The Killings at Kingfisher Hill : The New Hercule Poirot Mystery
Author(s): Sophie Hannah
Named a New York Times Best Book to Give
The world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot—legendary star of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile—returns to solve a delectably twisty mystery in this “masterful and multi-layered puzzle...adding a new dimension to a much-loved series” (NPR).
“Yet again, the diminutive man with the little gray cells delivers the goods.” —Wall Street Journal
Hercule Poirot is traveling by luxury passenger coach from London to the exclusive Kingfisher Hill estate. Richard Devonport has summoned the renowned detective to prove that his fiancée, Helen, is innocent of the murder of his brother, Frank. Poirot will have only days to investigate before Helen is hanged, but there is one strange condition attached: he must conceal his true reason for being there from the rest of the Devonport family.
The coach is forced to stop when a distressed woman demands to get off, insisting that if she stays in her seat, she will be murdered. Although the rest of the journey passes without anyone being harmed, Poirot’s curiosity is aroused, and his fears are later confirmed when a body is discovered with a macabre note attached . . .
Could this new murder and the peculiar incident on the coach be clues to solving the mystery of who killed Frank Devonport? And if Helen is innocent, can Poirot find the true culprit in time to save her from the gallows?
Review(s):
“Clever, amusing, complicated . . . a psychological thriller with a characteristically intricate and humorous puzzle of a plot.”
"Bestseller Hannah displays her superior ability to devise mind-blowing setups . . . Fans of classic fair-play puzzle mysteries will clamor for more."
"Once again [Hannah] ably channels Christie and delivers a deftly plotted, pleasingly intricate and thrillingly executed mystery. . . . Hannah keeps her readers on their toes through numerous twists and turns, right up until the trademark drawing-room denouement. . . . It is good to see that [Poirot] is still at work, in Hannah’s more than capable hands."
"It is no small undertaking to follow in the footsteps of Christie, but Hannah nails it in her latest, The Killings at Kingfisher Hill. The tone is pitch-perfect, the mystery aspect is as convoluted as anything ever crafted by Hannah’s predecessor, there are more red herrings than you would find at a Swedish breakfast buffet, and the diminutive mustachioed Belgian detective has never been cannier . . . Hannah’s work is first-rate. Poirot lives."
"Readers will feel steeped in the environs of upper-middle-class England of days past, the chill emanating from a dysfunctional family, and the torture of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons as they enjoy Catchpool’s exasperation and Poirot’s genius-at-work sensibilities. . . . Recommend this to board-game aficionados as well as to fans of Christie and Hannah."
“Brilliant . . . a masterfully plotted, mind-bending crime thriller that harkens back to the days when Agatha Christie ruled the genre, The Killings at Kingfisher Hill is hands down the best mystery novel of 2020 so far.”
“Sophie Hannah does an egoless, silky job of reviving Agatha Christie's beloved Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. . . . Enough so to hope that Hannah turns to Miss Marple next.”
“Perfect . . . a pure treat for Agatha Christie fans.”
“Equal parts charming and ingenious, dark and quirky and utterly engaging . . . I was thrilled to see Poirot in such very, very good hands.”
“Does Sophie Hannah’s Poirot live up to our expectations? Yes, he does, and markedly so . . . Poirot is still Poirot. Poirot is back.”
ISBN: 9780062792389