"Me, I work with my brains and am not ashamed of it."
Reading Agatha Christie is always such a treat. I know I'm in for a good time, so I clear out my schedule, put on my comfiest outfit, and settle in for a few hours of fun and cozy-murdering. And Death on the Nile sure delivers.
Wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway has it all: beauty, charm, and money. And now she has love too, marrying the man of her dreams and starting their lives together with a honeymoon in Egypt. But this exotic trip to a faraway locale is turning up a surprising number of familiar faces. And when their cruise along the Nile turns deadly, Hercule Poirot must step in and solve the case.
The pacing, at least initially, feels more luxurious than some of Christie's other mysteries. We don't jump immediately into the cozy-murdering. Instead, we settle in to meet the full cast of characters and really dive into Linnet's story. I found her character to be compelling, and the circumstances leading up to her marriage interesting and a bit scandalous.
And once we get to the mystery, it's as fun as any whodunnit I've read. Because we already got to know all the players before the murder even happened, there isn't that awkward chunk when we have to meet and establish everyone. Instead, we can really focus on the mystery, and it is a good one. It has so many juicy elements: intrigue, love, backstabbing, money, and deception. And we are treated to all the clues and red herrings we've come to know and love from the genre.
One thing I particularly enjoy about Agatha Christie's mysteries is the crispness of her reveal. They are always simple and logical, yet also completely surprising. It is her hallmark, one that I've searched far and wide and have found very few authors who can match. Often, other reveals are either too simple (so you see it coming from a mile away), or are so convoluted and outlandish that it borders on nonsensical. But with Christie, there's always that eureka moment when everything comes together in the most satisfying and logical conclusion.
Sometimes I wonder how our literary world would've been if Agatha Christie never came along, what a terrible loss we never would've known. Thankfully, we don't need to contemplate such an unspeakable scenario. We do have her and reading her books is always the most delightful of experiences.
Readaroo Rating: 4 stars
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