For me, the best part of Agatha Christie novels is your POV character unraveling the relationships of all the players as they peel the onion toward the inevitable solution and not so much the reveal at the end. It's kind of like how people think the thing that made 6th Sense work was the twist but it was really the relationships between the characters.
Glad you enjoyed these. I despised The Monogram Murders; it felt like the antithesis to Poirot for me 😆 I wouldn’t have hated it if it wasn’t pretending to be a Christie, but it made me actively angry that this is what they went with 😅 I wanted to try the author’s works that are not associated with Christie, but I’m still too bitter to proceed with that.
I love love love Louise Penny and the series DEFINITELY gets better. The characters grow exponentially, both in the progression of the story and in your heart (yeah, I know…but I have literally cried like a baby, wept with joy and LOLed throughout). While not all of the books are 5s for me, this is my favorite series of all time. HOWEVER, I would never ever ever recommend this series to someone looking for Christie-like mysteries. I was shocked to see that these books are often recommended for lovers of Christie. What about Alan Bradley’s Flavia series? That one feels more Christie to me than Penny for sure. This was fun!! Thanks for sharing your creative ideas!!
Your reading experiments are always so interesting ! I love how articulate you are and always im interested in your thoughts even when its book i dont care to read 😂
I would definitely recommend Tey's The Franchise Affair, it's similar to Brat Farrar in terms of using a non-traditional mystery but even better in execution in my opinion.
So excited about this video! No one has ever really managed to compare to Christie in my mind. The closest in my opinion to evoke the same feeling have been the Atticus Pund books (the book within a book in Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders). Never heard of The Agathas so I have to add that to my TBR. I read one Josephine Tey book years ago and didn't care for it at all. I do like Sophie Hannah's Poirot books even though they don't compare to Christie's. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Still Life more! I LOVE that series. I do understand the weirdness of the POVs, though. It took a couple books for me to fully get used to it. I do have a recommendation since I remember you saying that you like Christie's spy thrillers (I don't care for most of them)- Dido's Crown by Julie K. Rose. It is a very under-rated and under-hyped historical thriller that I happened to win in a Goodreads giveaway a few years ago. Also, if you haven't read Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver mysteries, she was another Golden Age author and I have enjoyed a good chunk of them.
What a fantastic idea for a video! I'm glad you had fun with Hannah's first outing with Poirot, and I think you nailed it with the proximity of perspective being a major difference in style between her work and Christie's own writing. The other major difference that I noticed was the authors' different conceptions of criminality. Not getting into spoilers, but I find very few authors capture the right weight with regards to criminal motivation and the degree of concern or disregard that the audience should have for it. On a positive note, she has a new non-Poirot coming out in August or September, and I've enjoyed those as well. Excited to give Tey and maybe Penny a try. I'm primarily an audiobook listener (long-distance runner here), so this genre is great for background listening. I enjoyed The Maidens mainly because I was able to zone out/skip ahead through the most overwritten sections.
This was a really enjoyable watch. I'm home sick and have been listening to old BBC radio Christie adaptations. They are very comforting, especially when I can't remember whodunnit until the end.
Ok, storytime: the first ever Christie book I picked up on sale in 2020 was Closed Casket. The name Sophie Hannah didn't mean anything to me and I didn't realize I wasn't reading AC until after! BUT I enjoyed it a lot and it kicked off my new love of Christie, propelled her to one my my favorite authors! ❤️ While Closed Casket doesn't hold up after you read the real deal, I'm still super greatful for introducing me to the true murder mystery genre and Christie!! Plus, through AC is how I found your channel haha
I have read Still Life and thought it was an okay read. I have heard the books get better and I do own the first five, so we will see! I do love the setting a lot though! I love this video idea!
When you started talking about this at the beginning of your video, I immediately thought of the comparisons I've seen with Jane Austen. Basically, they just mean it's a historical romance with no s*x. A lot of clean historical romances get that comparison. It drives me crazy. Loved this video. I may give Sophie Hannah's books a try. I've been purposely avoiding them before now.
Absolutely, I need a video like this about JA-adjacent books!! The constant misperception that her books are romance books really influences this I feel
Still Life is one of my favorite modern mystery novels. I love the setting, the characters, the cozy vibe, the mystery, the art, the French stuff, everything about this book just lined up perfectly with my tastes.
