Hercule Poirot's Silent Night by Sophie Hannah

Hercule Poirot's Silent Night
by Sophie Hannah

ISBN-13: 9780062991638
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: October 24, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
It’s December 19, 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are looking forward to a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday, when they are called upon to investigate the murder of a man in a Norfolk hospital ward. Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother, insists that Poirot stay in a mansion by the coast while he solves the case. Cynthia’s friend Arnold is soon to be admitted to that same hospital, and his wife is convinced he will be the killer’s next victim.

As Poirot digs into the mystery, he discovers that the murdered man was a retired post office master, and by all accounts very well-liked. The local constabulary’s investigation failed to uncover how someone could have entered a hospital room and killed him under the noses of the staff. With no obvious motive or suspect, Poirot has less than a week to solve the crime and prevent more murders, if he is to get home in time for Christmas.


My Review:
Hercule Poirot's Silent Night is a mystery set in 1931 in England. It's the 5th book in the series but the first I've read. It works as a standalone. A Scotland Yard Inspector, Edward Catchpool, takes the place of Hastings and is a competent helper as well as the one who writes about Poirot's cases. Poirot had him gather clues, either giving specific instructions or leaving him to casually pick up information for him, while Poirot asked questions elsewhere. The author has clearly read Agatha Christie's Poirot and even quoted lines from those books. This Poirot was close enough to the original to be acceptable.

This was a clue-based, puzzle mystery which held together logically despite the many twists and plentitude of information (not all of it relevant). As it turned out, Poirot and I grabbed the same clue given at the beginning so it was a matter of my seeing if my suspect could have done it and not getting distracted by others who had a motive. The main characters were engaging. The other characters were quirky and full of family drama. There were only a few uses of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this to fans of complex puzzle mysteries.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.