Death on the Nile

 Series: Hercule Poirot #17 

Author: Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Original publication date: 1937

Book description: The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful, a girl who had everything - until she lost her life. Hercule Poirot recalls 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 in this exotic setting, nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Thoughts:

I did not read the synopsis for this book before starting it. I saw it and I was very surprised that it spoiled who gets killed. I started to read it and get to know the characters and had no idea Linnet was going to be the person who was murdered.

But then I started thinking, Hercule Poirot is always solving murders, so it makes sense that she was the victim all along. 

It begins as usual following the characters involved. We follow a group of people who are enjoying traveling around Africa. Linnet is on her honeymoon with her new husband. Following them is a young woman, the ex-fiance of Linnet's husband. This causes a bit of struggle and strain in the newlywed couple. 

Poirot is by chance going in the same direction and they start traveling together. The murder does not take place in the first chapter like in so many other stories so by the time you get to it, you already feel a strong connection to the characters. 

The main suspect is J, a sweet innocent girl. She was dumped by her fiance, the man she adored. She does not hate him but instead, her hate is towards Linnet whom she had considered her closest friend for a long time. J had intended Linnet to hire her fiance so he could have a good job and be able to marry her. What ended up happening the young man broke off the engagement and married the rich wealthy young heiress instead. Now J is traveling in the same direction, always showing up in the right place where the young couple are and this is driving Linnet crazy. 

Poirot is approached by Linnet, she wishes to have legal means to stop the harassment, unfortunately for her, there is no basis for it. J does not seem to present any danger to her at all. She is always polite and pleasant, the only thing she does is following them around wherever they go. 

Again we have several people in the ship and they all seem to have a few bits to hide but who could really be the murder?

 We have a mother-son duo who are traveling this same path and well the first is very keen on making friends with Poirot while the latter is very much not interesting. Also, a mother-daughter duo who enjoys the company of Poirot, again the older woman is a lot more pleasant towards the detective, at least initially. Another coincidence is we the person handling Linnet's state is present along with another gentleman who is also related to her, a lawyer I believe it was. As in her previous works, we have people all interconnecting in some way which makes this even more convoluted. 

I did guess who the culprit was, and the logic or the motive better said. But I was unable to uncover the chain of events to see how they managed to carry it out. I was surprised enough to make this very enjoyable. 

I will definitely reread Poirot at some point and this is going to be among the first few options.

I gave this 

This is it for now, from my side. Do let me know what your favorite Agatha Christie book is.

Stay safe! Bye!