Editorial Content for The Last Death of the Year: A Hercule Poirot Mystery

Sophie Hannah’s Hercule Poirot mysteries are magnificent tributes to the legendary detective introduced by Dame Agatha Christie. The sixth and latest release, THE LAST DEATH OF THE YEAR, is no exception.

In a recent interview, Hannah praised Christie’s ingenuity. She always feels compelled to go out of her way to recreate the voice and spirit of the classic Poirot novels. This new installment takes place just before and after New Year’s Eve. Poirot once again must be on his guard during a holiday celebration where most people are oblivious to murder --- all except for the killer, that is.

"I cannot put into words just how grateful I am to Sophie Hannah for continuing to keep both Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot alive on the pages of diabolically clever mysteries. His spirit and measure are on full display in THE LAST DEATH OF THE YEAR..."

Ironically, Poirot muses to himself in the opening paragraphs that it is possible to identify a murderer just from knowing their New Year’s resolution. This thought is reinforced when the narrator, Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard, lists the guests at the New Year’s Eve party that he and Poirot are attending on the Greek Island of Lamperos.

As Poirot and Catchpool are on the jetty taking them to Lamperos, Poirot informs his friend about The Spitty they will be visiting --- the Greek term for home. It will be a little while before we find out that Poirot was expressly called there because one of the residents received a death threat. The house is owned by Nash Athanasiou, who is also the leader of what appears to be some sort of religious/philosophical cult called Our House of Perpetual Welcome. As a result, the handful of guests in attendance for the New Year’s Eve party are all people with troubled pasts who are seeking healing of some sort. It also makes for a number of unreliable narrator types that certainly will complicate any Poirot investigation.

The festivities begin with a game played by all where each guest has to write out their New Year’s resolution without assigning their name to it. Catchpool is chosen to read each resolution out loud, and the players need to match it with the person who wrote it. In addition to some of the guests being spoiled sports and not wanting to participate, the game is eventually ruined by something one of them included with the resolutions. Catchpool reads a note, written in poetic verse, that predicts the murder of one of the guests, Matthew Fair, referring to the function as both the last and first death of the year.

No one confesses to the threat on Matthew’s life, so Poirot and company agree that to keep him protected --- and away from being alone at midnight, which symbolically would be the time for both the last and first death of the year --- they all agree to go straight to bed after ringing in the new year.

Of course, being a Poirot novel, things will not go as planned, and there will be a murder for him to investigate. The prophetic poem unfortunately comes true when Matthew’s lifeless body is discovered on the landing at the house around 2am. It's time for Poirot’s little gray cells to start moving about as he and Catchpool divide up the guests for one-on-one interviews to learn where they were just prior to Matthew being found and to probe deeper into their backgrounds to see who might have had a motive to kill him.

These conversations are filled with red herrings, clues and accusations, all of which will confound readers. When a second guest is murdered, Poirot’s case immediately doubles in size. Was it the same person, or is there more than one killer? This story and its intricate plotting are so clever that it's a pleasure to sit back and watch everything unfurl in front of you while enjoying every moment of Poirot’s unique detection process.

The classic denouement features the expected Hercule Poirot gathering of all the suspects for his final construction of the crime (or crimes in this case), and it is a wonder to behold. I cannot put into words just how grateful I am to Sophie Hannah for continuing to keep both Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot alive on the pages of diabolically clever mysteries. His spirit and measure are on full display in THE LAST DEATH OF THE YEAR, and mystery readers will find it impossible to resist.