Rating: 4.5 ★
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
Originally published in 1937
Genre: Mystery
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The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalled 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 under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite what it seems. A sweeping mystery of love, jealousy, and betrayal, Death on the Nile is one of Christie’s most legendary and timeless works.
My Thoughts
Nothing thrills me like a good Christie. As a self-proclaimed Poirot fangirl, I am more than happy to pick up a good Hercule Poirot mystery. And as one of her most famous works, Death of the Nile has been on my list for a while.
I have seen the 1978 adaptation starring Peter Ustinov as our dear Belgian detective. And while I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Bette Davis and Dame Maggie Smith bicker throughout, the film as a whole tends towards what I’d call “slow and plodding.
The book, though, is a bit better-paced. While not strictly thrilling, it did move along well. I find that scenes in which Poirot interviews suspects, investigates scenes, and deliberates possible scenarios were the slowest in the book. The action scenes, and especially the night of the murder, were naturally the most exciting.
Christie, in my mind, is the master of characterization. Each person in Death on the Nile is so exquisitely crafted—through dialogue, habits, description of appearance—that they felt real and honest and believable.
To be frank, it feels strange (and even moot) to give a Christie a starred rating. But here we are—I finished this in just a couple days, so I would absolutely call it engrossing, but I did take off half a star for those slow-moving scenes.
On a related note, I know that there is a new adaptation of Death on the Nile on its way to theaters (currently, it’s scheduled for early 2022, after having been pushed back due to Covid-19). This one is directed by starring (as Poirot) Kenneth Branagh, who you may remember for his 2017 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. Will I watch this new Nile film? Probably. Will I enjoy it? Well, based on the previous Branagh project, I’ll probably be disappointed. But yes, I will give it a try.