Belgian detective brought back to life

Hercule Poirot is to test his famous grey cells once again in a “new” Agatha Christie novel – the first featuring the fictional Belgian detective since Christie’s death in 1976, writes the Independent’s Nick Clark. Christie is the latest author to be resurrected by their estate, following novels in the style of Ian Fleming and PG Wodehouse written by contemporary authors. Bestselling crime writer Sophie Hannah is to write the as-yet untitled novel in Christie’s style, which will be published next year. “Writing a book with Poirot in it will be like writing about someone I know really well,” says Hannah. “I’ve read all the books so many times – I wouldn’t want to do this for any other writer. It was Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple who, between them, made me want to devote my working life to crime fiction.” The work, published by HarperCollins, will be the first fully-authorised Poirot novel since the author’s death. Mathew Prichard, Christie’s grandson and chairman of Agatha Christie Limited, the company that manages her estate, said: “The argument that might convince her is that it’s an attempt to reintroduce an already enthusiastic public to the books she wrote. That would have made her sympathetic to what we’re trying to do. When we heard that someone of Sophie’s eminence wanted to be involved in a project like this, we felt the opportunity was too good to miss.”