A HAUNTING IN VENICE: Kenneth Branagh as Poirot

I have not seen a preview of A Haunting in Venice, so come back for my viewing comments. Personally I think David Suchet's portrayal of Hercule Poirot is the best, but I've enjoyed other actor's performances including Peter Ustinov's. I'm easy. I really enjoy Agatha Christie's books, plays, short stories, and movies. That being said, I did not enjoy the 2022 Death on the Nile with Kenneth Branagh. Not sure if I'm in the minority, but I found the sets off-putting. I think because they were sets and not the real thing. I also recall that the film was slow moving and confusing. Oh well, I'll let you know know what I think after I see A Haunting In Venice. Feel free to post comments about the film.

A HAUNTING IN VENICE, featuring Kenneth Branagh as Agatha Christie's Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot, opens in Theaters on September 15. 

Kenneth Branagh reprises his role in A Haunting in Venice after previously portraying Poirot in the 2022 movie Death on the Nile and 2017's Murder on the Orient Express. The movie is set in post-World War II Venice, where Poirot, now retired and living in his own exile, reluctantly attends a seance at an All Hallows' Eve party. But when one of the guests is murdered, it is up to the former detective to once again uncover the killer. 

Final Poirot Episodes only available on Acorn TV

Although two more episodes of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot starring David Suchet will be on PBS Masterpiece Mystery! tonight and next Sunday, (The Big Four and Dead Man's Folly), the final three episodes will only be available in August on Acorn TV. Those episodes include Elephants Can Remember (Aug. 11) and Labours of Hercules (Aug. 18) and Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case on Aug. 25.

Hercule Poirot: The Big Four tonight!

David Suchet returns as Hercule Poirot tonight on PBS Masterpiece Mystery! Episode: The Big Four.

The Big Four plunges Poirot into a world of global espionage, set against the backdrop of the impending WWII. The public is in a panic after the shocking death of a Russian chess grandmaster at the climax of a high-profile international Peace Party reception. With the help of old friends Captain Hastings, Inspector Japp and Miss Lemon, Poirot must make a dramatic move that only a chess champion could love, while navigating international figures and intrigues in order to identify the culprit. Adapted by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock), The Big Four reunites David Suchet with Hugh Fraser as sidekick Captain Hastings, Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp, and Pauline Moran as secretary Miss Lemon.

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"New" Hercule Poirot Novella

Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly is available as an ebook with the print version being released next year.

Official blurb: In 1954, Agatha Christie wrote this novella with the intention of donating the proceeds to a fund set up to buy stained glass windows for her local church at Churston Ferrers, and she filled the story with references to local places, including her own home of Greenway. But having completed it, she decided instead to expand the story into a full-length novel, Dead Man's Folly, which was published two years later, and donated a Miss Marple story (Greenshaw's Folly) to the church fund instead.

Unseen for sixty years, Hercule Poirot and the Greenshore Folly is finally published in this eBook exclusive edition, with a new cover by Agatha Christie's most famous cover artist, Tom Adams.

HT: Karen Meek, Eurocrime

Sophie Hannah on writing a new Hercule Poirot novel

Sophie Hannah & Mathew Pritchard

I posted a few weeks ago that British psychological thriller writer Sophie Hannah is going to write an authorized new Hercule Poirot novel.

Here's a link to a great interview at CrimeFictionLover with Sophie Hannah about this endeavor.

William Morrow to publish authorized new Agatha Christie novel written by Sophie Hannah!

This just in from William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers:

William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers today announced plans to publish the first-ever new Agatha Christie novel, fully authorized by the Christie estate, to be penned by international bestseller Sophie Hannah.  The deal for World English rights was negotiated by Daniel Mallory, VP, Executive Editor at William Morrow, and David Brawn, Estates Publisher at HarperCollins UK with Hilary Strong, Managing Director at Christie rights manager Acorn Productions Ltd/Agatha Christie Ltd, the UK based rights holding production arm of RLJ Entertainment, Inc (NASDAQ: RLJE) and Hannah’s agent Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge & White.  The novel will be published in September 2014 by HarperCollins worldwide.

The new novel will feature Hercule Poirot in a diabolically clever murder mystery sure to baffle and delight Christie's fans, and those who have never read her work. Agatha Christie introduced the Belgian detective to the world in her first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920. It has been 38 years since Agatha Christie’s last novel, Sleeping Murder, was published in 1976, and 39 years since the final Poirot, Curtain.

