The Killings at Kingfisher Hill

Last updated
The Killings at Kingfisher Hill
The Killings at Kingfisher Hill.jpeg
Author Sophie Hannah
CountryUnited Kingdom
Series Hercule Poirot
GenreMystery
Publication date
August 20, 2020
ISBN 0062792377
Preceded by The Mystery of Three Quarters  

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill is a 2020 mystery and detective novel by Sophie Hannah. It is the fourth continuation novel written by Hannah featuring Hercule Poirot, the fictional detective created by Agatha Christie, and Scotland Yard inspector Edward Catchpool, an original character created by Hannah. [1]

Contents

Background and publication history

In 2013, the estate of Agatha Christie announced that it had accepted a proposal from Sophie Hannah to publish a new Hercule Poirot novel. [2] [3] The novel, The Monogram Murders , was published in September 2014 and became the first in a new series of Poirot novels by Hannah.The Killings at Kingfisher Hill is the fourth novel in this series, and is preceded by Closed Casket and The Mystery of Three Quarters. [1] [4]

The Killings at Kingfisher HIll was published in the United Kingdom on August 20, 2020. It was published in the United States by HarperCollins on September 15, 2020. [5]

Reception

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill was reviewed positively in Publishers Weekly, [6] Star Tribune, [7] NPR, [4] and The Wall Street Journal. [8] In 2020, it was listed as one of "The Best Books to Give This Year” by The New York Times Book Review, which described it as "a psychological thriller with a characteristically intricate and humorous puzzle of a plot." [9]

Reviewers from other publications had more mixed reactions to the novel. A review in The Boar stated that "It's confusing at points and the eventual revelations are a little too unbelievable to be satisfying, but it's still a generally light read that mostly plays fair with the reader." [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agatha Christie</span> English mystery and detective writer (1890–1976)

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hercule Poirot</span> Fictional detective character created by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot is a fictional Belgian detective created by British writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-running characters, appearing in 33 novels, two plays, and 51 short stories published between 1920 and 1975.

<i>Murder on the Orient Express</i> 1934 novel by Agatha Christie

Murder on the Orient Express is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the United States, it was published on 28 February 1934, under the title of Murder in the Calais Coach, by Dodd, Mead and Company. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.

<i>Agatha Christies Poirot</i> British television detective series (1989–2013)

Agatha Christie's Poirot, or simply Poirot, is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie’s famous crime fiction series, which revolves around the fictional private investigator, Hercule Poirot. David Suchet starred as the fictional detective. Initially produced by LWT, the series was later produced by ITV Studios. The series also aired on VisionTV in Canada and on PBS and A&E in the US.

<i>Cards on the Table</i> 1936 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

Cards on the Table is a detective fiction novel by the English author Agatha Christie, first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 2 November 1936 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00.

<i>The Murder of Roger Ackroyd</i> 1926 detective novel by Agatha Christie

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a detective novel by the British writer Agatha Christie, her third to feature Hercule Poirot as the lead detective. The novel was published in the UK in June 1926 by William Collins, Sons, having previously been serialised as Who Killed Ackroyd? between July and September 1925 in the London Evening News. An American edition by Dodd, Mead and Company followed in 1926.

<i>The A.B.C. Murders</i> 1936 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

The A.B.C. Murders is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, featuring her characters Hercule Poirot, Arthur Hastings and Chief Inspector Japp, as they contend with a series of killings by a mysterious murderer known only as "A.B.C.". The book was first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 6 January 1936, sold for seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) while a US edition, published by Dodd, Mead and Company on 14 February of the same year, was priced $2.00.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inspector Japp</span> Fictional character

Inspector James Japp is a fictional character who appears in several of Agatha Christie's novels featuring Hercule Poirot.

<i>The Murder on the Links</i> 1923 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

The Murder on the Links is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead & Co in March 1923, and in the UK by The Bodley Head in May of the same year. It is the second novel featuring Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6), and the US edition at $1.75.

