Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile: A Classic Hercule Poirot Detective Story

jill st. thomas: I love the atmosphere and never ending tension in this book. Although, sometimes it's difficult to follow characters, as there are so many, I find their diversity and autonomy an elixir. It's a great twist and anyone that loves Egypt and the romance of traveling by ship would love this book. I have read all of Christie's novels and this is in the top 5, along with Spider's Web, The Orient Express, Sparkling Cyanide, and And Then There Were None.

United States on Nov 06, 2023

Jason Adams: Almost one hundred years on, this tale still has teeth. The hook and twist are well set and the characterizations really work.

United States on Oct 28, 2023

Kshitij mungra: Nice Book and I'm sure you will be completed it in one go

India on Oct 21, 2023

Tyler: I couldn't put this book down. The characters are so well written. The mystery itself had many twists and turns. Despite seeing the movie I was still surprised.

United States on Sep 27, 2023

C R Dutton: One of her best stories that I know best from the films so it was a pleasure to read the original.

United Kingdom on Sep 09, 2023

Rajan Singh: Love book , full of mystery .....kept me wondering what happens next and I couldn't simple leave it.

India on Aug 08, 2023

Ali Abraham: The book came in good quality. Would prefer it, if they gave me a bookmark with it.
The book's storyline was good, characters introduced were great. And above all the plot twists were crazy thrilling and mind-bending, Agatha put at least 3 plot holes in the book.
Would prefer for thrilling and crime book fans.
Agatha's last-minute showdowns are just brilliant!

India on Jun 06, 2023

NJ: Agatha Christie is at her best in "Death on the Nile." It is a masterfully crafted whodunit that keeps the reader guessing until the end. The novel features a diverse cast of characters, each with its own secrets and motivations, making it an engaging and suspenseful read.

As always in Christie's books, the story keeps galloping. New clues and suspects are introduced at the drop of a hat. The author's ability to create space for each character amidst the mayhem is remarkable. Despite their large number, each character has enough detail and backstory to make their interactions relevant and helpful in first creating the mystery and eventually solving it.

Each of the dozen or so characters is unique and interesting, with their quirks and personalities. The large number allows Christie to hide the murderer effortlessly and without subterfuge, making it difficult for the reader to guess the killer's identity.

One of the jarring aspects is the prejudices of the time it was written (in the mid-1930s). Such remarks - quite common at the time but still remorselessly bigoted, racist, elitist, sexist, etc. - are a regular feature of the book.

The biggest positive...

United States on Mar 08, 2023

Mister G: This is a beautiful setting for a book – it is an escapist read. I found myself Googling locations mentioned in the book such as Abu Simbel (it is stunning).

One of the things I like about reading Agatha Christie’s books is that they give you an insight into life in the early 1900s (the book was published in November 1937). For example, a character says she bought a car for £15! It is clearly mechanically unreliable (as you might expect of a car from that era). In another part of the book, a boy is teasing a dog. A character tries to get him to stop. He doesn’t so she “whipped out a penknife and plunged it into him. There was the most awful row”. The former sentence is remarkable and then you read the latter – as if it was indecent for anyone to complain about stabbing a child. The book never mentions a prosecution – it sounds as if a row was the end of it.

Agatha Christie’s husband was an archaeologist and she accompanied him to digs in Syria as well as travelling in Egypt for pleasure. It gave her the knowledge and experience to write the book.

The author starts the book by introducing the characters, so you realise why they will all end up...

United Kingdom on Aug 14, 2016

Sherlock: DEATH ON THE NILE was first published in 1937, and the movie starring Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot was released in 1978. For convenience to anyone who may be interested, I include here a few notes comparing the book to the movie. I can't comment on the made for TV version starring David Souchet since I have not seen it, though reviews seem to say that it was not as good as the 1978 movie.

The main story centers around twenty year old Linnet Ridgeway, a wealthy heiress who somehow manages to make enemies of several people, including her best friend Jackie when she steals and marries Simon Doyle, her fiancee. Linnet and Simon spend their honeymoon in Egypt, where most of this story takes place. She is murdered one night in her cabin aboard a Nile cruise ship, and Poirot and his friend Colonel Race conduct the investigation. There are several suspects on board the ship who either had a grudge against the victim or would benefit financially by her death. Christie has written a great story, with a complex plot, several twists and turns, and a seemingly impossible solution. The book is hard to put down.

The Kindle book is nicely formatted and reads well.

As is...

United States on Dec 23, 2012