Feb 17, 2013 06:27 PM
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With so many reviews & many highly esteemed members reading & reviewing her stuff, how distant could I have remained from the works of Agatha Christie. One day I just decided to go for it & then the task was to choose between the various highly recommended titles. I finalised four of them – And then there were none, Roger Akroyd, Orient Express & Death on the Nile (DOTN). Now the former two are highly acclaimed & had I read them, I feared that I might not be able to appreciate her other titles after that. So the next obvious choice was Orient express & I read the review of a highly esteemed MS member GRuchirG. I suppose he was not “wowed” & found the book mediocre, so I was left with DOTN. However, later I learnt that DOTN bears a very close & similar resemblance to Orient express in terms of plot & murder revelation.
So was DOTN a right choice? Has Agatha succeeded in making me her fan?
Plot : (No spoilers, so just read on)
Rich beauty Linnet Ridgeway is a heiress of American multi-millionaire stock broker & Real estate czar. Her friend Jacqueline is middle class & hopes Linnet could give a job to her unemployed lover Simon Doyle. When they go to meet Linnet at her “palace”, Linnet falls in love with Simon (a pauper) & gets him like she is used to get everything in life she wanted(money power) & they marry. They go to Egypt for honeymoon where Jacqueline is stalking them & there starts a roller coaster ride on the cruise up the river Nile with a variety of passengers on board including Belgian boast of a detective hero, Monsieur Hercule Poirot who “happens” to be holidaying in Africa.
One day Linnet just has a narrow escape in what seems like an accident. Next day, Colonel Race, Poirot’s friend joins the cruise on return trip from Wadi Halfa to Shellal & announces that a serial killer is on board the vessel. Same night, Linnet is killed & before the murderer is identified, next day two more passengers are killed in broad day light. Now the night Linnet was killed was very interesting. There were three people who entered her room with different motives & at different times & many other people saw them entering or leaving Linnet’s cabin & other passengers doing variety of stuff.
Hercule Poirot along with Col. Race starts questioning the passengers & recalls his early conversation & the events on board & reaches the conclusion within hours. During all this there are many surprises, twists, motives thrown in, some passengers lie while other cook up stories & it becomes really difficult for a reader to come to a conclusion as nothing is what it seemed to be on board. Every passenger now seems to know Linnet in some way & were not on the vessel just “by chance”. Everybody is a suspect & with a motive.
Finally truth is revealed & what it is & how, I leave it for you to read yourself. The serial killer on Cruise is not the murderer of these three. There is another one! Who is the serial killer & the other one. Or are there more than just these two….go find out!
Apart from this, lot of love is just flying about. Here, people from different countries & backgrounds (& even generations) will meet & announce their marital alliance. And even that you won’t guess until the end that who will go with whom!
What I liked?
1) The plot is very thought after & setting is very good. The cruise up the Nile gives good enough details one would expect in a travel brochure. This was also one of the main reasons to go for it as it’s a “little” treat too for travel non-fiction readers like me.
2) The mystery “quotient” is high. One is unable to guess the murderer. The novel’s grip is a grip, the plot development before the murder is not for vain. Every small detail & dialogue will carry a value afterwards. I can’t recall any useless scene or unwanted details to fill pages.
3) After the murder, the book becomes unputdownable. I wanted to finish chapters after chapters. Hercule Poirot startles & his memory & skill to examine people is very sharp.
4) Apart from this, this is an easy read too which can be completed over an idle weekend. (Pages 416). However, the writing has a bit of Victorian influence. But at the same time it’s pacy & enjoyable.
What I disliked?
1) Hercule Poirot. He comes across as very diplomatic & pretentious. He is at times unreal & annoying. But that’s his character I suppose!
2) The murder happens quite late in the novel. Before that Christie is developing plot & the characters & still there are lot of things happening but murder! Although it was ok, but I was getting impatient as I wanted it to happen soon so that “cracking the mystery” part can start. That is what after all we read detective stories for!
3) The end & the real culprit’s disclosure disappointed me. I felt out rightly cheated. I mean no one can guess it, that’s fine & an achievement for Christie, but “this” is not I expected. I felt as if this is what had to happen, then why were we taken through the circus of people being interrogated, new secrets being disclosed & motives coming into light. I can’t say if it really happens with all Christie books, but I would have been happier if anyone else had killed the heroine. They had great motives at hand. I was so upset that I didn’t want to read the book there after & didn’t want to know how it actually happened.
I had thought I would become a diehard AC. It had the potential & that factor was there. Till the end, I thought I have found a treasure & was thinking to give this book a 4.5/5, but now I am settling with 3/5 & I will recommend it for regulars & not first timers.
So where do I go now? I haven’t given up yet & I will read more of AC. Now I am interested in Miss Marple series & I suppose I will like her better than Poirot. In fact, with a review from esteemed MS member Jmathur I have shortlisted a book for my next AC & after that I will decide my choice (Poirot or Marple or thriller).
For now, keep reading & reviewing good books.
Rate & Comment.
Anshuman Maini
TC
