[Book 8] Death on the Nile, by Agatha Christie
Title: Death on the Nile
Author: Agatha Christie
Genre: Murder Mystery
Themes: Whodunit, crime, infidelity, revenge, secrets, marriage, money
Book details: Paperback, 276 pages, this edition <3
My Rating: 5/5
Back cover summary:
A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR MURDER
Every woman on the ship envied her cool,
beauty, her obviously newly wedded happiness.
The men on board agreed she was alarmingly attractive but were equally impressed by her vast
fortune and her sharp eye for business
details. Only Hercule Poirot saw her for what she
really was...an irresistible incentive to murder.
Amazon Review:
Linnet Ridgeway has almost everything: youth, beauty, brains, and money. Then her best friend Jackie brings her handsome fiancé, Simon Doyle, to visit and asks Linnet to give him a job. Now Linnet and Simon are on their honeymoon, a cruise up the Nile. When Linnet is killed, Jackie is the obvious suspect, but she couldn't have done it. It seems like an insolvable crime, until the famous detective Hercule Poirot starts to investigate.
My Review:
First, how I got into Hercule Poirot: I've always liked Sherlock Holmes mainly, but the Detective Conan manga by Aoyama Goushou (Aoyama Gōshō) sometimes has little strips that talk about fictional detectives. Hercule Poirot was one. It got me interested, but it wasn't until I was in the movie section at the library that I grabbed one of the films (Hercule Poirot's Christmas). I enjoyed it pretty well. Then, we went to this big used bookstore that had a shelf -full- of Agatha Christie! To this day, I regret only picking out one book (Death on the Nile) instead of as many as I could afford, because we’re in a different state now. Anyway, so that's how I got into Hercule Poirot. I plan on reading the rest of the series as soon as possible.
On to the review.
I just finished the second reread of this book. I rarely turn right around and reread a book unless it was so good that I want to read it slower to take in the details. This would have been my third book read this year if I had posted the review when I first read it! I don’t know if ‘Death on the Nile’ has spoiled me for the rest of the Poirot books or not, but we’ll see - I’m reading the other ones I got recently next.
I loved all of the characters in this book. By the end, you felt like you knew a lot about them, and it happened over time - no info dumps. It was hard to even dislike the mother Otterbourne, though I certainly didn’t like her as a person.
I found myself enjoying Hercule’s character very much, even when he’s being self-important. It’s almost silly the way he is. It’ll be interesting to read the other Poirot books to see more sides of him. I was pleased to see that despite being a detective, he can still feel compassion for suspects like Rosalie, and Jacqueline.
I remember the first time I read it through; I was quite on the edge of my seat with who could have done it! It kept me guessing to the very end, which I very much enjoyed. The whole story kept me going back for more (hence me rereading). It was definitely engaging.
I also love the cover of the edition I have! It’s fun trying to guess who is who, and the artist who did this piece does very nice work.
In the first read, the end was completely unexpected to me. In a good way, after I got over my shock. I love when a book can do that!
I was really surprised when Poirot let Tim Allerton off! It was unexpected, but nice because I, like Poirot, wanted to see him and Rosalie happy (together). And Tim’s mom is awesome.
Cornelia was a very interesting character, and it was amusing watching Ferguson try to ‘woo’ her, if that’s what you’d call it. And Cornelia standing up to Marie Van Schulyer was a nice touch there at the end. I love that Cornelia doesn’t care at all that Bessner is ‘round’, and that she just knows he can teach her so much. With him, I felt that she could really grow as a person, instead of being stuck under Marie Van Schulyer’s shadow doing her bidding all the time.
Though what was with Poirot saying he'd hoped that Jacqueline would choose to commit suicide (because she was out of the reach of the law)? Was that 'normal' in that day and age? In any case, I know they were criminals, but I liked the idea of a lover's suicide. I didn’t sniffle the first time around, I don’t think (probably still too excited), but with the second reread I definitely did.