Sophie Hannah
Author of The Monogram Murders
About the Author
Sophie Hannah was born in 1971 in Manchester, England. She is a bestselling, award-winning poet. Hannah went to the University of Manchester and published her first book of poems, The Hero and the Girl Next Door, at the age of 24. In 2004 she won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short show more Story Competition for her psychological suspense story, The Octopus Nest. Hannah was recently chosen by Agatha Christie's estate to resurrect her beloved detective, Hercule Poirot. Her subsequent novel, The Monogram Murders, was published in 2014. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Sophie Hannah
How to Hold a Grudge: From Resentment to Contentment, the Power of Grudges to Transform Your Life (2019) 65 copies, 7 reviews
Beauty, Hair, Style: The ultimate guide to everyday, festival, and occasion make-up looks, hair styles and dyeing, and… (2023) 1 copy
The Tennis Church 1 copy
The Dwelling 1 copy
The Double Best Method: Become a Decision-Making Genius and Say Goodbye Forever to Bad Choices and Regrets (2024) 1 copy
Bully the Blue Bear 1 copy
Allerlei 1 copy
Associated Works
The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My (1952) — Translator, some editions — 454 copies, 6 reviews
Who Will Comfort Toffle? A Tale of Moomin Valley (1960) — Translator, some editions — 381 copies, 8 reviews
A Spot of Folly: Ten and a Quarter New Tales of Murder and Mayhem (2017) — Introduction, some editions — 59 copies, 3 reviews
The Double Clue and Other Hercule Poirot Stories (2016) — Introduction, some editions — 48 copies, 1 review
Skald: The Short Story Collection: 6 Original Crime & Thriller Short Stories (2018) — Contributor — 7 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Hannah, Sophie
- Birthdate
- 1971
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- England, UK
- Birthplace
- Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Manchester, England, UK
West Yorkshire, England, UK
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK - Education
- Beaver Road Primary School, Didsbury, England, UK
University of Manchester - Occupations
- poet
novelist - Relationships
- Geras, Norman (father)
Geras, Adéle (mother) - Agent
- Peter Straus (Rogers, Coleridge and White)
- Short biography
- Sophie Hannah is a best-selling, award-winning poet. Her latest collection, First of the Last Chances, was chosen for the Poetry Book Society's Next Generation promotion in June 2004. She regularly performs her poetry to live audiences nationwide and abroad, and recently won first prize in the Daphne Du Maurier Festival Short Story Competition for her psychological suspense story The Octopus Nest. Little Face is her first psychological crime novel. Sophie lives in West Yorkshire with her husband and two children.
From Fantastic Fiction
Members
Reviews
A game for all the family by Sophie Hannah
Sophie Hannah gets more and more bizarre with each book. Entertaining.
Generally speaking I don't mind if someone else continues a series after the first author dies... but this book was hugely confusing. I'm trying to remember if I thought Hannah's Hercule Poirot was close to Agatha Christie's version but I can't remember. Who died? Who did it? Why? Unfortunately I have all the books in the series so I'll probably be reading them all - here's hoping the next one makes sense.
In "The Next to Die," a Simon Waterhouse/Charlie Zailer police procedural by Sophie Hannah, an unidentified killer executes three women and one man. The perpetrator, nicknamed "Billy Dead Mates," leaves each victim a small hand-made book containing a line of poetry. A team of detectives investigates under the watchful eye of their sardonic boss, DI Giles Proust, also known as the Snowman, a name "inspired by the icy wasteland he had in place of a heart."
A great many pages consist of passages from "Origami," a memoir by successful stand-up comedienne Kim Tribbeck. Kim writes about her unsuccessful love-life, thriving career, and her brush with Billy Dead Mates, who left her a small white book but has yet to finish her off. Kim is witty, darkly humorous, self-deprecating, and is the most interesting character in the novel.
Sadly, Hannah's writing fails to engage us. Her story is slow moving, with tedious tangents, aimless dialogue, and an inquiry that, for quite a while, goes nowhere. Simon is even more smug than usual, and the solution to the crimes is one of the most outlandish in recent memory. Charlie and Simon barely interact, and Kim, for all of her cleverness, ultimately grates on our nerves. "The Next to Die," is rambling, bizarre, and unfocused, and will disappoint readers who enjoy meaningful and coherent mysteries.… (more)
A great many pages consist of passages from "Origami," a memoir by successful stand-up comedienne Kim Tribbeck. Kim writes about her unsuccessful love-life, thriving career, and her brush with Billy Dead Mates, who left her a small white book but has yet to finish her off. Kim is witty, darkly humorous, self-deprecating, and is the most interesting character in the novel.
