Black Coffee

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: 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: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Overall a good book but missing something
Review: I feel that the book was well written and adapted smoothly from its original play format. Charles Osborne has tried to keep as closely as possible to Agatha Christie's writing style, and I definitely liked the English country house atmosphere. However, I was a bit disappointed by the plot, which I thought was too simplistic and lacked the drama of some of Christie's other works (I'm a huge Agatha Christie fan and have read every single one of her novels). I realize that since the book was originally a play, it may have required a simpler plot, but I felt that Osborne should have tried to add some complexity to the story in its book form. I also didn't like the fact that it was not written in the style of the other Poirot-Hastings collaborations, where Captain Hastings was always the narrator. His observations were always interesting, even when wrong and made the novels something special. Narrated in the third person, it sounds a bit flat. Still, overall it was a good read and so nice to find one of Dame Christie's "lost works".