Death on the Nile
Agatha Christie, 1937
★ 4.12 from 327k ratings on Goodreads
A Nile cruise, a honeymoon, and a murder among strangers who all have a reason. Poirot, on holiday, must untangle a knot of jealousy before the boat docks. The atmosphere blends serene river travel with witty dialogue and a growing sense of death. It maintains a plain, enjoyable pace.
Feels like curiosity, serenity and joy. About death, adventure and home.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy classic mysteries set against a lush backdrop. Be aware that the large cast and slow initial pace may confuse some readers.
Why read it
This novel offers a satisfying puzzle to unravel while enjoying the glamour of a high-stakes river journey.
A page from the book
The patiance it takes to see one true thing, everything else scrape away.
Once I went professionally to an archaeological expedition—and I learnt something there. In the course of an excavation, when something comes up out of the ground, everything is cleared away very carefully all around it. You take away the loose earth, and you scrape here and there with a knife until finally your object is there, all alone, ready to be drawn and photographed with no extraneous matter confusing it. That is what I have been seeking to do—clear away the extraneous matter so that we can see the truth—the naked shining truth. What readers say
Readers often call it entertaining, cozy, twisty, and absorbing, though some find the slow opening and large cast confusing. Reactions split on predictability and the reveal, while Poirot and the exotic setting are recurring highlights.
Agatha Christie.In the First World War Christie worked in a Torquay hospital dispensary, where she learned the poisons and dosages that would serve fifty years of plots.
Books that feel like this
More by Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie, 1934
One murdered passenger, a compartment locked from the inside, and a small Belgian who reads lies better than anyone. A closed-circle puzzle at its purest.
Curtain
Agatha Christie, 1975
An ageing Poirot returns to Styles, the scene of his first case, to hunt a murderer who leaves no trace and seems always one step ahead.
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie, 1939
Ten strangers are invited to an island where a nursery rhyme starts coming true; Christie's most airtight trap, and her most human.
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- Is Death on the Nile for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy classic mysteries set against a lush backdrop. Be aware that the large cast and slow initial pace may confuse some readers.
- What is Death on the Nile like?
- The atmosphere blends serene river travel with witty dialogue and a growing sense of death. It maintains a plain, enjoyable pace. Feels like curiosity, serenity and joy. About death, adventure and home.
- What should I read after Death on the Nile?
- If you liked Death on the Nile, try A Taste for Death (P. D. James), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (Arthur Conan Doyle).
A taste of the feed
The horror of a cold corpse, delivered in the most sterile, official tone.
ONEThe bodies were discovered at eight forty-five on the morning of Wednesday 18 September by Miss Emily Wharton, a sixty-five-year-old spinster of the parish of St. Matthew’s in Paddington, London, and Darren Wilkes, aged ten, of no particular parish as far as he knew or cared. This unlikely pair of companions had left Miss Wharton’s flat in Crowhurst Gardens just before half past eight to walk the half-mile stretch of the Grand Union Canal to St. Matthew’s Church.
A Taste for Death · P. D. James
How a father says I love you without touching his son.
I stepped outside. Father was standing in the corridor. He held up his right hand and spread his fingers out in a fan. I held up my left hand and spread my fingers out in a fan and we made our fingers and thumbs touch each other. We do this because sometimes Father wants to give me a hug, but I do not like hugging people, so we do this instead, and it means that he loves me.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time · Mark Haddon
What a colleague's death looks like from behind a locked door.
Runyan picked his fingernails with the paper clip and smiled slightly to himself. Rosenberg’s death, by any means or method, would be a relief. No, it would be a glorious occasion. The Chief would have to wear black and give a eulogy, but behind locked doors he would chuckle with his law clerks. Runyan liked this thought.
The Pelican Brief · John Grisham
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed