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Death on the Nile Book Review

Death on the Nile is a 1937 detective novel by British author Agatha Christie. It is one of her most famous works and one of her most entertaining stories.

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“Love can be a very frightening thing.

That is why most great love stories are tragedies“

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A young socialite is shot on a trip to Egypt and it is up to Poirot to solve this murder case, but he would not do it before two more people fall victims. I am going to spoil the novel, so this is a warning for all who haven’t read it. I have to say that I definitely got who the murderers were from the very beginning. It was rather obvious to me, even more so than the much more unbelievable case that I also solved in ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’.

But that predictability isn’t an issue as the novel is still wildly entertaining and so well crafted across the board. Let’s go through each character. This book features some of the best character development in any Christie work. I was blown away by how meticulously she wrote each and every passenger, male or female, and they all had their distinct personalities and life stories, making for a diverse, unique group that was genuinely interesting to follow.

Poirot was his usual amusing self here. It was very interesting seeing him connect with the women more than the men once again. It was also fascinating that he couldn’t solve the crime until the very end. The highlight of the whole story was the tender relationship between Hercule and Jacqueline. That final conversation between the two was just heartbreaking. It was fascinating seeing Poirot get so close and genuinely caring for a murderer. That led to the book being one of the more emotional of Christie’s stories.

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Speaking of Jacqueline, I found her to be a fantastic character, superbly written and quite complex. She is a tragic figure of love along with Simon, but unlike him, she seemed like a genuinely good person that was just led astray due to her passion. Having villains basically be this human and complicated made for sophisticated, emotionally charged storytelling.

I found the murders superbly thought out, even though I did get through some of the details myself, but most I did not as they were so elaborate. Thus, Poirot going through it in his head was so much fun to follow. Linnet is also an intriguing figure as this very rich socialite who has it all – the it girl basically. That main triangle was among the best triangles that I have witnessed and I loved it despite not usually liking these storylines.

Other characters in Death on the Nile are also wonderfully written. Ferguson as this Communist guy firm in his belief was very interesting and some of the things that he said were very relatable to me. Pennington having a business motif was also intriguing as was the whole theft going on, making for a layered case with many other individuals involved at different capacities. The older women are the other highlights. Salome was so much fun as this conceited, sex-craved crazy lady and Van Schuyler was easy to hate as this obnoxious rich lady.

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What bothered me the most about this novel is Christie’s failure to focus more extensively on Egypt itself. You’d think a novel set in Egypt and written by an author who was an archaeology enthusiast would have more of those elements, but you’d be sorely mistaken as the book is very much all about these rich tourists. The one section focusing on a jaded Egyptian man was great and thought-provoking, but I wanted more of those. Still, the writing by Christie is reliably fantastic, especially in amazing dialogue. The light, romantic tone was terrific and the book is a wildly entertaining time to be had. It flies by how engaging it is.