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How does a writer bring one of the greatest detectives that crime fiction has ever produced back to life?
The crime novelist Sophie Hannah had never imagined that any writer would summon him back to the page.
Her fourth Poirot novel will be out next summer.
Here, Hannah walks us through how she channeled thegoddess of crime fiction.
My agent was the one who suggested it to Harper Collins.
Off the top of his head, he proposed the idea.
The editor said, Oh no, the family would never want something like that to happen.
It was an incredible coincidence.
Sherlock Holmes and James Bond were being revived and given new leases on life.
So a meeting was arranged.
They asked whether Id prefer to write Poirot or Marple.
Before Poirot, Id always written contemporary crime novels, and this idea was not a contemporary idea.
The mind-set required for the plot to work is more old-fashioned.
I thought the plot would be better suited to Poirot because the solution to the mystery was very clever.
There are some elements Christies Poirot plots always involve.
Then there are the clues, red herrings, the completely unguessable and unpredictable plot.
The real genius of Agatha is that she plays absolutely fair with you.
All the clues are there, but you justneverguess where her plots are going.
The Christie family and I discussed setting the new books in the present day.
I knew instantly I would not want to do that.
If I had invented a version of him that existed now, would he have a Twitter account?
Would he be on Snapchat?
I dont like it when something traditional and brilliant is messed with.
The Christie family was delighted when they discovered how traditional I was.
I also dont think Agatha feels dated at all.
Thats partly because what drives her plots are things that are equally true of humans today.
People still kill because of extreme jealousy, or because theyre terrified their secret will be found out.
She goes for these archetypal, eternal, human dilemmas.
Shes classic but not dated, which is, you know, obviously the ideal.
We also debated exactly when to set my Poirot.
He dies at the end of Agathas last book about him,Curtains.
I certainly didnt want to bring him back to life because that never works.
Remember when Bobby Ewing came back to life inDallas?
He was unaccounted for.
I didnt do too much historical research.
Theres no way Im going to stay there and suddenly be filled with Poirot inspiration.
And yet, that was exactly what happened.
Once I started writing Agatha novels myself, I realized how much Id absorbed her influence over the years.
I never had to think,I hope Im doing enough Agatha-ish things.
I dont think I could have written any other authors detective in the same way.
I didnt find it intimidating to write Poirot precisely because nobody can fill Agathas shoes.
In some ways, Poirot is a bit like a superhero.
His personal life, if he has one, doesnt get in the way.
At the same time he is a flawed, slightly weird character.
And so he seems very real.
Once youve encountered Poirot, you just dont forget to him.
Hes visually memorable the way he talks, the way he thinks.
All his little foibles, his insistence on order and method.
I think hes just the best character crime fiction has ever produced.
