Gregor

This novelisation was my first experience of Black Coffee, having never read or seen the original play by Agatha Christie. The tone is spot on throughout, however the plot itself felt middling compared to earlier Poirot stories. A strong ending is enough to lift this whodunnit a little higher in my estimation but it is not a top-tier Poirot mystery for me.

A change in style from previous Poirot adventures, but not a good one in my eyes. This book feels very disjointed, which is not a surprise when you discover that it was originally twelve distinct short stories that were later cobbled together to form one novel. The grander scale is an interesting change of pace, and Poirot's fallibility is appreciated, but that is not enough to warrant a high rating for a novel that even Christie herself thought was poor.

A good explanation of Ross Ulbricht's story. The author's writing style of vividly setting the scene and using direct quotation helps to keep the pace up but can make chapters feel disingenuous at times. One thing that the author failed to mention is that Ulbricht was never sentenced to do with hits or alleged hits, so he was sentenced to life in prison for non-violent crimes.