn't, but Poirot did in his own determinable style! I can't wait for the next installment!

This is the 3rd book written by Sophie Hannah using the the character Hercule Poirot who was of course dreamed up by the legendary Agatha Christie. I have possibly read every novel written by Agatha Christie and have been a massive fan most of my life so I was always going to want to read this series. That said Sophie does change things a little and Hercule Poirot is certainly recognisable but nevertheless written in her own style. I had already read the previous books in this series but was left a little unsure on how I felt having one of my favourite characters revamped by another author. But I found this book an improvement on the previous ones and was very entertaining.
In this latest book, Hercule Poirot is accused by four individuals of sending a letter accusing them of being the murderer of Barnabus Pandy. The letters are stated to be from Poirot and he seeks to not only to clear his name but to solve the mystery. Was Barnabus Pandy actually murdered, if so by who and who sent the accusing letters.
I suggest readers try as much as possible to avoid comparisons and concentrate on the novel itself to give the book a fair chance. A good entertaining read.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Harper Collins for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Four people receive letters accusing them of murder. The letters purport to be from Hercule Poirot, but Poirot did not write them – of course he didn’t! – and, rather than have his name and reputation dragged through the dirt, he is forced to investigate. Sophie Hannah resurrects the great detective very convincingly. Her style is authentic but not dated, and the plot twists are unpredictable but neat. All in all, a fun and very enjoyable mystery.

In The Mystery of Three Quarters Poirot finds himself confronted by the rather formidable Sylvia Rule for sending her a letter accusing her of murder. The problem is that he didn’t send the letter. Or the ones making the same accusation towards three others – John McCrodden, son of a judge who is a firm supporter of the death penalty, Hugo Dockerill, a teacher at a boy’s school, and Miss Annabel Treadway, who is the grand-daughter of the deceased man. Of course the little grey cells are propelled into action and we soon begin to learn of a web of connections between the four. It begins to appear that the dead man, Barnabas Pandy, did have connections to a number of them and that all four are, if only tangentially, linked. Was Pandy murdered? Was one of the accused guilty of his death? Why did the letter-writer want to involve Poirot? These questions all need to be answered and Poirot attempts to find the answers with the help of Scotland Yard detective Edward Catchpool, the friends and family of all the accused and a small slice of cake…

Another excellent outing for Poirot – deftly plotted, a blend of humour and bloodshed which Christie would have been proud of, and believable characters. The Belgian continues to have a future in Sophie Hannah’s capable hands.

After reading the first part of this story I just could not get into this book, not sure why, sorry.

I've read my fair share of Poirot books and this one is in the middle of them. Hannah captures the voice of Agatha Christie fairly well and if i didn't know otherwise, i would say Christie wrote it. The premise and set up was really interesting and i liked how Hannah brought all the different elements and clues together. The main issue i had was with the explanation of who is guilty of the murder as it felt too drawn out and complicated with too many other elements happening at the same time. If the revelation was a bit neater and explained a bit better than i would have enjoyed it more,

Another gorgeous Poirot book from Sophie Hannah. I love these new mystery novels and always get excited to see them - will have to go out and buy the finished book now!

Having had a soft spot for Agatha Christie, particularly those stories that feature Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, I was more than a little giddy at the thought of someone talented taking over to keep the Poirot character alive. But I was concerned that whoever was to take the reins would fail miserably at creating and fostering the Belgian detective's character in this new mystery. Crisis somewhat averted, Hannah does a decent, respectable job. As is acutely obvious to me and most other crime readers, nobody has the ability to write like Christie. It doesn't matter who they are it's not likely to be as wonderful as her crime classics, and that's just a fact.

Although I did enjoy this it had a distinct lack of atmosphere, atmosphere that was always present in Christie's writing no matter which of her stories you were reading. I found the storytelling was adequate here, the issue I had was that the plot was simply too straightforward, which is nothing like the originals that feature complex investigations with Poirot standing stroking his moustache before making his play. I understand that various best selling series' have been taken over by new writers, as the original author is no longer with us, but it often doesn't go down as well as they planned. Ultimately, the main issue is that it feels a world away from the Poirot we all know and love. There are no ingenius plot twists or misdirection that have you on the edge-of-your-seat, which I feel is essential to a Poirot novel.

I'm sad I didn't appreciate this more. It's not a terrible book by any stretch of the imagination, it's just mediocre in every respect. This was a risk, and i'm afraid it didn't pay off this time.

Many thanks to HarperCollins for an ARC. I was not required to post a review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I have come to this series late so only have this book to compare to Agatha's source material. To my mind ,this had all the best elements of the original Christie hero, Sophie Hannah has captured the essence of the man -the fastidiousness of the neat little Belgian whose name is perennially butchered by the English folk he comes to meet whilst investigating a crime.

She has maintained the feel of the interactions with all the characters , the differences in social strata and the disparate voices of those involved and those invested in a solution, all seemingly with something to hide.
The story is complex enough to keep even the more sophisticated mystery reader guessing as each little clue is excavated. Here Poirot is false accused of sending letters accusing four seeming strangers of the murder of a man believed to have accidentally drowned. His incredulity at the sheer audacity of such an action is the hook that brings him onto the case. Three hours very well spent in my reading chair!

