Classic Poirot: a great mix of drama and mystery. 4/5 stars.
The blurb: The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful, a girl who had everything – until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalls an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: ‘I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.’ Yet in this exotic setting’ nothing is ever quite what it seems...
My take:
This review will be rather sparse to avoid any and all spoilers.
I read my first Agatha Christie last year: Murder on the Orient Express. I “only” gave that book 3 stars because I felt it lacked build-up: it was too economical with its descriptions of the setting and background to the murder. Death on the Nile, another Hercule Poirot mystery, lacks in none of these departments. The pre-death drama is top-notch and Christie gives us just enough descriptions of Egyptian temples and other tourist hot spots to create a sense of the exotic without turning the book into a travel guide.
In fact, this book contains a great balance of dialogue, narration and description. My only slight gripe – as with Orient Express – was that there were too many characters to keep track of. On the bright side, this does mean there are so many plausible suspects that the guilty party remains hard to guess. I felt the edition I read would have been improved by featuring a diagram of the boat, showing all the cabins the characters were staying in (Agatha Christie: Cluedo game board edition!).
Overall: a classic murder mystery with great pre- and post-death drama. I’m planning for my next Christie read to be a Miss Marple. Any recommendations?
Art and Soul 
I LOVE Agatha and this is one of my favs x
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I thought it was brilliant! 🙂 I’m looking forward to some Marple and then probably back to Poirot. It’s brilliant there’s so much for me to read!
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I really really must read some Christie! I know that I would love her books. Great review! 🙂
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Thank you! I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them 🙂 I’m looking forward to getting my hands on some more. There are LOADS of them at my local library!
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Great review! This book sounds so interesting. I really want to get into more Agatha Christie. I read And Then There Were None and loved it so much.
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Thank you!
I’d like to read And Then There Were None. The BBC adaptation they showed here at Christmas was brilliant. Apparently they changed the ending a bit though, so I’d like to read the original.
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Not read any of her novels which is bad of me. I saw the BBC adaptation of what would be her 10 Litte Indian book and a fantastic premise.
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I saw And Then There Were None at Christmas too and thought it was a great adaptation. I haven’t read it (yet), but I’m told they changed the ending slightly. To be honest, the second I saw Charles Dance I was like, “Well, he’s going to turn out to be dodgy!” haha! 🙂
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He was sinister too in The Alan Turing film.
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Oo I love Marple…look forward to hearing what you choose.
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I’ve had The Body in the Library recommended to me. I love the sound of it. Makes me think of Cluedo! 🙂
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I’ve read Sleeping Murder which is a Marple and a good yarn. My favourite Marple TV adaptation is The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side with Angela Lansbury as Marple but I’ve still to read the book! #MustReadMore 🙂
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Ooo! I like the sound of The Mirror Crack’d. I’m putting that on my list along with The Body in the Library 🙂
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My Dad always used to read with a page beside him to add characters that came up to and got me into that habit for mysteries and crime novels. It is years since I’ve read Agatha Christie, but I loved the escapism of them (adored them all on tv too!)
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I liked the BBC adaptation of Then There Were None that was on over Christmas. That’s another one for my list! 🙂
I’m starting to think all books should have a cast list at the front like plays. The Game of Thrones books have them at the back 🙂
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Sounds fun!! I’ve not read any agatha christie yet- I really should at some point!
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It’s very entertaining and flows over you easily, so relaxing too! 🙂 And because of the period it was set in, it’s all so polite. Murder and mayhem, but no-one swears or forgets to dress for dinner!
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Awesome- heehee that actually sounds really funny!!
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I liked your review! I really enjoyed Death on the Nile too. If you’re looking for another Agatha Christie read, you may like And Then There Were None–it isn’t a Miss Marple or Poirot mystery, but it is still intriguing 🙂
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I saw the BBC adaptation of And Then There Were None at Christmas and thought it was excellent. Apparently they changed the end, so I’d still like to read it. Plus, the book is usually better than the film/TV version 🙂
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Must read more Agatha Christie. Thanks.
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Me too! I want to read a Miss Marple story next. I’ll try to make it my mission to read at least 3 of her books a year 🙂
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I might try for just one a year!
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