The Mystery of Three Quarters

The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah (2018) 344 pages

I wasn't quite sure how I felt about reading a book featuring Hercule Poirot by an author who is not Agatha Christie. Would it be disloyal to the Dame? Or would it make me feel good that Poirot, one of my favorite crime solvers, continues to use his little grey cells? Could author Sophie Hannah do justice to the character of Poirot? In this book, Hannah's third with Poirot, but the first I've read by her, I would have to say that she does capture Poirot's spirit well, although he seemed a tad more mellow to me than in Christie's portrayals of him. To cover for any differences in the writing style, we're told that the chronicle of this case is written by Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard.

The story begins with four people contacting Poirot because of a letter he ostensibly sent to them, accusing each of them of murdering a wealthy old man, whose death four months previously had been ruled an accident in his bath. Poirot did not know the dead man and had not sent the letters, but is thus sucked in, beginning an investigation over whether Barnabas Pandy had been in fact murdered, and whether any of the four recipients of the letters had killed him.

My only complaint with the story was the wrap-up at the end, which seemed to take longer than usual. Otherwise, I'd have to say the book worked well.