“It was pure serendipity that led to Sophie Hannah being commissioned to write this book,” notes Mathew Prichard, Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd and grandson of Agatha Christie. “Her agent happened to approach HarperCollins in exactly the same week that my colleagues and I 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.”

Hannah, a leading writer of psychological crime fiction who is published in 24 countries, says, “It is almost impossible to put into words how honored 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.”

"In the years since William Morrow began publishing the world's bestselling novelist, we have seen astounding results across a range of formats and promotions,” notes Mallory.  “Sophie Hannah's spellbinding novel marks a new stage in our relationship with Agatha Christie, and along with our colleagues at Harper UK, Acorn, Agatha Christie Ltd, and of course Mathew Prichard and the family, we are looking forward eagerly to bringing whole new generations of readers to this legendary author.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sophie Hannah is the internationally bestselling author of eight psychological thrillers, which have been published in more than 20 countries and adapted for television.  Last year, her novel Kind of Cruel was shortlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards Crime Thriller of the Year.  Sophie is also a poet, and has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize.  Sophie lives in Cambridge, and is an Honorary Fellow of Lucy Cavendish College.  Her website is www.sophiehannah.com and you can follow her on Twitter at @sophiehannahcb1. 
 

David Suchet in Agatha Christie's "Dead Man's Folly"

Great news! Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mystery series has another production underway--Dead Man's Folly--which will be filmed at Greenway, Agatha Christie's home, which is now owned by the National Trust.

David Suchet will again star as Hercule Poirot in "Dead Man's Folly." Zoë Wanamaker plays another of Christie's detectives, mystery writer Ariadne Oliver. Oliver asks Poirot to join in a "murder-hunt" party at Nasse House in Devon. During the game, the "pretend" murder suddenly becomes alarmingly real.

"Dead Man's Folly" features in the 13th and final Poirot TV series which will include five Agatha Christie adaptations, "Labours of Hercules," "The Big Four," "Elephants Can Remember" and "Curtain".

The BBC says that with the July 2013 conclusion of the current ITV series, David Suchet will have appeared in a depiction of each novel Christie wrote about Poirot – over 65 television programs. Suchet began his portrayal of Poirot in 1989.

Hat Tip: Carol Thomas, Examiner.com

Christie News: 5 more Hercule Poirot films

Hat Tip to GM Maillet for this news. ITV has commissioned Five new Poirot films for production in 2012!

David Suchet will return to his role as Hercule Poirot, the fastidious and brilliant Belgian detective.

The films, based on the Agatha Christie Poirot novels and short stories yet to be filmed, have been commissioned from ITV Studios and Agatha Christie Ltd.

The Poirot films which will go into production during 2012 are:
Labours of Hercules; Dead Man's Folly; The Big Four; Elephants Can Remember; Curtain.

Masterpiece Mystery! 2011 Season

I can't wait for the new season of Masterpiece Mystery! For those of you who were worried that Inspector Lewis wouldn't be on the list, fear not. Four new Inspector Lewis episodes have been added to the PBS schedule. They'll air in September. This season also sees the debut of the Aurelio Zen mysteries, based on the books by Michael Dibdin. Just an FYI, the episodes are usually on the website the week or so after they air, so be sure and check.

Hercule Poirot
A trio of new episodes feature David Suchet as the suave Belgian detective. In Three Act Tragedy (June 19), a cocktail party is the scene of a crime, while in The Clocks (June 26), multiple frozen clocks factor into a murder. Poirot investigates a death at a festive event turned foul in Hallowe'en Party (July 3).

Miss Marple
Julia McKenzie is back as Agatha Christie's detective with a gentle smile and probing mind in the all-new episode The Pale Horse (July 10). Miss Marple's old friend is found murdered, and when she receives a list of names sent by the victim before his death, Miss Marple seeks justice.

Zen
What does an honest cop do when his bosses are on the side of the lawbreakers? Outwitting prosecutors, politicians, mobsters, kidnappers and killers, Detective Aurelio Zen brings justice to modern-day Italy. Rufus Sewell stars as Zen, based on the books of Michael Dibdin. Episodes: Vendetta, Cabal, Ratking. Zen premieres July 17, 24 & 31.

Inspector Lewis
Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox are back as Inspector Lewis and DS Hathaway in four new Oxford University-based whodunits, which have them solving cases at an all-female college, investigating the poisoning of a bishop, looking into a clinical trial and examining a sinister blackmail plot. Inspector Lewis: Series IV September 4, 18, 25 and October 9.