Review: Death On The Nile by Agatha Christie

Am I imagining things, or do the plots of the Hercule Poirot novels become more twisty as time goes on? Who could possibly guess whodunnit with all of the characters and motivations, and means?

 

In Death On The Nile, a large cast of characters are on holiday taking a cruise up the Nile.  

The stars of the trip are a newly married couple named Linnet and Simon Doyle.  She's got everything, beauty, wealth, business acumen, charm.  He's a puppy dog of a man who doesn't seem to have much more than his looks and boyish ways to recommend him.

Unfortunately for the couple, they're being stalked by Simon's old girlfriend, who was also Linnet's best friend.  Her disappointment in losing Simon has left her a bit unhinged with jealousy.

Poirot and his old friend Colonel Race observe the passengers, and try to make out who on the ship is actually a threat to Linnet, who confides to Poirot that there are many who hate her.  Colonel Race is also onboard to find a killer who has been ruthless in his underworld dealings.

The pleasure cruise takes a dark turn as there are murders, thefts and other dark crimes uncovered.

Once again Poirot, the romantic, cannot help but be moved by young love. Will this keep him from exposing the killer?

Soon to be a major motion picture!

Death In The Clouds by Agatha Christie

 

On a routine flight from Paris to Croyden, England, there is a small disturbance of a wasp flying about.  As passengers prepare to land and are given their bills for in flight services, one lady is unresponsive.

It turns out she is dead.  Examined by a doctor on board, who is accompanied by a curious Poirot, they notice a mark on her neck. Poirot, bending down, finds what appears to be a small, oddly painted dart.

It is declared a murder has taken place, and all passengers are detained and questioned.  

At an inquest later it is determined that Madame Giselle, a Parisian moneylender, was killed by a poisoned dart, which was expelled via a blow pipe used by certain South American tribes, by an unknown person, though the jury wanted to charge Poirot!

In the passenger plan above, you see the victim was in seat number two.  Very few passengers had a line of sight to shoot anything at her.  No one saw anyone else doing anything so suspicious as blowing a dart at another passenger.  Few people even got up from their seats during the trip.  

Poirot and his old colleague Inspector Japp interview passengers and others of interest in England and Paris.

There's a chapter called the List which I enjoyed that showed what each passenger had in their possession.  Many of the passengers had some sort of reading material with them, from books to magazines.

One of the most interesting passengers was a mystery novelist who drew some suspicion to himself with his knowledge of blow pipes and various methods of murder.

Poirot takes a young couple under his wing and enlists their help in his investigation.

One of my favorites so far.