The tranquility 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...
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I recently re-read this Agatha Christie book
for a reading challenge. I had last read it while I was still in college.
Death on the Nile is a typical Agatha
Christie Mystery in the sense that her best works are the ones where the cast
and characters are kind of stranded or confined in a limited space. ‘And Then
There Were None’ and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ were two of her other such
works that has been widely appreciated. In this case, the murder happens on a
cruise boat on the river Nile and the victim is Linnet Ridgeway, a girl who had
it all – money, style and a handsome new husband. So, why was she shot in the
head while on her honeymoon? Well luckily, Hercule Poirot happened to be on the
cruise too and who better to look into the matter?
The mystery wasn’t a big deal in this book. I
am sure that many mystery aficionados will be able to guess the murderer
correctly before the grand reveal. As is usually the case with Hercule Poirot
mysteries, the fun and entertainment lies in watching Poirot put his ‘grey
cells’ to work. Trying to think like the detective while reading the book is
half the fun and the other half lies in tallying up at the end of the book. Each
dialogue and interaction is important and it is impossible not to pay attention
to it all completely.
With ‘Death on the Nile’, Ms.Christie once
again proved her insights into the human nature. There is a wide range of
characters on the boat and while at first it seems like only one of them had a
direct motive for the murder, but as Hercule Poirot delves into the case, we
find that nothing is at it seems. People who are apparent strangers may have a
connection to Linnet and Jacqueline isn’t the only suspect. Through Hercule
Poirot, her master creation, Ms. Christie peals back layers and layers to
reveal different aspects of human nature.
This book has a comparatively slower start as
Ms.Christie takes her time in setting up the plot. But a total worth it book
that I am sure to re-read again in the future.
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