Rating: 
Summary: Reads too much like a play
Review: ...This is a novelization of play by Agatha Christie. And like many novelizations of both plays and screenplays it reads too much like the author took the stage directions and just translated them into prose (Poirot exits stage left while Hastings enters stage right becomes "As Poirot left the room by the garden door, Hastings entered the room by the hall door.") I usually don't read novelizations for this very reason. It seems that most of these things never delve any deeper than the movie or play. In this case the novel takes place in one room, just a the play did, which is very limiting. On top of that, the mystery is not very mysterious...this plot is has been used before in a previous Christie novel.I'd recommend a pass on this book unless you've read every other Poirot mystery and really hanker for one more.
Rating: 
Summary: A commendable effort - but not for purists
Review: Since I've never seen the script of the original (1930) play, I cannot comment on the similarity between that script and Charles Osborne's conversion of the play into a novel. What I can say, is that - IMO - this is a highly commendable piece of fiction (for those who enjoy Agatha Christie-type murder mysteries). Furthermore, unlike his later later play-to-novel conversion "Spider's Web", this text reads like a genuine novel, NOT like a hastily edited play script. Of course it isn't a perfect example of a 100% genuine Christie novel. Christie was a far more talented writer than her later critics like to admit, and therefore not as easily imitated as one might expect.
In this case, the text occasionally becomes a little too heavy-handed, and the plotting isn't as nearly dense or labyrinthine as in an original Christie novel. As to giving the game away, I personally prefer to read this kind of book as an entertainment rather than a MENSA examination, and as such I must confess that the passage in question passed almost unnoticed and in no way spoiled my enjoyment. So "E" for effort to Mr Osborne for this workman-like pastiche. A "lite" but enjoyable read and well worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the motivation?
Review: A fun read, and I didn't mind that it still reads just like a play--I could see the staging taking place the whole time. But usually when the solution is revealed, I slap my forehead and say "of course." That didn't happen here. I said "huh?" instead.
Rating:
Summary: If you are a Crhistie fan, don't bother
Review: After the thrill of a new title, I was hoping for a lot more than this novel delivered. The dialogue (except that lifted from oher Christie novels) was flat and uninspired, the action wodden. What a disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Description
Review: Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, in any language, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. She is regarded by generations of fans as the greatest mystery writer of all time, and her novels are read and cherished the world over. Now, in the first novel to appear in over twenty years, perhaps Christie's most famous and beloved detective, Hercule Poirot, returns to bring his "little grey cells" to bear on one more case. In the spring of 1934, Poirot is summoned to Surrey by England's most prominent physicist, Sir Cloud Amory. Amory fears that someone in his household is attempting to steal his latest discovery, a formula critical to England's defense. Poirot, with Captain Hastings at his side, rushes to Surrey but arrives too late. Amory has died, his formula is missing, and anyone in this country house, full of relatives and guests, could have been responsible. Originally written by Agatha Christie in 1930 as a three-act play, now adapted as a novel by Charles Osborne (an expert on Christie's life and work as well as a world-renowned theater and opera critic), BLACK COFFEE is classic Christie at its finest, sure to delight newcomers and devotees alike.
Rating:
Summary: Probably better as a play.
Review: Although the basic Christie elements are here, this book is one of her weakest efforts. From all the staginess of the sparse descriptions, it's clear that this was originally a play, and that it probably should have remained a play. Granted that characterizations have rarely been one of Christie's strong points, the stock figures here are so two-dimensional that they rarely elicit any interest at all. Unfortunately, there is little here even of Christie's wonderful ability to surprise us with"~ clever twists and suspenseful dialog.
Rating: 
Summary: Grave Robbing
Review: Anyone who respects Christie would understand that she wrote BLACK COFFEE as a play (her first) - and, in the theatre, its a sort of minor masterpiece. She often would adapt her novels into plays herself, and occassionaly, vice-versa. She did not choose to 'novelize' Black Coffee - because it belongs in the theatre. (same is true of Unexpected Guest and Spider's Web) Now, we have dreary, hackish "novel' versions of these, of which Christie would doubtless disapprove, written with NO sense of the stage (ie the dialogue is NOT the most important element), a tin ear, and, worse, idiotic 'improvements'. Its sad that people can ransack a dead author's work. Sadder still the estate allows it. On the page, however, it is not as bad as the truly awful audiobook version, with a half-dozen risable accents.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasant adaptation of a Christie Play
Review: Black Coffee is a fairly well written adaptation of the play. The story moves fairly well, although there is a little too much decription of the surroundings and people(I never thought that I'd say that. The dialogue is a little stiff, but Christie's mystery and Poirot still shine through.
Rating: 
Summary: A PLAY THAT IS AS DELIGHTFUL AS A BOOK
Review: Black Coffee is a play that is as delightfully sinister and ingenious as any of Dame Christie's books. The plot revolves around a gruff and unfriendly man who dies quite suddenly--during the convenience of a black-out. When traces of poison are found in the cup of pure "black coffee" the english gent was drinking, none other than Hercule Poirot, hero and mastermind of many of Christie's mysteries, is called in to assist. Poirot has a houseful of suspects and little time to pinpoint the true killer and motive in a sea of possibilities. What seems like an impossible case turns out to be, as usual, a simple thread in a tangle of lies which is unravelled with a little common sense and sheer logic. While not quite as complex and complicated as some of Christie's books, Black Coffee serves up a quintessential english atmosphere alongside a flawless murder/mystery--with none other than the self-satisfied (and of course amusing) Poirot busy excersising his "little grey cells". This is a fantastic and extremely enjoyable play, which, whether you choose to read it or go see it performed, will ignite or even reignite a passion of Agatha Christie.
Rating:
Summary: Adaptation of an Agatha Christie play
Review: Charles Osborne writes the novel "Black Coffee" as an adaptation of Agatha Christie's original play. This is a typical Hercule Poirot mystery with Poirot being called to the home of Sir Claud Amory, a scientist who suspects that someone in his household is trying to steal his secret formula. Poirot arrives just after Sir Claud is poisoned. He knows that the killer had to be someone in the room so he begins his investiation of the the four family members and two others who might be involved. The usual red herrings are thrown out before Poirot reveals the real culprit. This is an average Christie story and doesn't contain any of the clever twists that distinguish her best work.
| 
