Book (not) Bingo #14

[dancingpony]

Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah

Comments

[spikesgirl58]

[gilda_elise]

I would think that it would be against the law to say that someone co-wrote a book who actually hadn't. And if there is an agreement with the author's estate, that should be stated. The whole set-up seems sort of weird.

[dancingpony]

Yes, it does. I can’t state that this was done without the consent of Christie’s estate, since the only ‘research” I did was to find Sophie Hannah’s age (she was about five when Christie died) and to see which of Christie’s books are in the public domain (a few Hercule Peirot books are). But if there was such a consent, I didn’t notice it mentioned anywhere.

[nakeisha]

I'll comment on the book itself separately. However, to put your & Gilda's mind at rest, the books have been authorised by the AC Estate, thus they are permitted to use the Christie authorial credit.

[dancingpony]

Thanks for clarifying that. I probably could have researched it if I’d bothered, 🙂

[tinturtle]

[nakeisha]

I must admit I am not a fan of this kind of book. I don't really 'get' why authors want to use other authors characters, rather than create their own. I know we do it with fanfic, but that's different to my mind because we aren't making money from it. And showing how 'odd' I am, this kind of 'borrowing' bothers me more than the 'rewrite of an old novel' (e.g. P&P) does. I know there's little logic in that, but there you are *g

[dancingpony]

I agree with you on paid authors borrowing other author’s characters. Although I fell for the “hook” and spent two dollars on this book, I definitely would not have paid full list price out of curiosity, and I found the use of Poirot more a distraction than a plus. I tend to feel the same way about P&P adaptations, though: that the main reason an author borrowed Darcy and Elizabeth was because she didn’t think her book with original characters would sell.

The monologue was way too long, as well as a bit convoluted, in my opinion. I skimmed through most of it.

[nakeisha]

I can quite see why you fell for the hook. It really is sharp marketing practise. It's interesting you found Poirot more of a distraction than a plus. I'm sure you're right about the various P&P adaptations.