The way you talk about the "slightly off" writing for The Monogram Murders makes me think of how, if you wear two pieces of clothing that are almost the same color but not quite, that seems more jarring than wearing two distinct colors. If that makes sense? Like, if it's not exact, embrace being different? Anyway, I'm not sure I'm ready to read a non-Christie Poirot.
I just noticed that one of your cats looks exactly like my old cat, Chuckie. They even have a little mark by their mouth (although I think Chuckie's was on the other side). He has been dead for 8 years so it was kind of a shock. They're not exactly an uncommon type of tabby to see, but this is the most lookalike I've ever seen!
I've been saving this video for the day I need something comforting and soothing and this morning sucked, so here we go. Your complaint that "like Agatha Christie" is used by many as just another term for whodunit and that it sets up unfair expectations is so true! Ahh, I'm already feeling soothed, and I'm so freaking excited about watching this (just finished the intro). I'm especially interested in your review of the new Poirot books because Poirot is one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, and I had previously decided I couldn't take the chance that those new books would make me unhappy, lol. It's funny because I'm way more tolerant of film adaptations taking liberties with Poirot, but maybe that's because those are never an attempt to be exactly the same thing.
Just starting this video, and I’m excited to hear your takes. I wanted to say I’ve always been curious about your thoughts on The Christie Affair or The Mystery of Mrs Christie or any other books like that which are a historical fiction take on her life and disappearance. Since you read so much I’ve wondered if there’s a reason you haven’t read these (if you have I’m sorry, I’ve searched for them before and your videos didn’t pop up.)? If I was going to read one it would be The Mystery of Mrs. Christie. Just getting to the point where you bring up Christie’s disappearance. I also am not as intrigued by that. I think the media and the search are the interesting aspects of it. Whenever someone hears it for the first time it sounds so interesting, but then it’s like, “oh okay, so basically it sounds like she chose to leave for a bit.” Agatha Christie went missing for 10 days always sounds so much more crazy than it is. Another note, listening to interviews with Sophie Hannah made it much easier for me to accept she was writing under her name. She seems like a great person and she adores Christie, she seems totally aware and agrees with any criticism she could get. 30:30 the old school detective music 😂
Loved this video-- one of my favorites of the last few months! I am currently reading Anne Hillerman's first book picking up where her father left off in the series-- it is so tricky when someone picks up where another author left off. That said, while Anne's writing and perspective are different from Tony's (like Sophie's as compared to Agatha's), I am really enjoying her additions to the series. I think your approach to rating on enjoyment as well as how "Agatha-esque" was fair and useful to those of us watching! Thanks for a fun video!
Loved this video, great idea, I really enjoyed watching along. I've read the Penny, Tey and Hannah books and totally agree! I also love the All About Agatha podcast, definately something for all Agatha fans. I would recommend Sophie Hannah's Culver Valley series, especially after the first couple in the series when it hits its stride.
I think you would like Veronica Mars! Though fair warning if you get really invested in it, I would not watch like the last 15 minutes of the last episode of the 4th season (the one that came out a few years ago). It kinda ruins the whole thing in my opinion, and is a perfect example of a creator shooting himself in the foot for the sake of trying to stick to what he views are the staples of the genre rather than giving the ending to a story that is deserved, and earned (also that literally most if not all the fans wanted). Other than that it is a great show. While there are a few things that date it, the first season is practically perfection. :) --- Now back to finish watching your video, lol, I just had to drop a comment when you mentioned the show.
Okay I'm really early on in this video and I'm nervous haha. I own 2 of these books - Still Life is currently unread in a box to go to a charity shop because I've owned it for years and never got to it. The Sophie Hannah one is still on my shelf but I've always been too nervous to read it - I liked her non Agatha Christie books in my early 20s but I felt they started getting really silly and I'm not sure if I'd still like them now I read more. I'm interested to watch the rest of the video and see what you think!
