Hercule Poirot Returns After 39 Years

Hercule Poirot is on a new case after taking rest for 39 years. His creator, Agatha Christie's (who died in 1976) family has agreed for a follow up book which will 34th full-length book in the Poirot series. It does not have a title as yet and will be out in September next year.

Poirot made his debut appearance in charities first novel, Mysterious Affair at Styles, in 1920. Crime author Sophie Hannah will be the new author and it will be published by Harper Collins. It has been commissioned with the blessings of Christie's family after Hannah approached them with a fully-formed idea for a plot. She herself has several well known crime novels to her credit including Kind of Cruel and The Other Half Lives.

"Agatha Christie was-and still is-the world's bestselling novelist. The stories she wrote and the characters she created have withstood the test of time and been successful on film, television, audio, stage, and online. But as we approach what would have been Agatha Christie's 125th birthday, I am delighted beyond measure that Hercule Poirot will live again in the pages of a book, and take readers back to where it all started." David Brawn, publisher for estates at HarperCollins, stated.

The new author, Hannah calls herself an 'obsessively devoted' Christie fan who read all her novels as a 13-year-old.

"It was Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple who, between them, made me want to devote my working life to crime fiction, and it was Christie's brilliant plotting and deep understanding of the human psyche that shaped my identity as a crime writer," she stated.

"Therefore, it is almost impossible to put into words how honoured I am to have been entrusted with this amazing project - in fact, I still can't quite believe that this is really happening. I hope to create a puzzle that will confound and frustrate the incomparable Hercule Poirot for at least a good few chapters," she added.

Meanwhile, Christie's grandson Mathew Prichard has stated that it was pure serendipity that led to Hannah being commissioned to write this book. He also said that he is looking forward to reading the book with "keen anticipation."

"Her agent happened to approach HarperCollins in exactly the same week that my colleagues and I had started discussing a new Christie book. Her idea for a plot line was so compelling and her passion for my grandmother's work so strong, that we felt that the time was right for a new Christie to be written," Prichard stated.