Death Comes as the End

This is a great book to give you an idea of what the British thought of Ancient Egypt. It makes for odd reading at times. Also, man are there lots of people dying!
The plot itself is twisty and our amateur detective is getting a lesson in human motivation. So that's interesting. And the romance is well done.
Overall pretty good plot, but the setting is odd.

Honestly, it was a bit of a letdown based on my expectations for an Agatha Christie novel. The setting felt somewhat forced and awkward. I also had trouble remembering the large cast of characters.

I began this book with some apprehension, as I'd read mixed reviews but gave it a go due to my interest in the historical setting. I felt it began a little slowly but really picked up in later chapters and at the end I couldn't put it down until all was revealed. I was totally off track in solving the case and thought it was an enthralling read which I would recommend to any Agatha Christie fan.

I loved this book. One of my favorite Christies, for sure!

But let me give some context. I'm a nerd–I studied archaeology, have worked in museums, and learn about Ancient Egypt for fun. That said, I'm really not inclined to judge the “realism” of Christie's setting at all. I'm sure there are details we could argue about–after all, there are many gaps in our knowledge of ancient Egypt–but I don't know enough to get riled up about it.

That said, there ARE signs of historical prejudice in the book–both ancient, and of Christie's time. There are enslaved characters, and none have names. There are also very clear gender roles, and gender stereotypes are a big deal to the characters. Again, I really can't say if this is accurate for Egypt, but it is pretty accurate for the early 1900s (Christie's context). Like all Christie or “classic” novels, the modern reader has to be critical of certain cultural views and turns of phrase.

I am a character reader, and that is why I loved this book. I adored Hori. Renisenb's thoughts are very basic–she often gets described as “childlike”–but, to be fair, she's also probably 18 or so, and received no education. (There's also theories out there that ancient people simply didn't think the way we do–I have no idea if Christie was thinking that, so I won't get into it–but I found it interesting to consider as I read.) Christie does a great job of taking classic characters familiar to a British 20th century audience and translating them into a new context. All the members of the family are very recognizable and distinct.

And the romance. sigh Now, in a modern context, the romance could border on problematic; questions of age, agency, etc. However. In my own personal opinion, in the end, Renisenb thinks it through and has full agency. I loved the way she weighed her choices about her future. There are, of course, cultural situations that we might not stand for today, but I think Christie actually did a lovely job of letting her characters rise above those–even more so than she did in some of her more modern stories, I think.

Anyway, on to the main point: the mystery. It is classic. There is no stereotypical “detective” character, and there isn't a main character telling us the narrative, either (though by far we see the most of Renisenb's thoughts). Instead, a coalition of family members evolves to investigate and compare notes. At the beginning of the story, it seems like the murder will be very cut and dry . . . But then it twists. As the story continues, there's a high body count, and everyone ends up under suspicion.

[Slight spoilers ahead]

There are several characters that feel like familiar, obvious perpetrators. But I didn't catch on to the true murderer until perhaps the last 15%, just before the big conclusion. I found it incredibly satisfying the way the pieces fell into place–and, in perfect Christie fashion, it was a chilling reveal.

[Slight spoilers over]

Throughout the book, the main characters are thoughtful and observant, and that is perhaps what I enjoyed most. I loved their thoughts on life and death, in part because they saw such things very simply. The tension definitely rose in the last few chapters, and the ending was exactly what I didn't know I wanted. ;) I'd happily recommend this book to people who like Christie, internal/family drama mysteries, or simply people who like historical fiction/trying to see life from a new point of view. There are views expressed in the book that do not resonate today (thank goodness), but there is also a lot of value and honesty, too.

As I have been reading through all of Christie's mysteries, this one came as a bit of a surprise. I appreciate her stand alone pieces (it's refreshing to get away from her most famous detectives when you are reading them all in a row) but this one is different in that it takes place in Ancient Egypt.

It was an adjustment to understand the culture of Egypt thousands of years ago—obviously no detectives, lots of gods and rituals, gender roles, etc. None of it was thoroughly explained so I went along with it with a bunch of question marks in my head. It needed more description: what they were wearing, their hair, what the tomb looked like, the landscape, the house. It was written as if you should know all of that already. Since all I know about Ancient Egypt revolves around mummification and hieroglyphics, I had trouble picturing an authentic setting.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed it. It is difficult to have a murder mystery without a detective and without the methods we now use to determine evidence. But she made it work. The narrator drove me a bit crazy—she had the tendency to call everyone else stupid while being completely oblivious and naive herself. Overall, worth a read but not her best work.