The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah

#TheLastDeathoftheYear #NetGalley

Sophie Hannah has developed a reputation as the inheritor of Agatha Christie’s best known character. Christie’s estate gave Hannah the go ahead to write the new stories that feature Poirot and Inspector Catchpool. I think that many have enjoyed these novels. The Last Death of the Year is the sixth of these mysteries.

This time, Poirot and Catchpool are on a Greek Island (better December weather) with a group of characters that have come to live with a man with a vision. With such noble purpose, could something as dastardly as a murder occur? No spoiler…of course.

All who live on the dilapidated Nash Athanasiou’s estate agree to a set of rules, among which the most important is forgiveness for wrongs. The group who come to live here and to (supposedly) abide by this dictum is varied and complex. There are many backstories and interconnections among this group. When murder strikes, will Poirot be able to solve the case? No spoiler…yes, but I think that it will be very difficult for the reader to do so. Kirkus Reviews states:

Fans hoping to beat Poirot to the mind-bogglingly ingenious solution are well-advised to concede the competition in advance.

Those who want more Christie stories, those who like crime fiction set at the holiday period, those who want a clever story and those who want a fictional escape to a warmer climate in winter will want to pick this up.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. That said, it took a moment or two for me to get all of the characters straight in my mind and to decide if I cared enough about them.

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 28 October 2025

From the Publisher

Other Sophie Hannah novels featuring Poirot:

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill

The inimitable: Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night (Sophie Hannah)