DEATH on the NILE

Eh bien,I figured it out! I actually came up with the correct killer, or killers, shortly after the millionaire heiress, Linnet Doyle, was found shot in the head on page 148. I didn't need all the clues used by our beloved Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. I got lucky and guessed based upon Agatha Christie's past tendencies. Mais oui it will never happen again. If you notice, I'm using all of Hercule's favorite French exclamations. This 1937 detective/mystery novel is first class, as usual. Our pyknic, mustached, French speaking gumshoe once again sifts through many suspects and clues to nail his man, or woman (I'm not giving you the killer!). This time he has a Colonel Race to use as his sounding board and a German Doctor Bessner as his medical advisor. What a' merveille entertaining novel this is.

Hercule is on vacation in Egypt awaiting a cruise down the Nile when he meets twenty year old Linnet Ridgeway and her husband, Simon Doyle. It seems Simon recently detached himself from Linnet's best friend, Jacqueline de Bellefort, to marry the very rich Linnet. Now the jeune fille Jacqueline is stalking the newlyweds and the Doyles want Hercule's help. Hercule refuses the commission but says he will talk to Jacqueline. Hercule is unable to calm the rejected Jacqueline, and in fact she threatens to kill Linnet. Later, on the steamer Karnak, Linnet turns up dead, shot in the head. Zut! Now our portly Hercule is on the case. The race is on to find the killer before someone else turns up dead. Most of the characters in this story are very exotic, and the clues are portentous and numerous. The ensuing chapters are all cliffhangers with fresh clues resulting in new suspects.

Agatha's ability to develop characters is amazing, and consistent in all her books. Can't you picture Peter Lorre or Sydney Greenstreet in one of her novels? One of her few rivals during the 1930's was Dashiell Hammett, author of one of my favorites, The Maltese Falcon. Another astonishing trait Agatha commands is that all her suspects come to full closure at the novel's end. I hate when I finish a book and most of characters have disappeared without a proper arrestment. Anyway mon ami and mon amie, I give this mystery a high five! Do yourself a favor and read a Agatha Christie novel soon - you will love it.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

Comment: The first actor to portray Hercule Poirot was Charles Laughton in a 1928 play called Alibi. The character, Hercule Poirot, was killed off in the 1975 novel Curtain. It was such a big deal that the N.Y. Times ran an obit in their newspaper stating "Hercule Poirot is dead; famed Belgian detective". Is that incredible or what?