Top Quote

“In the course of an excavation, when something comes up out of the ground, everything is cleared away carefully all around it. You take away the loose earth, and you scrape here and there with a knife until finally your object is there, all alone, ready to be drawn and photographed with no extraneous matter confusing it. That is what I have been seeking to do-clear away the extraneous matter so that we can see the truth-the naked shining truth.”

Summary

The Queen of mystery has done it again. Another Hercule Poirot Classic, soon to be made into a movie. Death on The Nile is about Linnet Ridgeway, a beautiful, stylish, young, and wealthy girl who has everything until she is shot dead on her honeymoon cruise on the Nile.

Hercule Poirot, who is vacationing on the same cruise, has work at hand when his ever-observant and ever alert instincts are employed by Colonel Race, looking for a serial murderer on the boat for several other crimes.

But is this the job of a serial killer, or is it a planned coup by an intelligent mind and dexterous body? Or was it a robbery gone wrong? What was the motive-money, love, or something else? All fingers point to the most obvious suspect Jackie, who follows the honeymoon couple for revenge over her fiancé. Still, she has a rock-solid alibi even Poirot believes she was with a nurse the entire night.

This book has all the makings of a classic whodunit. Complete with cabin charts of the promenade deck for the Karnak, the cruising boat.

Having read another book, The Murder on The Orient Express by the same author featuring Hercule Poirot again, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between the two books.

• There is another person of authority (Colonel Race/ M.Bouc) who puts Poirot in-charge of the investigation.
• All the passengers aboard the ship/boat are related to the victim and hence a suspect in the murder.
• The nature of the transport (train stuck in snow/boat cruising along the Nile) disables the murderer from getting away and mixing with the crowd.

This book also has referenced The Murder on The Orient Express, in the manner of Poirot recalling eerie similarities to that case.

Two more murders happen. But rest assured, the victim's identity, their motive, and the discovery of their crime are in every way as shocking as a story could be. I couldn’t leave the book and not find out who the murderer was. The theory of selection by elimination has been put to fair use.

Final Verdict

I loved the novella. It was a perfect read on my much-awaited vacation. And I’m glad I picked up this particular book. I am so looking forward to watching this made into a movie and I hope the movie is every bit as exciting as the book.

Who Should Read This

Cozy mystery fans, you are in for a treat. Do read this novel before the movie is out.

Happy Reading!

Other excellent books by Agatha Christie