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Agatha Christie’s “Hercule Poirot” novels will live on in 2014, with crime author Sophie Hannah chosen to carry on the tradition of inquisitive detective work.
Agatha Christie introduced the Belgian detective to the world in her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920. It has been 38 years since Agatha Christie’s last novel, Sleeping Murder, was published in 1976, and 39 years since the final Poirot, Curtain.
The new authorial appointment came about as a result of a fortunate turn of events, with Christie’s grandson Mathew Pritchard describing it as “pure serendipity.”
“[Sophie’s] agent happened to approach HarperCollins in exactly the same week that my colleagues and I had started discussing a new Christie book. Her idea for a plotline was so compelling and her passion for my grandmother’s work so strong, that we felt that the time was right.”
As for Hannah, her own career as a crime writer was the direct result of an early immersion in the lives and cases of Christie creations Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot.
“Christie’s brilliant plotting and deep understanding of the human psyche shaped my identity as a crime writer,” she said, calling herself an “obsessively” devoted fan.
Hannah, a leading writer of psychological crime fiction who is published in 24 countries, says, “It is almost impossible to put into words how honored I am to have been entrusted with this amazing project—in fact, I still can’t quite believe that this is really happening! I hope to create a puzzle that will confound and frustrate the incomparable Hercule Poirot for at least a good few chapters.”
The recruitment comes after Ian Fleming’s James Bond books has been picked up by Jeffery Deaver and William Boyd, while Sebastian Faulks has not only penned a new Bond but also has a Jeeves and Wooster in the works for this November.
William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers will publish the new Agatha Christie novel in September 2014.
Source: AFP-Relaxnews with additional information obtained from HarperCollins via a press release