Name: Black Coffee
ISBN: 9780312970079

Agatha Christie

Master sleuth Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings head to Surrey at the request of England's premier physicist, Sir Claud Amory, only to find the client dead, a top-secret formula missing, and a house filled with suspects, in a novel adapted from Christie's original play. Reprint.

Black Coffee

I love a good whodunit and I had never read one in play form. It was fun but I suppose you really would need a whole novel to get a more exciting story (this was fun but just a bit simple). 

Charles Osborne

A full-length Hercule Poirot novel, adapted from Agatha Christie's stage play by Charles Osborne Sir Claud Amory's revolutionary new formula for a powerful explosive is stolen. Locking his house-guests in the library, Sir Claud switches off the lights to allow the thief to replace the formula, no questions asked. When the lights come on, he is dead, and Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings have to unravel a tangle of family feuds, old flames and suspicious foreigners to find the killer and prevent a global catastrophe. BLACK COFFEE was Agatha Christie's first playscript, originally performed in 1930 and made into a now rarely-seen film the following year. Combining her typically beguiling plot and sparkling dialogue with his own faithful narrative, Charles Osborne's novelisation is 'A worthy addition to the Christie canon' (The Spectator)

Wynter

I picked up this book with low expectations. In fact, if I wasn't such an awful completist I would have skipped this little outlier altogether. Being merely an adaptation of Agatha Christie's foray into playwriting, it lacks the Dame's impeccable style. It's too heavy on dialogue, and sometimes is too deceptively easy to figure out. I'm saying "deceptively" because after all it is still Christie's storyline. Surprisingly, it was an enjoyable light read. Perhaps not on the level of her average work, and certainly not even close to her defining volumes, but Black Coffee cannot be called a waste of time. I don't know what took me so long to finally read it.

Varshh

A dead scientist, a missing formula, five suspects who are family and there is our expert, Hercule Poirot. Unlike other Christie's novels, I loved this one simply for its characters and witty humour.

Sakthi Varshini

Ruby Huber

Hercule again! Dang this one has a lot of bad reviews, but this won't be one of them!!! I read this in one day! It was written initially as a play (Agatha’s first) and then years later adapted (by someone else) into a novel which is what I read, sorry if that isn’t authentic enough for you, it was for me! Good mystery, made even more fun by the constraints of the stage. You could tell it was written to have minimal sets etc. is what I’m saying, but it was no loss to me. Was mostly hilarious but mean to Italians.

Nicole

Rating: 4 Stars

This book is amazing! I know that it is technically not written by Agatha Christie herself but Mr. Osborne does an amazing job capturing the original Hercule Poirot we Christie fans have come to love. The story was well written and flowed very well. If I didn't know better, I'd say Ms. Christie wrote this herself. It is so nice to know that authors were so inspired by her work that they continue to write in her name and carry on her beloved characters!

Mystery/Thriller Characters: 10 males, 3 females Interior Set This little known mystery will surprise and delight Christie fans. The story concerns a physicist named Sir Claude Amory who has come up with a formula for an atom bomb (Black Coffee was written in 1934!). In the first act, Sir Claude is poisoned (in his coffee, naturally) and Hercule Poirot is called in to solve the case. He does so after many wonderful twists and turns in true Christie tradition.

A Mystery Play in Three Acts

Catherine Andrews 

Amanda Shameem

Verinda Kondzheli

ashwitherow

Sajiya Chaudhary

Sir Claud Amory's formula for a powerful new explosive has been stolen, presumably by a member of his large household. Sir Claud assembles his suspects in the library and locks the door, instructing them that the when the lights go out, the formula must be replaced on the table -- and no questions will be asked. But when the lights come on, Sir Claud is dead. Now Hercule Poirot, assisted by Captain Hastings and Inspector Japp, must unravel a tangle of family feuds, old flames, and suspicious foreigners to find the killer and prevent a global catastrophe.

Sophie

A full-length Hercule Poirot novel, adapted from Agatha Christie’s stage play by Charles Osborne

Black Coffee

Reviews