Customer Reviews

Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Agatha Christie Collection)

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I never had read a murder mystery before in my life so when this book was suggested to me I wasn't to excited about reading it. However, in beggining this piece of literature I fell in love with Christie's style of writing and of course that Belgium detective, Hercule Poirot.
All of the background characters were great (some hillarious) and I recommend this novel strongly.

I'd read this book once in primary school, and re-read it again last night (in a single sitting, that is!). I enjoyed it much more thoroughly than I remember enjoying it earlier, and I must say as an Agatha Christie fan that this is her BEST novel.

The plot around the death in this novel is flawless and there's no question left in the minds of the reader once the mystery is unfolded. The author, as usual, kept me waiting till the very end to find out the solution to the mystery - and I experienced extreme pleasure and the 'aha' effect on reading the end. Wow, this is definitely a masterpiece, and one of Christie's best works. Highly recommended.

I love watching those Hercule Poirot movies on The Biography Channel. One day I caught Death on the Nile. I was genuinely blown away by the ending. So, I decided to read the book. One thing I kept saying to myself was "I'm glad I know how this ends because I'm 100 pages in and nobody's dead yet." Usually someone dies by the first 40 pages in Christie's books. Of course, most of her books only clock in at less than 200 pages. Death, however, is over 300, but it's definitely one of her better ones. I would put it as her third best. I'm putting it ahead of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. But it's not better than And Then There Were None or Orient Express.

By the bye, catch the David Suchet Death on the Nile. It's a lot better than the Mia Farrow version which was a commercial release.

Since everyone else already re-wrote the story a million times let me tell you about this copy and David Suchet's performance. It's the best!

Agatha Christie's DEATH On THE NILE is hands down my favorite novel. I shudder to think how many times I have exactly read this book coupled with how many times I have listened to it on tape.

Filled with an array of characters and voiced superbly by David Suchet, this is the set to own. With over a dozen characters and each having a totally different personality the praise goes to David Suchet for giving each a voice that is easily recognizable as their own throughout the set.

He sarcastic and bitter communist Mr. Ferguson, to the passionate Jackie de Belleforte give the whole thing interest. My whole family loves it, and we are always finding ourselves quoting something from it. No matter how many times you listen to this you will never get bored with it. Over the years I have probably learned the thing by heart, but hey it's a good thing.

A must have for anyone who like the Christie novels or is a David Suchet fan. I know you will love it!

On board a cruise on the Nile, a wealthy woman was shot in her sleep. The obvious suspect, the woman jilted by the victim's husband, had a cast-iron alibi; the jilted woman just shot the victim's husband.

On board were other colourful secretive characters, not a few could have a reason to want the victim dead. Also on board was Poirot who was determined to get to the truth, if for no other reason, that he was sleeping right through the murder!

Diverse clues were found throughout the book, a great deal given before the murder took place. Agatha Christie unhurriedly built up the backgrounds of the characters in the book such that doubts can be cast on everyone but none could be suspect. Her portrayal of an intelligent woman jilted, a beautiful heiress born with a silver spoon, idealistic cynic, hypochondriac dame etc were interesting, insightful and most descriptive. Readers would find their personal responses to betrayal, persecution and temptation etc elicited from the various cast.

The only fly in the ointment was that Egypt as the setting was relegated too far in the background. Ancient curses and scheming natives may be passe but one can't help but feel that the ancient Nile put up but a superficial appearance.

Right after I finished reading this, I set the book down and thought, "Wow." Christie's intelligence and superb writing style makes you think again. It's amazing how the people who aren't even suspected end up being the culprit. The plot was complex, spellbinding, and interesting. The whole idea of murder on a cruise was great, and Christie made it even greater. A must for anyone!

I picked up this book a few days ago and it is the first Agatha Christie novel I have read. On the back cover, there is a commentary that reads, "She [Agatha] places her characters face downwards like playing cards, shuffles them with cunning hands, and time after time we point to the wrong card." I didn't realize how true this was until every one of my stabs at identifying the murderer in the novel proved to be untrue. The character development in the novel is splendid, and the plethora of suspects makes the "guessing game" quite intriguing. The first half of the book sets the stage for the murder of Linnet Ridgeway, heir to a multi-millionaire's estate. Linnet marries her best friend's fiance, Simon Doyle, and pays the price as her old friend shows up on her honeymoon cruise to exact her revenge. From this troubled friend to various other passengers aboard the ship, Poirot has to pick the murderer. This is the point in the novel when you start to develop your own theories, and find yourself in awe as Poirot investigates each and every possible theory, makes you almost certain of your initial guess, and then taunts you by telling you your guess is wrong. The search for the culprit becomes increasingly fascinating as several other sub-plots serve to complicate the events on the night of the murder; a fellow investigator, for instance, joins Poirot in search of a serial killer aboard the ship.

Various anomalies in the description of the events preceding and following the murder of Linnet, as given by the passengers on board, prompts Poirot to probe into their secret lives, and leave you thirsty for the ultimate answer as you find yourself helpless in putting the book down.

All in all, this is one enjoyable read.