Black Coffee: Novelisation (Masterpiece Edition)
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Review
‘A lively and light-hearted read which will give pleasure to all those who have long wished that there was just one more Christie to devour’
Antonia Fraser, Sunday Telegraph
‘Reads like authentic, vintage Christie. I feel sure Agatha would be proud to have written it’
Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s grandson
Review
'A lively and light-hearted read which will give pleasure to all those who have long wished that there was just one more Christie to devour' Antonia Fraser, Sunday Telegraph 'Reads like authentic, vintage Christie. I feel sure Agatha would be proud to have written it' Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie's grandson
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an interesting read - a novelization of a Christie play where Poirot is called to investigate a potential case of espionage but which turns quickly to a murder situation. Osborne makes a good job of emulating Christie's style, and the personalities of Poirot and Hastings are spot on.
It does however read like an adaptation, Osborne has taken no liberties at all it seems, so almost the entire book takes place in one room. The actions are described just like in a script, obviously necessary for the reader to see the clues, but it could have been better disguised.
It's very short as a novel, even for a Christie, and I read through it in a couple of hours at most. As such, it doesn't give the reader a lot of time to consider what has happened and try to solve the mystery themselves. I imagine on the stage it has an interval which serves this purpose. There are several rather distracting references to Poirot's other cases - presumably a stage tactic to sell books - which seem out of place, especially as one of them (afaik) had not been published when this play was written, and so I have not yet read it.
Overall, it was an okay read, but nothing special. I could easily visualise it on the stage, however, and think it was probably better suited to its original medium.
It does however read like an adaptation, Osborne has taken no liberties at all it seems, so almost the entire book takes place in one room. The actions are described just like in a script, obviously necessary for the reader to see the clues, but it could have been better disguised.
It's very short as a novel, even for a Christie, and I read through it in a couple of hours at most. As such, it doesn't give the reader a lot of time to consider what has happened and try to solve the mystery themselves. I imagine on the stage it has an interval which serves this purpose. There are several rather distracting references to Poirot's other cases - presumably a stage tactic to sell books - which seem out of place, especially as one of them (afaik) had not been published when this play was written, and so I have not yet read it.
Overall, it was an okay read, but nothing special. I could easily visualise it on the stage, however, and think it was probably better suited to its original medium.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
In the play version, I'm sure there's a stage direction mentioning when the murder occurs. I'm also sure that stage business is intended to distract you from that. Showing the murder happens works on the stage, where you can distract the audience, keep them baffled, and if by chance they do see it, they feel clever.
Simply telling us who the murderer is and how he did it at the point he did it does not work in an Agatha Christie story. It's rather appallingly badly handled - the description - removing the name of the murderer - is something along the lines of "[Censored] tipped the poison into the coffee, their face turning into one of devilish glee."
If that was cut, it'd have been a fairly good, albeit a bit workmanlike adaptation. As it is, I can't really recommend it to any fans of Agatha Christie's work, and those who aren't fans have so many better books to choose from, like Appointment with Death
Simply telling us who the murderer is and how he did it at the point he did it does not work in an Agatha Christie story. It's rather appallingly badly handled - the description - removing the name of the murderer - is something along the lines of "[Censored] tipped the poison into the coffee, their face turning into one of devilish glee."
If that was cut, it'd have been a fairly good, albeit a bit workmanlike adaptation. As it is, I can't really recommend it to any fans of Agatha Christie's work, and those who aren't fans have so many better books to choose from, like Appointment with Death
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I didn't enjoy the book at all. The whole affair was a drag, and there was no major surprise as to the identity of the killer. A credible effort but it could be better.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Just like an original
`Black Coffee' certainly feels like a novel based on a play - most of the action takes place in one room, and many of the descriptive passages between dialogue read like stage... Read more
Published on 24 May 2010 by Simeon
Black Coffee
We were actually told who the killer was at the beginning of the book. No other Agatha Christie novel has ever done that! I am very disappointed with this book.
Published on 29 Nov 2009 by Lily De Pels
A great read and very enjoyable plot
This is book is that typical of Agatha Christie in the way she can make a very boring place such as a house in the English countryside into a great setting for a murder. Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2002
A good Book that could have been written by Christie herself
Method and order in the little grey cells of Poirot's mind have solved the case again and saved us all from a global catastrophe. Hastings helped a little. Read more
Published on 22 Jan 2000 by ernfre@orbit.net.mt
A wonderful book, adapted superbly
Although this was adapted by another author it is almost undistinguishable from the work of Christie herself. Read more
Published on 3 Oct 1999
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