1. Plot

2. Explanation of the novel's title

3. Characters
    Recipients of the letters  Other characters 

4. References

5. External links

The Mystery of Three Quarters^[1][2] (2018) 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 Barnabus 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 Barnabus 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 Barnabus 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

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, Barnabus 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

References

External links

• The official Sophie Hannah website
• The official Agatha Christie website

• Stephania Bell
• Stephania Calegari
• Stephania (disambiguation)
• Stephania (given name)
• Stephanian (disambiguation)
• Stephanian School of Literature
• Stephanian (stage)
• Stephania reticulata
• Stephania tetrandra
• Stephanibyx
• Stephanibyx coronatus
• Stephanibyx lugubris
• Stephanibyx melanopterus
• Stephanie
• Stephanie Adore
• Stephanie Alexander
• Stephanie a miner
• Stephanie A. Miner
• Stephanie and Spy
• Stephanie Anne Mills
• Stephanie Ann Miner
• Stephanie Au
• Stephanie Austin
• Stephanie Baldwin
• Stephanie Barber