The Mystery of Three Quarters

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The Mystery of Three Quarters - Wikipedia

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The Mystery of Three Quarters

Author	Sophie Hannah
Language	English
Series	Hercule Poirot
Genre	Detective, mystery
Published	August 23, 2018 HarperCollins
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	400 pp (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN	978-0008264451
Preceded by	Closed Casket
Followed by	The Killings at Kingfisher Hill

The Mystery of Three Quarters^[1]^[2] is a work of detective fiction by Sophie Hannah. It is the third in her series of Hercule Poirot novels, after being authorised by the estate of Agatha Christie to write new stories for the character. The previous two are The Monogram Murders (2014) and Closed Casket (2016).

Plot

Four people receive letters purporting to be from Hercule Poirot and accusing them each of the murder of Barnabas Pandy, a ninety-something businessman who drowned - accidentally, it seems - in his bath. Poirot has no knowledge of the letters, nor yet of the late Barnabas Pandy, until he is accosted by one of the recipients, society woman Sylvia Rule, before finding another, market trader John McCrodden, in his drawing room. As he begins to investigate the source of the letters with assistance from his young friend Edward Catchpool, a Scotland Yard detective, he comes into contact with the family of Pandy, which seems to be hiding secrets.

Explanation of the novel's title

Poirot refers to the case as "the mystery of three quarters" because, of the four people who received letters purporting to be from him, three are in some way connected to the late Barnabas Pandy, whose murder the letters accuse each one of. The fourth, however, is seemingly unconnected. Poirot, then, must figure out the relevance of the fourth person, or quarter. To symbolise the four quarters Poirot uses a slice of Church Window Cake, whose fourth square is separated from the other three.

Characters

Main characters

Hercule Poirot, private detective
Edward Catchpool, inspector from Scotland Yard

Recipients of the letters

Hugo Dockerill, housemaster to Pandy's great-grandson
John McCrodden, seemingly unconnected to Pandy
Sylvia Rule, mother of a boy in the same school house as Pandy's great-grandson
Annabel Treadway, Barnabas Pandy's granddaughter

Other characters

Kingsbury, Pandy's butler and closest friend
Ivy Lavington, Treadway's niece
Lenore Lavington, Ivy's mother
Timothy Lavington, Lenore's son
Rowland "Rope" McCrodden, John's father, a solicitor nicknamed "Rowland Rope" due to his preference for capital punishment
Freddy Rule, Sylvia's son and Timothy's classmate
Mildred Rule, Sylvia's daughter

References

^ "Review: The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah". Criminal Element. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
^ "THE MYSTERY OF THREE QUARTERS by Sophie Hannah - Kirkus Reviews". Kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 4 March 2019.

External links

Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot

Characters

Main
Recurring

Books

Novels	The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920) The Murder on the Links (1923) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) The Big Four (1927) The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) Peril at End House (1932) Lord Edgware Dies (1933) Murder on the Orient Express (1934) Three Act Tragedy (1934) Death in the Clouds (1935) The A.B.C. Murders (1936) Murder in Mesopotamia (1936) Cards on the Table (1936) Dumb Witness (1937) Death on the Nile (1937) Appointment with Death (1938) Hercule Poirot's Christmas (1938) Sad Cypress (1940) One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (1940) Evil Under the Sun (1941) Five Little Pigs (1942) The Hollow (1946) Taken at the Flood (1948) Mrs McGinty's Dead (1952) After the Funeral (1953) Hickory Dickory Dock (1955) Dead Man's Folly (1956) Cat Among the Pigeons (1959) The Clocks (1963) Third Girl (1966) Hallowe'en Party (1969) Elephants Can Remember (1972) Curtain (1975)
Short stories	Poirot Investigates (1924) Murder in the Mews (1937) The Regatta Mystery (1939) The Labours of Hercules (1947) The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories (1948) Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (1950) The Under Dog and Other Stories (1951) The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960) Double Sin and Other Stories (1961) Poirot's Early Cases (1974) Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (1991) The Harlequin Tea Set (1997) While the Light Lasts and Other Stories (1997)
Continuations	The Monogram Murders (2014) Closed Casket (2016) The Mystery of Three Quarters (2018) The Killings at Kingfisher Hill (2020)

Films

Austin Trevor	Alibi (1931) Black Coffee (1931) Lord Edgware Dies (1934)
Peter Ustinov	Death on the Nile (1978) Evil Under the Sun (1982) Thirteen at Dinner (1985) Dead Man's Folly (1986) Murder in Three Acts (1986) Appointment with Death (1988)
Kenneth Branagh	Murder on the Orient Express (2017) Death on the Nile (2022) A Haunting in Venice (2023) soundtrack
Other	The Alphabet Murders (1965) Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Television

Wasp's Nest (1937)
Poirot (1989–2013)
- episodes
Murder on the Orient Express (2001)
Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple (2004–2005)
The ABC Murders (2018)

Plays

Alibi (1928)
Black Coffee (1930)
Peril at End House (1940)

Video games

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (2005)
Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (2006)
Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun (2007)
Agatha Christie: Peril at End House (2007)
Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile (2008)
Agatha Christie: Dead Man's Folly (2009)
Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders (2009)
Agatha Christie: 4.50 from Paddington (2010)
Agatha Christie: The ABC Murders (2016)
Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot - The First Cases (2021)
Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot - The London Case (2023)
Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express (2023)

Other adaptations

The Yellow Iris (1937, radio)
Orient Express (1985, board game)
Hercule Poirot (1985–2007, radio)