Reviews

The storyline of this book is a wonderful take, a reimagining of a classic Agatha Christie plot. The “Mysterious Affair at Styles” and her second attempt with this plot device, “The Hollow” …….

I did not enjoy reading Styles and I really REALLY disliked Hollow. They were both completely dissatisfying to me.

However, this time around I loved the plot gimmick. Perhaps because I could guess where it was going and because I know “The Hollow” is Hannah’s favorite Poirot.

But, either way this book is a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the characters and all the red herrings. It’s very enjoyable without feeling like it needs to “cut to the chase”….no fillers or artificial plot points.

edlib's review against another edition

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4.0

celiapowell's review against another edition

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3.0

Another Poirot re-imagining - this one wasn't my favourite as I didn't find the mystery all that engaging.

thereadingrunnner's review against another edition

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3.0

I received a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for my honest review.

While not a reader of Agatha Christie and therefore nothing to base a comparison on, I found this to be a comical and entertaining read. I can't say it was necessarily the best plotted storyline and some of the leaps to specific conclusions by Poirot I found to be a bit far fetched at how he got there, but entertaining nonetheless.
There were a lot of characters and to me it felt like the classic kind of "Clue" type whodunnit... where/when/why and with what, but some of the lesser characters were a little hard for me to keep straight. There are a few points to the overall story which I still don't quite understand and about halfway through I thought things got extremely repetitive, hence the 3 star rating. But for me, this was a good break from my norm and makes me want to pick up an Agatha Christie original.

mothyhound19's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

ncteixeira's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

3.0

“The Killings at Kingfisher Hill (The New Hercule Poirot Mystery)”, by Sophie Hannah

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was better than I expected.

The author did capture Poirot’s essence very well, and the concept wasn’t bad, although I thought there were too many characters (and all unlikeable - just as Dame Christie would have created).

I thought that the interaction between Poirot and Inspector Catchpool was well thought out.

But the development of the storyline and its conclusion wasn’t exactly interesting. I do believe that this book could have been shortened to 250 pages.

Anyways, it was a nice attempt, just not remarkable. It would be unfair to compare this work to Dame Christie, so I see it as a homage to a great mind.

I very much enjoyed the audiobook, which I listened as I read the ebook, and I believe motivated me to finish the book.

e-book (Kobo): 384 pages (default), 86k words

Audiobook narrated by Julian Rhind-Tutt: 9 hours (normal speed) - unabridged: 8:54 hours

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