What a book! The Killings at Kingfisher Hill is Sophie Hannah’s fourth novel with protagonist Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie. This may be the fourth in the instalment but I really think this one might be her best.
This book is three mysteries in one. I will try to reveal as little as I can to leave the surprise and excitement for you. Mystery one – when Poirot and Inspector Catchpool wait to board a bus to Kingfisher Hill a young woman appears distressed and unwilling to get on the bus. Once everyone boards the bus she insists on swapping seats with Poirot claiming that a man warned her before boarding that if she were to sit in row 7 she would be murdered. The only available seat when she boards the bus – row 7.
Mystery 2, a lady on the bus confesses to murder believing that she will never see Poirot again and is untraceable. And mystery 3, the crime Poirot has been invited to solve at the Kingfisher Hill estate. An estranged son Frank Devonport returning for the first time is pushed from a balcony with his fiancé admitting to pushing him.
Three crimes leaves quite the web for Poirot and Catchpool to untangle. As ever Poitot is well ahead and Catchpool is lagging behind with the rest of us and trying to make sense of it all. They make an interesting pairing. Poirot is as you would expect him to be and in good spirits. Catchpool is helpful for terms of plot as a police inspector and for someone that Poirot can explain his ideas to but I do find the character a little lacking otherwise. He seems perfectly content to follow Poirot around and to not understand things.
The Devonport family are truly unlikeable and make interesting reading. You certainly wouldn’t want to spend anytime with them. They all appear to be outright rude or quiet as a mouse afraid of their bullying father. There is also a running joke about the family interest in a board game called Peepers which they have invented and which Catchpool is desperate to not have to play. Having said that Poirot and Catchpool enter the house under the guise of being Peepers fans which causes some initial amusement but doesn’t really go anywhere. It felt a little like there may have been an intention to have had Peepers be more involved in the plot originally.
The plot keeps you on your toes with new information arriving thick and fast. There’s a lot to absorb and question. Everything you want in a whodunnit. I was guessing right until the end.
The setting as ever in this type of novel was very well described and gave a sense of the English aristocracy and the tension of interacting with people with money. The amateur detective and a sidekick fall easily into place in these surroundings as both interlopers and guests. Picking up information as they go. The bus journey that starts the novel also gives a wonderful sense of the time period in an old fashioned bus and I am sure would be lovely to see in a televised adaptation. It juxtaposes well with the exclusive Kingfisher estate.
All in all the book had the charm and intrigue I expect and enjoy from a story featuring Hercule Poirot. This was a well formed crime novel that I flew through. I would like to hear a little bit more about Catchpool to make him a bit more three dimensional. This novel sits well inside the country house murder sub genre of crime novels. It would I’m sure make a good holiday read or be the perfect book for a cosy long weekend at home.
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