Review: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

Audiobook narrated by David Suchet / Running time: 7:59

Whenever I conjure up a picture of Hercule Poirot in my mind, it’s basically always David Suchet playing the iconic character (pictured below). He just so perfectly embodied everything about Poirot – from his moustaches to his mannerisms and accent (David Suchet is English but cracks the little Belgian’s accent seamlessly). So, imagine how delightful it is to be listening to Poirot on audiobook and for it to be narrated by none other than Mr. Suchet himself. He has a great selection of accents for all the characters, but every time Poirot has a line and it’s spoken in EXACTLY the way you expect, it just makes listening to this classic story even more enjoyable.

When I was deciding which Agatha Christie book to listen to next, I just generally assumed that I had read Death on the Nile, so overlooked it in my selection for months. It is one of Agatha’s most iconic books after all, I must have read it? But as I thought about it, I realised I might have seen part of a TV adaptation, but I actually in fact had NEVER read it. This reminds me of a quote Lucy Mangan used in her memoir, Bookworm: ‘Alan Bennett’s famous definition of a classic – a book everyone is assumed to have read and often thinks they have.’

So, I set to rectify this immediately and can clearly see why it has the reputation it does. Poirot decides to take a little break and cruise down the river Nile in Egypt. But, as is the way, murder just seems to follow him around and he must pause in his relaxing to work out who has killed the young, rich, popular and very recently married socialite, Linnet Ridgeway, who, it turns out, had more than a few enemies. We are introduced to a cast of characters also on the boat – some there incidentally, some by design. The restrictive setting means it HAD to be someone on the boat who committed the crime. But who? As is Christie’s signature, not everyone is as they at first seem and the twist is so perfectly done, you can’t help but smile while you’re reading (or listening in my case). I’m so glad I have now really read Death on the Nile – it’s a truly sophisticated murder mystery. But which one to read next? All suggestions welcome!