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Death on the Nile [1937] is one of my favourite Agatha Christie novels. I love the setting and the plot and the cast of characters. Once you know that Jacqueline de Bellefort's mother was from South Carolina (my mother, and father, were also from South Carolina) EVERYTHING makes sense. Really. Everything makes sense. Someone once said South Carolina was too small to be its own country and too large to be an insane asylum. That's us. I have often felt like Jacqueline in my life. Fortunately, I never had a Simon Doyle. Or a Lynette Ridgeway for that matter. This has Hercules Poirot and Colonel Race. As with the novel below, Christie used her own experiences on archeological digs and travels in the Middle East to inform her works and add verisimilitude. And the 1977 film version is wonderful. David Niven stabbing a cobra is the only one of the best bits. Angela Lansbury as drunk sensationalist novelist is so funny--maybe that's why she moved to Cabet Cove!
Also, I listened to Kenneth Branagh's narration of it on Youtube here. In my opinion, it is MUCH better than David Suchet, but then I am not a fan of David Suchet's narration. If I close my eyes, Branaugh sounds a bit like Cumberbatch when he narrates. They have some of the same cadences.
Appointment with Death [1938] This is also set in the near East. Jerusalem and Petra. An American matriarch who is a 'mental sadist' (!) brings her tormented family on holiday and gets killed. I tried listening to the Hugh Fraser narrated version but it was painful to listen to so many scenes of emotional abuse, gaslighting, and manipulation so I turned to the physical book because it's easier for me to deal with it. It was a tough read for that reason but really a rather ingenious plot and means. The motive we will see again when Miss Marple takes an island holiday (but with a more clever twist) but I can see ol' Aggie leading up to it. This is also Poirot. There is a Ustinov version 1988 too on Tubi. I may watch that tonight.
Next up is Poirot's Christmas.
Also, I listened to Kenneth Branagh's narration of it on Youtube here. In my opinion, it is MUCH better than David Suchet, but then I am not a fan of David Suchet's narration. If I close my eyes, Branaugh sounds a bit like Cumberbatch when he narrates. They have some of the same cadences.
Appointment with Death [1938] This is also set in the near East. Jerusalem and Petra. An American matriarch who is a 'mental sadist' (!) brings her tormented family on holiday and gets killed. I tried listening to the Hugh Fraser narrated version but it was painful to listen to so many scenes of emotional abuse, gaslighting, and manipulation so I turned to the physical book because it's easier for me to deal with it. It was a tough read for that reason but really a rather ingenious plot and means. The motive we will see again when Miss Marple takes an island holiday (but with a more clever twist) but I can see ol' Aggie leading up to it. This is also Poirot. There is a Ustinov version 1988 too on Tubi. I may watch that tonight.
Next up is Poirot's Christmas.