Poirot may be on his final episodes, but he is not quite done yet. In what is set to be the first “Agatha Christie” title in 38 years, HarperCollins's William Morrow has signed a new Hercule Poirot story with the blessing of the Christie estate. The book is to be written by Sophie Hannah and currently remains untitled.
The question here is, can we expect the floodgates to open on Poirot pastiches? Can we get a modern take on the mustachioed sleuth a la Sherlock? What about a steampunk retelling? Or Hercule Poirot vs Dracula? I for one am holding out hope for more Hercule video games. Seriously, though, are you ready for more Poirot in print?
Wasn’t the reason Christie ended Poirit the way she did was so no one else could used the character in books not written by her?
Indeed. It is hard to see how it could be anything else than a prequel, or some alternate timeline thingamagic. Which will probably not work.
Hercule Poirot was written as a brillant but detestable egocentric. To his entourage, to the reader, and even to the author herself (also a bombastic, tiresome little creep – according to Wikipedia). That’s not really pastiche material.
And however brillant Agatha Christie’s novels are, Hercule Poirot is no Sherlock either. Agatha Christie actually mentioned Conan Doyle as an inspiration for Poirot’s methods and cast. If Holmes and Watson are the center of such an highly acclimatisable archetype (cf Sherlock, Elementary, Young Sherlock Holmes, Miyazaki’s Sherlock Hound, Detective Conan, House M.D. and countless others…), Hercule Poirot not so much.
Sad to see the Christie’s estate going the way of Ian Fleming’s. However, meh, it’s all money. And it won’t erase Christie’s legacy.