This idea is awesome! It's always so hard finding something that grips you as much as a Christie does! I hear people saying "the 7,5 deaths of Evelyn...." reads like Christie. And that's mostly because of time period and brilliant plotting. Damn good book, author's a huge fan, but It's really it's own beast! (And 3 to 4 times as long as a normal Christie! )
PS Your blog is in fact Christie-like! (and I'm a life-long fan of A.C.) Your sense of humor, common sense, speaking style etc. I would definitely read a novel with you as a main detective
I also assumed The Agathas would be bleh when I heard of it, but now I think I might have to get it from the library because I'll definitely get a kick out of the Christie Easter eggs, I love things like that in books. The Louise Penny books sound interesting too, so I'll also try that out. (@ 31:45 LOL ). I've always been fascinated by the premise of Brat Farrar, and it sounds like it's definitely worth a read. What you were saying about the Monogram Murders perspective being a little too close to the characters for an imitation of Christie's style makes a lot of sense to me. I wonder if it was a conscious choice on their part to try to make something very close to Christie but also more subtly modern in order to draw in new readers. I think with your well-balanced review of it, I can now read it with the right expectations and therefore be much less concerned about disappointment. Fan-fic is such a great way to think about it since it sets up an expectation of difference but also of love for the original material. Thank you so much for creating and sharing such fantastic content. I loved it, and I would definitely enjoy watching more videos in this series!
I know Sophie Hannah as a poet. I have read, and liked very much some her early poetry collections from the late 90s. I have never tried any of her Poirot books for the same reasons you mentioned, but seeing this video, I might give her a chance.
when you were reading the josephine tey i immediately thought of daphne du maurier's the scapegoat, where two identical looking men end up swapping lives.
I’ve read the first 8 Gamache books and enjoyed them all to varying degrees. I would say the later of the books I’ve read did include major spoilers for some of the earlier books, but if you’re ok with that, go for it. I do understand what you mean about the ‘head hopping’, but it didn’t bother me too much luckily.
I loved this! Agatha Christie is my favorite author, so I found this very interesting. I have been very hesitant to pick-up the Sophie Hannah's Poirot, but now I think I will give the first one a try.
This was an interesting experience1. The only one I’ve read is Still Life. I do love Louise Penny and I am working through all of Christie’s work. I was actually surprised when you chose Still Life for this because I don’t find the Gamache series to be reminiscent of Christie. However, as I was thinking about it, Still Life is probably the most Christie-ish of them all. I love the entire Gamache series, but I know that a lot of people feel that it doesn’t really pick up until the 4th or 5th book. However, I maintain that most of the books don’t remind me of Christie at all.
I am so glad you read Louise Penny! I’ve actually never thought about if she’s like Agatha Christie or not…even though I love them both. Definitely don’t bother reading the first three or four books, I think she becomes a stronger writer as she goes. I completely agree about cozies and tweeness. Every cozy that I haven’t liked has just been tooooo cutesy! Thank you for giving me words for it!
Fun vlog conzept😀I love the Hannah poirots. Btw do you have thought on the miss marple collection coming in september? 12 novellas with marple from contemporary authors. I am excited. I read a Ruth Ware book last year hearing that her books Are Christie esque and in my opinion it was not very. Mystery yes,one setting yes,but it was too scary for my taste and I usually dont think Christie and scary
I've read about 6 of Penny's Inspector Gamache novels. There are 17 books in it and I read one from the middle, one toward the end and then Still Life. I've read the last few in order. I think it's fine to read them in any order you like. I have found it interesting when reading an earlier installment to know a little more about what will happen to the characters in the future.
All the women in my book club (they're my mother's age; I'm the youngest one there) LOVE Louise Penny, and I haven't gotten around to reading any yet. I don't know why I'm resisting, since I do love mysteries. Just haven't made trying her work a priority. I think I'd re-read some Poirot books before picking up one of these, since, from your review, if I were craving a Poirot type story, Louise Penny probably wouldn't satisfy me? But now I'm curious to try Josephine Tey.
Patricia Wentworth wrote a series of golden age whodunnits featuring Miss Maud Silver , a retired governess, as her detective protagonist starting in 1928 through to 1961. I enjoy them as much as I enjoy Agatha Christie.
I read my first 2 Christie novels this month. I read The Murder on the Links and And Then There Were None. I really liked both, but don’t know which one to read next-she has so many.
