by Lorie Lewis Ham
Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.
I have been a fan of Agatha Christie for a very long time, and Hercule Poirot is my favorite of her characters. Back when I originally heard that Sophie Hannah was going to be writing new Poirot stories I was excited for new stories, but also wasn’t certain how I felt about someone else writing Poirot. However, I ended up enjoying these new stories a great deal. Sophie has done a wonderful job of bringing Poirot to life and staying true to Agatha Christie’s character. I think part of her secret to making these books work so well has been to have them narrated by a completely new character that she created, Inspector Edward Catchpool—that way, the voice could be hers, even if the books take place in the world of Agatha Christie. The Last Death of the Year is the sixth book in this new series and takes place around New Year’s Eve, so while the book was released in October now seems like a perfect time for a review. 
Poirot and Catchpool take a trip to a small Greek island under the guise of going there to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but it doesn’t take long for Catchpool to figure out that this was more of a working trip than a vacation. When they arrive, they find they are guests of a rather odd, almost cultish, community living in a run-down old house. At first, Catchpool is determined to still enjoy this vacation, including swimming in the ice cold water, but that doesn’t last. Things take a dark turn at their New Year’s Eve celebration when after dinner they play a game of sharing their New Year’s Resolutions anonymously. One of them has written a resolution that gleefully threatens to perform “the last and first death of the year.” Most of the guests assume it is some sort of joke, so they all retire for the evening. But hours later, one of them is found dead on the terrace. The possibility of a murder was what brought Poirot to the island at the request of the person in charge of this odd group. A group that claimed to focus on forgiving everyone no matter how dark the deed, but they all have their own dark past—a past that leads someone to murder, not forgiveness. Poirot and Catchpool are determined to find the killer.
Catchpool makes an excellent friend and detecting partner for Poirot, filling both the Hastings and Inspector Japp type roles all in one character. While Poirot is always a step ahead of him, I enjoy seeing things from the perspective of Catchpool, despite his apparent obsession with swimming in freezing cold water lol. The mystery itself was well written and filled with plenty of twists and turns. This was an excellent start to my new year, and I look forward to more Poirot mysteries from Sophie Hannah in the future.
You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.
To enter to win a copy of The Last Death of the Year, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “last death” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen January 17, 2026. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.
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This book sounds very intriguing!