The Killings at Kingfisher Hill

The New Hercule Poirot Mystery

By: Sophie Hannah, Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt

The world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot—legendary star of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile—returns to solve a fiendish new mystery.

Hercule Poirot is travelling by luxury passenger coach from London to the exclusive Kingfisher Hill estate, where Richard Devonport has summoned him to prove that his fiancée, Helen, is innocent of the murder of his brother, Frank. But there is a strange condition attached to this request: Poirot must conceal his true reason for being there.

The coach is forced to stop when a distressed woman demands to get off, insisting that if she stays in her seat, she will be murdered. Although the rest of the journey passes without anyone being harmed, Poirot’s curiosity is aroused, and his fears are later confirmed when a body is discovered with a macabre note attached…

Could this new murder and the peculiar incident on the coach be clues to solving the mystery of who killed Frank Devonport? And if Helen is innocent, can Poirot find the true culprit in time to save her from the gallows?

Critic reviews

“‘Close enough to Christie’s own style that the reader could segue from Murder on the Orient Express into this present novel without a stumble.”
— New York Journal of Books

“What Sophie and Agatha have in common is a rare talent for fiendish unpredictability. They make you see how the impossible might be possible after all.”
— Sunday Telegraph

“The latest in Sophie Hannah’s series of mysteries featuring Agatha Christie’s beloved detective is a magnificently intricate puzzle for Poirot’s famous little grey cells.”
— Daily Mail

“I was thrilled to see Poirot in such very, very good hands.”
— Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of Gone Girl

“Perfect…a pure treat for Agatha Christie fans.”
— Tana French

“Does Sophie Hannah’s Poirot live up to our expectations? Yes, he does, and markedly so … Poirot is still Poirot. Poirot is back.”
— Alexander McCall Smith

“Sophie Hannah is genuinely Christie’s heir.”
— The Scotsman

Modernised Agatha Christie

The story was intriguing, Catchpoole made a more well rounded and up to date Hastings and Hercule was his old self with out being overplayed.

The more modern approach to story telling meant that the story kept my attention unlike some of the more traditionally told Agatha Christie originals.

All round good fun like the best Hercule Poirot’s were.

I did not expect that ending at all

When I started listening to this book, the murderer had already been convicted but not everyone thought she was the murderer. You will be shocked as the story goes along and discoveries about this case come to light. Detective Poirot and Inspector Catchpool are still as funny as ever. This book is filled with humor, intrigue and interesting characters that make up the suspect pool. Haven’t disliked a Sophie Hannah book yet and probably won’t.

Killing Poirot!

"The Killings at Kingfisher Hill" has all the external trappings of a classic Hercule Poirot story, the eccentric upper-class setting, a suspicious cast of characters, and a puzzling murder that demands the use of Poirot's little grey cells. Yet despite that, this just doesn’t feel like a true Poirot story. Which is an issue I have with all of Sophie's Hercule Poirot novels... they are mediocre murder mysteries that just don't 'get' Herclue Poirot as a character. I keep hoping they will evolve and become more faithful to the character Agatha Christie wrote, but the author just keeps churning out these novels that keep missing the mark for me.

Who is this Poirot?

The author had a perfectly logical resolution in her grasp, but chose the convoluted one as always. And even worse, who is this Poirot. Agatha Christie's Poirot has always been compassionate and empathetic even with his accurate moral compass. This one is sanctimonious, callous, cruel. Christie's Poirot's outfit is usually black and white. In Hannah's Poirot's case, the his morals and mind are black and white.