<i>Halloween Party</i> 1969 Poirot novel by Agatha Christie

Hallowe'en Party is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. This book was dedicated to writer P. G. Wodehouse. It has been adapted for television, radio, and most recently for the film A Haunting in Venice (2023).

Ariadne Oliver is a fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. She is a crime fiction novelist, the creator of the fictional Finnish detective Sven Hjerson, and a friend of Hercule Poirot.

<i>The Regatta Mystery</i> Agatha Christie short story

The Regatta Mystery and Other Stories is a short story collection written by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1939. The first edition retailed at $2.00.

This page details the books featuring the fictional character Hercule Poirot, created by Agatha Christie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Hannah</span> British poet and novelist (born 1971)

Sophie Hannah is a British poet and novelist.

<i>Dead Mans Folly</i> (film) Television mystery film

Dead Man's Folly is a 1986 British-American made-for-television mystery film featuring Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It is based on Christie's 1956 novel Dead Man's Folly. The film was directed by Clive Donner and starred Peter Ustinov as Poirot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agatha Christie bibliography</span>

Agatha Christie (1890–1976) was an English crime novelist, short-story writer and playwright. Her reputation rests on 66 detective novels and 15 short-story collections that have sold over two billion copies, an amount surpassed only by the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare. She is also the most translated individual author in the world with her books having been translated into more than 100 languages. Her works contain several regular characters with whom the public became familiar, including Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy and Tuppence Beresford, Parker Pyne and Harley Quin. Christie wrote more Poirot stories than any of the others, even though she thought the character to be "rather insufferable". Following the publication of the 1975 novel Curtain, Poirot's obituary appeared on the front page of The New York Times.

Lists of adaptations of the works of Agatha Christie:

<i>The Monogram Murders</i> 2014 Poirot novel by Sophie Hannah/Rhind-Tutt

The Monogram Murders is a 2014 mystery novel by British writer Sophie Hannah featuring characters created by Agatha Christie. It is the first in Hannah's series of Hercule Poirot books, continuation novels sanctioned by the estate of Agatha Christie. The novel was followed by Closed Casket (2016), The Mystery of Three Quarters (2018), and The Killings at Kingfisher Hill (2020).

<i>Closed Casket</i> (novel) 2016 Poirot novel by Sophie Hannah

Closed Casket is a work of detective fiction by British writer Sophie Hannah, featuring Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. Hannah is the first author to have been authorised by the Christie estate to write new stories for her characters. Hannah's work closely resembles the Golden Age of Detective Fiction in its structure and tropes. Closed Casket even includes a plan of the house in which the murder takes place; such plans were sometimes used in Golden Age novels to aid the reader in their solving of the mystery puzzle.

<i>The Mystery of Three Quarters</i> 2018 Poirot novel by Sophie Hannah

The Mystery of Three Quarters is a work of detective fiction by Sophie Hannah. It is the third in her series of Hercule Poirot novels, after being authorised by the estate of Agatha Christie to write new stories for the character. The previous two are The Monogram Murders (2014) and Closed Casket (2016).

References

  1. 1 2 "Sophie Hannah continues to test Poirot's powers of sleuthing". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  2. Brown, Mark; correspondent, arts (2013-09-03). "Hercule Poirot gets new lease of life, 38 years after being killed off". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  3. "Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot will return in a new authorized novel". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN   0882-7729 . Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  4. 1 2 Valentine, Vikki (September 20, 2020). "Poirot's The Star, But His Sidekick Shines In 'Kingfisher Hill'". NPR. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  5. "The Killings At Kingfisher Hill". Sophie Hannah. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  6. "The Killings at Kingfisher Hill: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  7. Tribune, Malcolm Forbes Special to the Star. "Review: 'The Killings at Kingfisher Hill,' by Sophie Hannah". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  8. Nolan, Tom. "Mysteries: No Door but the Exit". WSJ. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  9. "The Best Books to Give This Year". The New York Times. 2020-11-26. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  10. "The Boar". theboar.org. Retrieved 2023-04-17.