The only thing remaining is to see if we can persuade Mr Suchet to reprise the role!

As he returns home from lunch one day Hercule Poirot is accosted by an irate woman who threatens him with a lawsuit because she has received a letter from him accusing her of murder.  Poirot has written no such letter but is unable to convince her.  Soon after a young man appears who has received a similar letter.  The next day two more strangers proclaim their innocence to him after receiving letters.  So who is writing the letters in Poirot's name - and why are they so determined to accuse people of the murder of Barnabas Pandy?This has got an intriguing premise and a solution that I didn't see coming. I read this across the course of 24 hours and was annoyed that it was over so fast. This is the third Poirot novel from Hannah and I have read the first (The Monogram Murders) but not the second (The Closed Casket) and reading my review of the first one back, I had some concerns about whether it felt enough like a Poirot story - and this one pretty much did to me. I think making the narrator not Poirot is a very good decision - as is not falling back on Poirot clichés like "leetle grey cells". And as the narrator is a Hannah invention rather than Captain Hastings that also means that there's freedom to analyse Poirot's quirks and processes in a different way rather than trying to continue in someone else's voice.

And maybe that's why this works for me more than most of the Wimsey continuations do. I'm yet to read an Albert Campion continuation so I'll see how one of those falls between these two continuations to work out whether that is what makes continuations work better for me. And after this I'll definitely be looking out for The Closed Casket to read when I get a chance.

Whether you treat this as a unique and reverential tribute to the style of Christie and her intelligent Poirot, or as a standalone mystery set in 1930's London, this is still really enjoyable in the style of a proper Whodunnit' and did keep me going right through to the end...

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I loved the original Agatha Christie books and this is a poor second I am afraid.

3.5 Stars. I’m a longstanding Christie fan, particularly of Poirot and Marple, and I have been dithering for a while over whether to try Hannah’s ‘New’ Poirot mysteries. This review opportunity gave me the nudge I needed to give one a go, and I’m glad I did. Don’t read this expecting Christie’s Poirot, because you won’t find him. There are elements of him in there, but it’s like seeing a Poirot on screen played by Kenneth Branagh or Peter Ustinov, when the Poirot in your mind is David Suchet (he’s mine). Having said that, it’s an enjoyable Christie style whodunnit. Give it a go.

It is great to be able to continue to read the tales of Hercule Poirot and Sophie Hannah does a marvellous job taking over the pen of Agatha Christie and keeping the character alive.
This story revolves around four letters sent to four people purportedly from Hercule Poirot. When he is confronted by the recipients of the letters, who are nonplussed about being accused of murder, he investigates who sent the letters and why, whether there has been a murder and, if so, who committed it.
This is a great read and hard to differentiate from the writing of Christie (which is an amazing credit to Hannah). Poirot is his usual clever if somewhat smug self, and the story unfolds in the traditional way. It is a great storyline with enough twists and turns to keep me interested until the end.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From Good Reads:
I made the mistake of opening this up thinking Agatha and Hercule - it's not.
Once I'd gotten over that, things went a bit better.
It's Hannah's take on Poirot. (I haven't read the first 2 yet, but I will)
I struggled a bit in the first half, felt we were meandering along a bit, but in true Christie style things picked up and came together in the end in a truly Poirot type of way.
Really liked the police detective as narrator.

A good read, plenty of puzzles, clue, red herrings and a final showdown

I have been wanting to read one of Sophie Hannah’s Poirot novels for a while – in fact I have one in my TBR pile, but when the opportunity came along to read The Mystery of Three Quarters, I knew I had to go for it.

This is a beautiful example of a Golden Age of Crime novel. Set in the main in a traditional country manor in the 1930’s with the usual assortment of family members, children and other non-blood related individuals, this is classic Christie territory.

Sophie Hannah nicely treads the divide between pastiche and originality, creating a Poirot that is recognisable, ego, follies and all, yet no pale imitation of the Christie character, just a compelling character in his own right.

The mystery begins when Poirot returns home one afternoon to to find a deeply angry woman, Sylvia Rule, wanting to know why he has written to her accusing her of the murder of Barnaby Pandy, a man whom Poirot does not know, and who was, to all who knew him, clearly the victim of an accidental drowning in his bath.

Three others, also not known to Poirot; Annabel Treadway, John McCrodden, and Hugo Dockerill have also received similar letters purporting to come from Poirot and making the same accusation.

Though Poirot has, of course, written no such letters, he divines, correctly, that someone wants him involved in this case.

With the help of his friend, Inspector Catchpool of Scotland Yard, he sets out to use his ‘little grey cells’ to work out what on earth is going on.

Was 96 year old Barnaby Pandy murdered? If he was, there are a host of suspects to choose from – not just those mentioned in the letters. There is plenty of work for Poirot to get on with as he delves into the lives of the alleged victim, and those who stand accused by an unknown hand.

In true Christie style, there is plenty to uncover with secrets, lies, scandal and unrequited love all playing a part in this intriguing and unpredictable family drama.

I really enjoyed this country house mystery. Sophie Hannah has captured the essence of Christie’s complex and multi- layered plotting, filled her story with juicy red herrings, and given us a sparkling tale, not short on wit, which both delights and satisfies.

Verdict: An intriguing story with lots of clues – and cake. What more could you want?