Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
Rating: ★★★★
Agatha Christie is without question the queen of mystery. I used to read a lot of Agatha Christie mysteries in Junior High, and I’d forgotten how wonderful they are. Christie has a knack for characters and dialogue; she creates unconventional relationships and well-rounded personalities for her characters. The stories she tells are almost told entirely through dialogue. There is very little time spent on trivial descriptions. Christie gives the reader only the important bits of information, saving us from boredom.
Death on the Nile is a Hercule Poirot Mystery, and, I must say, I adore Hercule Poirot. He is such a unique character. He is maddeningly intelligent and quirky. He solves his cases by listening. He admits his own faults, and most importantly, he is full of empathy. I am actually in the process of collecting all Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot Mysteries. I have a Book Outlet order full of Agatha Christies on its way to me as I type this.
This particular mystery is jam packed with wonderful, strong, intelligent, and independent female characters. Way to go Agatha Christie! The plot is absolutely brilliant. I won’t say any more on this topic because it would be a shame to give anything away. You’ll have to read it for yourself.
Favorite Quotes:
“He was popularly supposed ‘to write,’ but it was understood among his friends that inquiries as to literary output were not encouraged” (21).
“Do not open your heart to evil… Because—if you do—evil will come… Yes, very surely evil will come… It will enter in and make its home within you, and after a while it will no longer be possible to drive it out” (69).
“’Why can’t Jackie take it like a man?’ demanded Simon resentfully. A very faint smile twitched Poirot’s upper lip. ‘Well, you see, Monsieur Doyle, to begin with she is not a man’” (74).
“It’s so dreadfully easy—killing people. And you begin to feel that it doesn’t matter… that it’s only you that matter! It’s dangerous—that” (323).
“People say love justifies everything, but that is not true…” (330).
“’She is a woman of an original mind,’ he said. ‘It is probably the first time you have met one’” (331).
