Book Review: Death on the Nile

DEATH ON THE NILE | Agatha Christie
(Hercule Poirot #17)
02.01.2011 (first published 1937) | William Morrow
Rating: 4/5 stars

Hercule Poirot has set off on what is supposed to be a tranquil cruise along the Nile, but what he finds is a murderer in his midst. Linnet Ridgeway has been shot through the head. This young, beautiful, and extremely wealthy socialite was aboard to celebrate her honeymoon. It seemed she had everything until she was struck dead. Who could have wanted to kill this woman? 

I first read DEATH ON THE NILE when I was in my teens and absolutely adored it. Agatha Christie has the ability to continually captivate me, as I was once again swept up in this murderous delight set in Egypt. 

Similar to a lot of other Christie books, DEATH ON THE NILE opens by introducing the reader to what will become our entire cast of characters throughout the novel. I love how in this story she breaks down all of their potential connections and motivations for being on a Nile cruise. It was so fun to have early suspicions about some of the characters well before anyone was even murdered!

DEATH ON THE NILE showcases Christie’s ability to truly layer a story with complex character interactions unfolding to reveal more and more details. It’s easy to feel as though you know exactly who must be the murderer in this book, but don’t ever take anything in a Christie novel for face value! There is always something more waiting on the next page!

I did manage to figure out part of the ending to this one, which is likely because the further I got into the story, the more I remembered from my first time through many years ago. I promise that didn’t stop me from being surprised by a multitude of other grand reveals by Poirot! As usual, I loved his methodical path to deduction and was quite pleased with the way things wrapped up.

DEATH ON THE NILE is a great place to start for any newbie Christie reader despite being further along in her series of Poirot books.

This book is available to buy from: Amazon | Book Depository

Disclosure: What Jess Reads is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This in no way influences my opinion of the above book.