Sadly, Hannah's writing fails to engage us. Her story is slow moving, with tedious tangents, aimless dialogue, and an inquiry that, for quite a while, goes nowhere. Simon is even more smug than usual, and the solution to the crimes is one of the most outlandish in recent memory. Charlie and Simon barely interact, and Kim, for all of her cleverness, ultimately grates on our nerves. "The Next to Die," is rambling, bizarre, and unfocused, and will disappoint readers who enjoy meaningful and coherent mysteries.… (more)
In Sophie Hannah's "The Mystery of Three Quarters," master detective Hercules Poirot is startled to learn that four people have received letters signed by him, accusing them of having murdered ninety-four year old Barnabas Pandy. According to the police, however, Mr. Pandy's death was accidental. He drowned when he fell asleep while taking a bath. Poirot had never heard of Pandy before, and although he did not compose these letters, the recipients believe that he did. Two angrily confront him. The third and fourth are more puzzled than angry. Although Poirot would like to wash his hands of this irksome affair, his curiosity is piqued, and he decides to investigate the strange case with the help of Inspector Edward Catchpool of Scotland Yard.
It turns out that three of the four men and women accused of killing Pandy had a direct or indirect connection to him. Sylvia Rule's son, Freddie, attends the same school, Turville, as the deceased's grandson, Timothy Lavington. Pandy raised two granddaughters; one of them, Annabel Treadway, received a letter. The third recipient, Hugo Dockerill, is a housemaster at Turville. The anomaly is number four: John McCrodden. Since John has no obvious link to Pandy, why would anyone think that he drowned the old man? McCrodden is the unexplained "fourth quarter." Poirot's little gray cells receive a vigorous workout as he ponders this difficult puzzle, with little concrete evidence to guide him. Instead, he uses his keen understanding of human nature to make sense of what he learns.
Poirot and Catchpool conduct interviews to find out what various individuals know and to uncover carefully hidden secrets that may be relevant to the investigation. Eventually, Poirot comes up with a possible solution, and he summons all concerned to a large gathering, where he intends to unveil who did what to whom and why. Hannah uses Christie's traditional conventions to fine effect. There are colorful characters, each of whom has a well-defined personality, and numerous red herrings to throw us off the scent. Poirot keeps mum as he studies every aspect of the inquiry, and eventually makes surprising inferences that lead him to the identity of the culprit. The author's dialogue, descriptive writing, and settings work well, but the story culminates in a fanciful conclusion that is not particularly convincing. Hannah's central theme is that stubbornly clinging to old grudges is not just futile, but may also end in tragedy. "The Mystery of Three Quarters" is amusing, subtle, and intriguing, but the far-fetched finale weakens the novel's overall impact.
… (more)
It turns out that three of the four men and women accused of killing Pandy had a direct or indirect connection to him. Sylvia Rule's son, Freddie, attends the same school, Turville, as the deceased's grandson, Timothy Lavington. Pandy raised two granddaughters; one of them, Annabel Treadway, received a letter. The third recipient, Hugo Dockerill, is a housemaster at Turville. The anomaly is number four: John McCrodden. Since John has no obvious link to Pandy, why would anyone think that he drowned the old man? McCrodden is the unexplained "fourth quarter." Poirot's little gray cells receive a vigorous workout as he ponders this difficult puzzle, with little concrete evidence to guide him. Instead, he uses his keen understanding of human nature to make sense of what he learns.
Poirot and Catchpool conduct interviews to find out what various individuals know and to uncover carefully hidden secrets that may be relevant to the investigation. Eventually, Poirot comes up with a possible solution, and he summons all concerned to a large gathering, where he intends to unveil who did what to whom and why. Hannah uses Christie's traditional conventions to fine effect. There are colorful characters, each of whom has a well-defined personality, and numerous red herrings to throw us off the scent. Poirot keeps mum as he studies every aspect of the inquiry, and eventually makes surprising inferences that lead him to the identity of the culprit. The author's dialogue, descriptive writing, and settings work well, but the story culminates in a fanciful conclusion that is not particularly convincing. Hannah's central theme is that stubbornly clinging to old grudges is not just futile, but may also end in tragedy. "The Mystery of Three Quarters" is amusing, subtle, and intriguing, but the far-fetched finale weakens the novel's overall impact.
… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 60
- Also by
- 14
- Members
- 10,786
- Popularity
- #2,200
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 546
- ISBNs
- 731
- Languages
- 21
- Favorited
- 15
