Age: Adult
(Note: I've been reading Agatha Christie since my early teens. There's absolutely nothing dirty or inappropriate in her books...except for the pervasive theme of murder, of course.)
Agatha Christie is one of my very favorite authors, and this is my favorite Agatha Christie mystery. So that should give you an idea of how much I like this book. I just re-read it, and even though I knew exactly how it was going to end, reading it was still a thoroughly enjoyable experience. That's a good mystery novel, in my opinion--plots and characters that are interesting enough to stand on their own with the mystery removed.
Linnet Ridgeway is a beautiful young heiress who is used to getting exactly what she wants, when she wants it--her house, her clothes, her jewelry--even her best friend Jackie's handsome fiance, Simon Doyle. Linnet dazzles Simon, and, after a whirlwind romance, they head to Egypt for what should be a fairytale honeymoon. But the spurned and betrayed Jackie has other plans. She follows them everywhere--staying at the same hotels, taking the same tours, and generally making a nuisance of herself. In desperation, Linnet and Simon sneak away from their hotel and board a boat that's traveling up the Nile. But just when they think they're in the clear, Jackie turns up on the boat! And then Linnet is murdered. Obviously Jackie is the prime suspect--but she has an absolutely airtight alibi.
Before the Jackie situation, Linnet believed herself to be universally adored. But, as the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (fortuitously touring Egypt on the same boat) discovers, almost all of the other passengers have their own reasons to want Linnet dead. Among the seemingly pleasant group of upper-class tourists who have spent the past week together, there are, among others, a jewel thief, an embezzler, a blackmailer, and a known killer with a price on his head. The question is--who actually did it?
There are several things I love about Agatha Christie. First, the mysteries themselves are great--the solution isn't obvious, but she does give you enough clues to figure it out yourself if you really, really think. (That said, I've only figured out the solution to one of her mysteries before the reveal maybe twice in all the time I've been reading them.) And even though she's written dozens, the murders are always unique and full of twists and turns. And she's good at changing things up now and then. You read a few, and you start to think you know which sorts of people turn out to be murders and which don't, and then all of a sudden she totally surprises you. Second, the characters are always interesting--all of them. And there are usually a lot of them, because there are lots of suspects in every case. I read a review recently that said even her minor characters have a lot of work put into them. I would argue that, in fact, there aren't really minor characters in an Agatha Christie--there's more of an ensemble cast. Third, there's always a little romance--not a lot, just enough to be darling. As a female writer, Christie understands that the most satisfying ending is one in which the killer is caught AND the right couple ends up together.
Christie wrote for several decades, but I especially love the 1930s tourist stories, like this one. The settings--time and place--are so Indiana Jones. Maybe it's escapism on my part--a leisure class, traveling to exotic places where they're pampered (no hostels for these guys)--but it thrills me. Plus you know their clothes are fantastic.
So, why is this my favorite Christie? Well, it has my favorite setting, my favorite murder, my favorite characters, and my favorite romance. If you haven't read any Christie, this is a good place to start. And if you have, but you haven't read this one yet, you need to remedy that right away.
Other books and movies you might enjoy: Midsommer Murders; Rex Stout (author of the Nero Wolfe mysteries); Murder on the Orient Express; Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (also published as The Boomerang Clue); Evil Under the Sun; And Then There Were None; Murder in Mesopotamia
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