Death on the Nile [Import] [Hardcover]

AGATHA CHRISTIE (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: HARPERCOLLINS; Centenary Ed edition (1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002237725
• ISBN-13: 978-0002237727
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Christie's Most Memorable Mysteries, April 27, 2002

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot Mysteries) (Paperback)

Like MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and DEATH IN THE CLOUDS, Christie's DEATH ON THE NILE finds Poriot en route--this time on vacation in Egypt, where he encounters a romantic triangle that seems destined for lethal results. Linnet Ridgeway has everything: beauty, brains, unspeakable wealth... and Jacquline de Bellefort's boyfriend, a handsome but simple man that Linnet stole away from her friend and married. And now Jacquiline is in hot pursuit, unexpectedly appearing to embarrass the newlyweds at various points along their journey. Linnet and her husband attempt to escape by secretly booking passage on a tourist ship traveling the Nile--but Jacquiline is one step ahead... and murder is not far behind.

This is Christie writing near the peak of her skills, offering us a complex tale of emotional fury, considerable atmosphere, and endless intrigue played out by a truly eccentric cast of characters that include society snobs, underhanded servants, neurotic writers, unsavory businessmen, a communist, and just possibly one or two jewel thieves for good measure. Unlike the more famous ORIENT EXPRESS, which offers us a meticulous and extremely cool crime, DEATH ON THE NILE veers into considerable emotional melodrama--and although Christie walks a very fine line here, she succeeds in bringing it off with tremendous flair. And when it comes, the solution to the crime is one of her most memorable and successful, combining the logic and startle-factor that have made Christie legendary in the genre. A brilliant piece of work from start to finish.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sinister Shipboard Slaying, March 4, 2001

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death on the Nile (BBC Radio Presents) (Audio Cassette)

Agatha Christie wrote "Death on the Nile" in 1937, one year after "Murder in Mesopotamia", and to all appearances "Death on the Nile" was intended as a prequel to "Murder in Mesopotamia", which itself was a prequel to the 1934 classic "Murder in the Orient Express". The three stories make up a satisfying trilogy of mysteries as Poirot tours the Near East finding murder everywhere he goes.

All three of the stories follow Christie's tried-and-true formula: She introduces the cast of suspects, gives each of them a dark secret and a motive to lie, and piles up the circumstances in such a way that the flying fickle finger of suspicion points to every one of them at some time or another. She compounds the confusion by supplying false leads and deliberatly glossing over hot clues. In each case Poirot holds his cards close to his vest, tantalizes the reader/listener with cryptic comments, and finds the most inconsequential-appearing facts to be highly significant. Eventually Poirot airs everyone's dirty laundry, explains his chain of deductive reasoning, reconstructs the crime in all its improbable complexity, and gets a confession.

Of the three stories, however, "Death on the Nile" presents the most feasible modus operandi for the murder, as well as the most likely motivation for murder. This is a roudabout way of saying that "Death on the Nile" is the most realistic of the three.

I listened to the BBC production of "Death on the Nile" and found it the easiest of the three stories for the listener to follow. For "Orient Express" and "Mesopotamia" you need a flow chart to keep up with all the twists, turns, and complexities of the plot. All in all, "Death on the Nile" provides the listener with an entertaining, satisfying story of murder and mayhem.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death Comes for the Honeymooners, June 6, 2006

By 

R. Chaffey "beckahi" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Death on the Nile (Winterbrook Edition) (Hardcover)

As one would expect from an Agatha Christie novel, "Death on the Nile" is a fast-paced, intricately plotted mystery. With a wide cast of characters, Christie plumbs the depths of mystery writing standards, using red herrings that not only confuse the characters but confound the reader as well. "Death on the Nile" is a superb example of a crime so simple that it might just be too difficult to figure out...or is it?

When the reader first meets Linnet Ridgeway, she has everything - beauty, brains, money, and soon enough, her best friend's fiance, Simon Doyle. The newly married couple embark upon their honeymoon, only to discover the jilted fiance/friend, Jacqueline, seeking revenge at every turn. When Linnet Doyle is found murdered aboard the 'S.S. Karnak', Jacqueline is immediately the primary suspect, but she has a concrete alibi. Hercule Poirot must use his somewhat maddening powers of deduction and observation, to piece together the clues with the murder, and the other killings that quickly follow suit. All on board are suspects with many who have secrets they wish to keep hidden. Can Hercule Poirot tighten the net and capture the killer before he/she strikes again?

But of course he can, showing off the entire time, and taking readers for a confounding story of alibis and lies, coverups and misleading clues, that comes full circle in the end. "Death on the Nile" is an extremely well-written mystery that will leave readers guessing until the very last pages when Poirot finally unveils his knowledge of the murderer. It is by far one of Agatha Christie's greatest mysteries and a timeless classic example of what a good mystery should be.