Black Coffee [Paperback]

Agatha Christie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 2010

Mystery/Thriller

Characters: 10 males, 3 females

Interior Set

This little known mystery will surprise and delight Christie fans. The story concerns a physicist named Sir Claude Amory who has come up with a formula for an atom bomb (Black Coffee was written in 1934!). In the first act, Sir Claude is poisoned (in his coffee, naturally) and Hercule Poirot is called in to solve the case. He does so after many wonderful twists and turns in true Christie tradition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Subtitled A Hercule Poirot Novel, Black Coffee is actually an Agatha Christie play recrafted as a book meant to be read rather than seen on the stage. The story was first produced in 1930, and Charles Osborne has done little to it except string the dialogue and stage directions together in paragraph form. Christie loyalists will welcome and applaud his dedication to the original, but it does seem as though he could have given it a bit more flair. Still, Poirot himself, bumbling Captain Hastings, and obsequious George are all in good form and it is amusing to find them engaged in another adventure, with an interesting assortment of possible murderers, blackmailers, and innocent (if suspicious) bystanders.

The novel opens as Poirot receives a summons at his breakfast table from England's premier physicist, Sir Claud Amory. Busy working on a new formula necessary for England's defense in the Second World War, Amory suspects a member of his household of espionage. Of course, by the time Poirot and sidekick Hastings arrive at the scientist's country house, he is suddenly and mysteriously dead. Amory himself turns out to have been not quite nice, and his family, regardless of his scientific efforts, is pretty pleased with the new state of affairs. Still, Poirot manages both to save the more amiable members of the household from themselves and to protect the secrets of the British Empire. The novel is warmly evocative of another time and place and a welcome reminder of vintage Christie. --K.A. Crouch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Christie biographer Osborne's adaptation of the grande dame's 1930 play has been blessed by the Christie estate and heartily endorsed by her grandson Michael Prichard. It's a classic "someone in this room is the murderer" tale set in 1934. Scientist Sir Claud Amory invites Hercule Poirot to his estate to collect a formula for a new atomic explosive. Prior to Poirot's arrival, Sir Claud discovers the formula is missing from his safe. He offers the thief one minute of darkness to return it but, when the lights come on again, Sir Claud is dead. That's when Poirot arrives on the scene and takes matters in hand. An empty vial of sleeping pills is discovered, and someone in the room at the time of Sir Claud's death was seen with the tablets. Was Sir Claud murdered by his son Richard, who is in deep debt? Or was it espionage involving Lucia, Richard's Italian wife with a mysterious past and a connection to guest Dr. Carelli? Perhaps Sir Claud's secretary, Edward Raynor, or the spinster sister Caroline is guilty. Poirot, with "methods very much his own," aided by Captain Hastings, is lively and stimulating, like a fine black coffee, in this welcome addition to the Christie canon.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Samuel French, Inc. (December 3, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0573618852
• ISBN-13: 978-0573618857
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Agatha Christie's dead, January 10, 2000

By 

Mary T. Bowers (Elgin, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Coffee (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Like a personal friend, our favorite authors have a voice we instinctively identify. We continue to read their books because we want to hear that voice again. Sadly, many of the voices we love are gone forever, and that includes Agatha Christie's. I found Black Coffee made me sad; it contained all the elements of a Christie -- the people, the place, the puzzle -- but it just wasn't right. I found myself mentally correcting the narrative to make it more "Christie-ish," the way I remember her.

I won't read The Unexpected Guest, just as I didn't continue to read Robert Goldsborough's game imitation of the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout. Rex's voice, too, is gone forever.

Whether or not you'll enjoy this book depends on what you read a book for. If you find yourself reading phrases over a second time, savoring the way the author used precisely the right words to speak right to you, you won't like this book. If you like a neat little puzzle, especially in the lightweight style of the drawing-room mysteries of the '30s and '40s, Black Coffee will satisfy you, though like others, I did wonder why the author chose to focus in on the murderer's hand at that crucial moment. Mrs. Christie would be appalled.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 1st of the 3 Osborne adaptations, November 12, 2004

By 

Neal J. Pollock (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Coffee (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the 1st book of the 3 Osborne adaptations of Agatha Christie plays into novel form. I think it's the lowest of the 3 in quality. The 2nd was "The Unexpected Guest," and the 3rd was "Spider's Web." All 3 read more like plays than novels--so if you are expecting the normal Christie novel, you may very well be disappointed. However, if you have read the novels, this is a nice addition to your list of Christie's and a rare opportunity to envision her plays. True, the plays could just as easily have been bound and published. But, Osborne has apparently done little, if anything, to detract from the plays themselves. So, IMHO, he has done a service both to Christie and to the mystery reading public by publishing these works. As for the content, this particular work is rather straight-forward, lacking some of Christie's usual twists and turns, cleverness, etc. It is the only one of the 3 plays that includes one of her 3 usual "detectives" (Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Tommy & Tuppence). This play is a Poirot adventure, but it's not anywhere near one of the best. It is, however, a Christie. If you've read all the others, it's one more to read. So, do your best to enjoy what may be your final opportunity.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Double Shot of Murder, February 17, 2008

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Coffee (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

What a daunting task it must be to adapt a play by Agatha Christie and be successful at it! Agatha Christie herself took to writing plays because she disliked the way one of her novels had been adapted for the stage. Charles Osborne, a Christie biographer and renowned theatre and opera expert, does a comendable job in this novelization of the play "Black Coffee".

Hardly anything new is added to the story, except for a slight lengthening of the time frame and an early chapter to introduce Hercule Poirot. Osborne is true to the original text, using the lines Christie wrote as the dialogue between his characters, enhancing their conversations a little at certain places. The only other additions are seen through his descriptions, mostly taken from stage directions, but some creativity is granted in how characters say certain things and their physical descriptions.

For any Agatha Christie fan, it is a pleasure to have another of her 'novels' to read. Osborne tries very hard to match the rhythm and flow of Christie's writing, and does well overall, with only a few patches that sound stilted. It is obvious that some other reviewers haven't read the original Christie text to enjoy this story as it was originally meant to be enjoyed - performed on the stage, where secrets are not kept from the audience. But since copies of the play can be a little difficult to come by, Osborne's adaptation is a close second in enjoyment.