Search - Black Coffee (Hercule Poirot)

You can never go wrong with an Agatha Christie and with the little gray cells of Hercule Poirot the killer will be ensnared without the tiniest details missed.

First penned as a stage production, Black Coffee has been rewritten by her grandson Michal Pritchard.

Set in the early 1930's, Sir Claud Amory, an atomic scientist, has invited Poirot to his estate to personally transport a formula back to London. Sir Claud realizes that the formula is missing and offers his family and guests one minute in total darkness to return the formula with no questions asked. Well, one minute is all it takes to murder Sir Claud. Upon his arrival, Hercule Poirot is enlisted into finding both the formula and the killer.

Of course Agatha gives us a whole room full of likely suspects, each with their own secrets and story, but with Captain Hastings at his side, Poirot makes quick work of this very captivating who-done-it.

Quintessential Christie! It was a real delight to discover this "new to me" book by my favorite author.

Originally written as a stage play it amazes me how well Black Coffee has been adapted as a novel in which Hercule Poirot retains his personality as Christie’s most famous and beloved detective. The story takes place in the spring of 1934 when Poirot is urgently invited to the home of Sir Claud Armory. With a limited number of players it seems it would be easy for the reader to determine the outcome, but you will not be disappointed in this one. Agatha Christie has a special knack for keeping the reader guessing right to the end.

A winner.