Black Coffee: A Hercule Poirot Novel (Hercule Poirot Mysteries)

Amazon.com Review Subtitled A Hercule Poirot Novel , Black Coffee is actually an The novel opens as Poirot receives a summons at his breakfast table from England's premier physicist, Sir Claud Amory. Busy working on a new formula necessary for England's defense in the Second World War, Amory suspects a member of his household of espionage. Of course, by the time Poirot and sidekick Hastings arrive at the scientist's country house, he is suddenly and mysteriously dead. Amory himself turns out to have been not quite nice, and his family, regardless of his scientific efforts, is pretty pleased with the new state of affairs. Still, Poirot manages both to save the more amiable members of the household from themselves and to protect the secrets of the British Empire. The novel is warmly evocative of another time and place and a welcome reminder of vintage Christie. --K.A. Crouch From Publishers Weekly Christie biographer Osborne's adaptation of the grande dame's 1930 play has been blessed by the Christie estate and heartily endorsed by her grandson Michael Prichard. It's a classic ''someone in this room is the murderer'' tale set in 1934. Scientist Sir Claud Amory invites Hercule Poirot to his estate to collect a formula for a new atomic explosive. Prior to Poirot's arrival, Sir Claud discovers the formula is missing from his safe. He offers the thief one minute of darkness to return it but, when the lights come on again, Sir Claud is dead. That's when Poirot arrives on the scene and takes matters in hand. An empty vial of sleeping pills is discovered, and someone in the room at the time of Sir Claud's death was seen with the tablets. Was Sir Claud murdered by his son Richard, who is in deep debt? Or was it espionage involving Lucia, Richard's Italian wife with a mysterious past and a connection to guest Dr. Carelli? Perhaps Sir Claud's secretary, Edward Raynor, or the spinster sister Caroline is guilty. Poirot, with ''methods very much his own,'' aided by Captain Hastings, is lively and stimulating, like a fine black coffee, in this welcome addition to the Christie canon. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. In the first Hercule Poirot novel to appear in over 20 years, perhaps Christie's most famous and beloved detective returns to bring his 'little grey cells' to bear on one more case. In the spring of 1934, Poirot is summoned to Surrey by England's most prominent physicist, Sir Claud Amory. Amory fears that someone in his household is attempting to steal his latest discovery, a formula critical to England's defense. Poirot, with Captain Hastings at his side, rushes to Surrey but arrives too late. Amory has died, his formula is missing, and anyone in this country house, full of relatives and guests, could have been responsible. Originally written by Agatha Christie in 1930 as a three-act play, now adapted as a novel by Charles Osborne (an expert on Christie's life and work as well as a world-renowned theater and opera critic), Black Coffee is class Christie at its finest, sure to delight newcomers and devotees alike. An urgent call from physicist Sir Claud Amory sends famed detective Hercule Poirot rushing from London to a sprawling country estate. Sir Claud fears a member of his own household wants to steal a secret formula destined for the Ministry of Defense. But Poirot arrives too late. The formula is missing. Worse, Sir Claud has been poisoned by his after-dinner coffee. Poirot soon identifies a potent brew of despair, treachery, and deception amid the mansion's occupants. Now he must find the formula and the killer ... while letting no poison slip 'twix his own lips Inventor Sir Claude Amory feels a bitter taste in the mouth, when the new formula for explosive material stolen by someone in the household. In order to quickly remedy the situation, Sir Claude locks the door and turns off the light, giving the thief a chance to return the formula without being detected. But darkness brings death and Hercule Poirot has to untangle family strife, love and suspicious visitors tangle in order to clarify the murderer and prevent disaster. Originally written by Agatha Christie in 1930 as a three-act play, Black Coffee has been adapted as a novel by Charles Osborne, an expert on Christie's life and work. In this novel, Hercule Poirot returns to bring his "little grey cells" to bear on one more case A novel based on a 1930s play in which detective Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of a British scientist and the theft of his formula for an atomic explosive. Suspects range from his son, heavily in debt, to an Italian lady spy A partir d'une pièce de théâtre inédite qu'Osborne a transposée en roman, voici une enquête d'Hercule Poirot qui ravira lecteurs et lectrices. Adapted as a novel in 1998 by Charles Osborne