When I was in fifth grade, I wrote a paper on the life of Agatha Christie. Writing that paper sent me down a rabbit hole that consisted of more than 100 books and many different detectives. Of those many detectives, Hercule Poirot was my favorite. The way his mind worked captivated me from the moment I read Murder on the Orient Express. To this day, I am still thoroughly captivated. Reading Sophie Hannah’s version of my favorite detective is a nice little blast into who I used to be and the many ways that loving mysteries became my entire personality.
Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night was a beautiful addition to the work of Hercule Poirot. While there are obviously differences and nuances of the original character that have changed, he is overall still the same brilliant detective. It is an interesting juxtaposition to view the established character of Poirot to the new addition of all the other characters. Despite the fact that the story is set in another time, the new characters feel more modern than Poirot. Whilst Poirot feels like a solid reboot of the original character, the rest of the characters feel out of place. As if they are too new-fashioned for the writing style in which our leading man was born from.
The mystery itself was both interesting and complex. Though there were lulls in the middle of the book, the ending brought everything back together. It would have been nice to have a little more buildup to the conclusion, but it was fascinating to read every moment that made up the mystery.
Overall, this book is a great addition to the Sophie Hannah collection of Hercule Poirot novels and can be enjoyed by anyone.
⅘ stars
Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.
The Novel Llama 