I really enjoyed this vlog! For once, I have actually read all or part of three of the books you reviewed. My Book Club read Still Life. I think that it is fine, and I will eventually continue with the series. However, it never reminded me of any of the Agatha Christie books that I have read (pretty much all of them). I started The Monogram Murders and had to DNF it. Hannah's Poirot is too frenetic and not cerebral enough for me. I have read all of Tey's books, and Brat Farrar is a particular favorite. One of her detective stories might have been a better choice for this vlog, although I never felt Christiesque vibes when reading Tey. You really might enjoy Nicola Upson's mysteries that feature Tey as the main character. The first is An Expert in Murder (2008); Upson's 2020 book, The Dead of Winter, is almost a closed circle mystery, with a Scotland Yard detective as one of the guests at the venue. Regards, Kay Webb Harrison
I really liked this post. I'm lazy so these comparisons to Christie save me the energy of finding interesting books. ( Did I mention I am lazy ?) Think it was smart separating "AC comparison vs quality" of the books. Read & enjoyed Tey & Hannah. Do you think any authors actually write like Christie ? If so , whom ?
I've started reading the Louise Penny books and I enjoy them a lot because I enjoy the setting of Three Pines so much. I will also say that you could probably skip the first three books without too much bother. If you have book 4 A Rule Against Murder, you might like it as it is isolated closed circle mystery adjacent.
If you've never heard of the Aggie Morton Mystery Queen middle grade series, it is a take on a young Agatha Christie who meets a Poirot type kid and they solve mysteries.
You've now read the same two Josephine Tey books as myself. Brat Farrar (btw, it's pronounced 'farra' - as in the 'Farrah' in Farrah-Fawcett) is a decent suspense/thriller/adventure-type story. Daughter of Time is okayish - but hardly deserves the reputation it has gained, imo. Tey doesn't particularly share a writing style with Christie. She has a lot less of a sense of humour, for one thing! I have given Sophie Hannah's Poirot novels a miss. The words 'cash cow' keeping coming to my mind.
Love this! A few suggestions for upcoming vids: fact or cap: isolated closed circle mysteries. Fact or cap: Jane eyre retellings. Fact or cap: “Harry Potter like” ☺️
I have nothing against Sophie Hannah, but Christie purposely killed Poirot off in Curtain so that ... wait for it ... people would not use the character in their own books after her death. Sophie's agent or manager or someone initiated the deal and the estate agreed. The family is obviously very interested in the lucrative nature of these endeavours and push them hard. The Monogram Murders is okay until we get to the last quarter or so of the book where we go over the same points over again for many, many pages. Poirot's personality just isn't the same, and Catchpool seems like a remarkably inept detective. It's like Hastings's dumber brother inexplicably got on the police force. The MM is not Christiesque in the sense I think of it, because, as you cleverly point out, Christie has a lightness of touch that's unparalleled. I read it, but I don't remember who did it, because after that looooong explanation, I no longer cared. These experiments aren't successful for me, because Christie, like Garbo in the movies, was a natural phenomenon. If you list your ideal criteria for a stellar detective novel, Christie generally displays each and every single one, and made up a few of her own. If Poirot weren't in this book, what would we be left with? Hannah has some creative ideas, but she isn't Christiesque. If you want a contemporary Christiesque book, try R.T. Raichev. He often has Christie book titles as chapter titles, refers to her in his books, has red herrings, also a lightness of touch, and clearly adores the genre. I hope BooksLikeWhoa reviews one of his books. They deserve more attention. Sorry I wrote so much! I'll stop now! :)
Preach! As a big mystery reader I hear this all the time. "It's just like Christie" 🤨 The answer is no, they are Not. While I enjoy Louise Penny she is Not Christie-that being said neither is Ware or Foley or (insert author name here). I feel this is much like how every magical academia story was "just like Harry Potter".
The hunting party being described as "Christie-esque" still pisses me off! It's a thriller that doesn't give you the chance to actually solve ANYTHING. She gives everyone motive and opportunity, and then refuses to tell us who dies till the finale! (And I hated the characters, all of them!)
@@garfreeek The unlikable characters thing didn't bother me, but Christie often had unlikable characters in her stories too. I felt like that and a few other superficial elements were really the only Christie-esque elements I could find. Writing style though is world's apart from Christie.
@@TheGoofy1932 yhea, it's not a bad thing, especially for a mystery. But Christie at least usually gives you a hero or heroïne to root for! Main gripe is the lack of actual deduction though. That's such a shame because the solution turned out to be quite good!
