4,5 ( )

This is not the first time I've read this novel - I am re-reading it with my U3A Agatha Christie Reading Group. See my previous review.

When Imhotep, the Ka-priest, returns to his family, he brings with him an unwelcome surprise, a concubine from the North, who is in fact younger than his recently widowed daughter. None of his household like the concubine, and she plainly does not like them. She tries to turn the family against their father and seems determined to stir up trouble.

But what Nofret, the concubine, does, as one of the family remarks, is reveals where trouble and evil already are present.

In the introductory Author's Note Agatha Christie points out that the fact that the action of the book takes place on the West bank of the Nile at Thebes in Egypt about 2000 BC is actually incidental to the story. It is a story that could have been played out against any setting. It is a story of jealousy, a father who dominates too much, and children who are chafing against the bit. The murder of the concubine is just the first in a series of incidents, and the author holds various characters up for us to scrutinise.

We see the action mainly through the eyes of Imhotep's daughter Renisenb, who is not always the most reliable judge if character, and she is bewildered as various members of the household are killed, and she is not sure who to trust.

The author puts her knowledge of Egyptian funerary rites and procedures to good use in providing the reader with an authentic background for a solid murder mystery. In all there are 5 murders, enough to overwhelm even the most vigilant family. ( )

“A trifle, a little, the likeness of a dream. And death comes as the end.”
― Agatha Christie, Death Comes as the End

EDIT..8/8/2020
Revisited during storm. Still adore it. First read when I was like eight or nine.

Gave it to my dad during the storm when I was done. He'd never read it. He finished it in a night and LOVED it. And no, did not guess the culprit.

My review:

Why is does this book not have a solid 5 star average rating? Oh no..my bias is showing.

I first read this book as a child, after seeing my lovely Mamacita's copy. Through the years I revisit. Never loses its power.

Agatha Christie's "Death comes as the end" is the only one of her books that I feature on my "favorite books of all time list". It differs from many of her books in several ways.

First off..there is nothing..I repeat..nothing..cozy about this book. I first read it as a child and do not mind admitting it scared the heck out of me. Many of Christie's books have a cozy element to them. This does not.

Second this book is just as much Historical Fiction as a mystery. It takes place in Ancient Egypt. I grew up obsessed with books about Egypt and this one doesn't disappoint. Historical fiction buffs..you will be transported to Egypt via this book. The atmosphere and setting are top notch.

This book has some of the standard things..a murder..who did it..another murder.

But this book is as much about the human element as the crime element..who we are, how we become the people we are, how does the world see us and is that view accurate?

How will we grow and leave the past behind? I would so recommend Death comes as the end. It is interesting that I have read many an Agatha Christie book and while I liked some of them, none really got me involved as this book did.

It is complex, deeply engaging both as Historical Fiction and as a mystery. Do not underestimate the deeply moving and Spiritual element to the story.

A definite five stars. ( )

Agatha Christie's historical detective story set in Ancient Egypt around 2000 BC.

I wasn't sure whether X or Y was the murderer, and of course it was Z. It was an interesting experiment, but I did spend quite a bit of time trying to work out who the characters would be and how the story would unfold in one of Dame Agatha's more contemporary stories. ( )

This is one of Agatha Christie's most unusual novels, being a historical fiction whodunnit set in ancient Egypt around 2000 BC. It has tended to get overlooked due to the lack of the usual Christie Golden Age of crime fiction feel. However, I found this difference rather effective, as it thereby strips away the usual iconography and trappings and allows a concentration on the fractious relationships between the members of Imenhotep's family, whose lives have been disturbed by the appearance on the scene of a new young concubine the master of the house has installed to replace his deceased wife. There are quite a shocking number of deaths in the household before the final, surprising conclusion is revealed. This is one of only four Christie novels never to have been adapted for the screen or stage. ( )