Copy cats

It has taken a long time for someone to gain permission to write a new Hercule Poirot novel. But the gifted Sophie Hannah has suceeded, and her book, The Monogram Murders,  is available at prices ranging between £15 and £18, though of course kindle undercuts that with its £6.99 edition.

I’ve bought it, but not yet started it. The reviews so far have been unsurprisingly mixed, principally because the Christie style is apparently harder to emulate than the Ian Fleming. But as an old Christie fan I’m game to give it a go.

 Not that James Bond is really that easy to imitate either, and only William Boyd, it seems to me, has sensationally succeeded in doing so. Nevertheless I’m looking forward to Hannah’s book - though at well over 300 pages it looks a bit long for a Christie. 

 On the whole I tend to prefer writers sticking to their own styles, and would certainly argue that PG Wodehouse is impossible to copy satisfactorily.  Who will come next, I wonder?  JK Rowling, at least, has succeeded in copying herself, even if the novel she has written about English country life slightly runs out of steam.

19 September 2014