Veronica Mars first 3 seasons are definitely worth a watch. I had discounted The Agathas entirely since I was never interested at all in her "little sojourn " at the fancy spa though I know it was a pretty big story at the time. (I just don't care about the lives of celebrities, in general-entertain me, but I don't need or want to know about your little personal dramas 😏) You can easily read the Inspector Garchande series out of order. Surface level, I agree with you in terms of tropes, plot, character archetypes, but not the actual writing style, while I enjoy them she is No Christie. (But if you're looking for a 3-4 star detective style mystery-you could definitely do worse) I've not read Josephine Tey yet. I'll have to give her a try. I'm sure I will read The Monogram Murders, but I think it will Not be Agatha enough for me. I've experienced the same thing with another beloved series that was taken over by someone else when the author passed away 😢 (Spencer series) Originally written by the brilliant Robert B Parker then Ace Atkins took over. While he's a competent writer, he's Not Parker. They're different people makes sense they would write differently. I think I will get the same thing from Sophie Hannah. But better a slightly paler Poirot than no Poirot at all. Always enjoy these types of videos and, of course the 🐈 😻 🐈⬛ cameos.
Somewhat related to the topic, I decided to read more Christie books after having read one of the more popular ones. Do you think they work as audio books, or should they be read in print? Also, do you think they the series like Poirot, Miss Marple, etc need to be read in order?
Thank you, it is really interesting and helpful video! I didn't like any of Penny's books, too weirdly-cutesy for me ( idk), but I'm very intrigued by Sophie Hannah novels (never read them, it was always pleasantly plenty novels written by Christie herself)
I think comp titles only work if they works are similar in many different aspects - otherwise you need to be more specifc as to what you are referring to. Sounds like Christie is used like Game of Thrones, anything that's political high fantasy will get its name somewhere on it.
I’m a big fan of Tey’s writing, and Brat Farrar in particular, but I don’t think Tey is anything like Christie. I often recommend her books and I think the caliber of her writing is high, it’s just not like Christie. Sophie Hannah is tough for me because her hand just isn’t as light as Christie’s. She lacks the Christie subtlety and the intricate depth of Christie plots and characters. That being said, if I don’t expect her to be Christie, I do enjoy her books and have read them all. The same is true, btw, for Nicola Upson and her Tey books (for me at least.) For me, Penny improves over the series. (And don’t tell anyone but I read them out of order too.) The author I just read from for the first time, who is a Golden Age of Mystery author, and who does seem to me to be “like Christie,” is Anthony Berkeley. I just read The Wintringham Mystery and loved it.
@@angelahughes4230 Thank you. Of course now I’m curious as to the origins of the slang, but ultimately it doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to stay current so I can see interact with people 😅
There is a lot of dislike for the Sophie Hannah books in the Christie community and I think it is unjustified. I do think it is accurate to say the tone of her novels is off. I also think the characterization of Poirot is very off at time, especially in books three and four where he says a lot of things that he wouldn't normally say. I think Sophie Hannah creates very good mystery plots but I would agree that wrapping them up in a convincing, intriguing way has been a consistent issue of hers.
These are affiliated links, but I think these are the 2 styles I was wearing: Ottoto Bellona: bit.ly/BooksLike_OttotoBellona Ottoto Waterloo: bit.ly/BooksLike_OttotoWaterloo
Greetings from Germany! I read the four "new" Poirot books and regreted it. 2 and 3 are better then 1, but 4 was another nose dive. I am a fan of the Gamache books (read the first 11 books) They are great and have to be read in order. Keep up the good work.
Love your videos so much, I’ve been wanting to try an AC book but have been turned off by the problematic racism that I’ve herd made their way into her books. What say you?
It’s definitely there in some of them and can be very off putting - one thing I’ve noticed is that they edit some to all of it out in the audiobook versions. So if you’re open to audio, I might recommend going that route.
I loved Still Life, but I will say do NOT read A Fatal Grace (book 2). I think you will really, really hate it. There's some truly horrific, fatphobic comments about a child that are just...awful and jarring, and it's not even something that I always notice. I haven't read the rest of her works, but in case you have that one, I wanted to give you fair warning so you aren't blindsided by it. (The plot wasn't that great either.)
I have heard from a couple of fans that the Louise Penny series really gets great at book 4 but I have not made it past one and one-half books… and I didn’t really like the first book. Maybe time to try again 😊
