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“Black Coffee” is the first ever stage play written by the best selling author Agatha Christie, and has recently been adopted as a novel by Charles Osborne, with Hercule Poirot the protagonist.
The plot centers on a new formula critical for the defense of Britain during the war. The scientist who discovers this formula, Sir. Claud Amory enlists Poirot to preserve and ship out the formula. The scientist is however murdered before Poirot could reach Sir Amory’s country estate and take control of the formula. The formula is also stolen. The prime suspects are the members in the scientist’s household.
The rest of the novels deals with Poirot’s endeavor to solve the murder and reclaim the formula. Captain Hastings acts as Poroit’s sidekick during these endeavors. True to the typical Agatha Christie novel, the reader is given a chance to make their own conclusion as to the identity of the culprit from the clues given, and the identity of the actual culprit remains a suspense till the very end.
The way the novel progresses give a clear indication as to the fact that it has been adopted from a stage plot. However, the readers are presented with a vintage Poirot mystery novel that retains the traditional suspense and aura of a Agatha Christie novel.