Death Comes As the End

Rating:
Summary: A pleasing change from the usual
Review: I couldn't put this book down once I reached the middle. I liked the setting in this book a lot more than Agatha Christie's usual modern era. The whole idea that the story situated in ancient Egypt gave me a sense that maybe the murderer wasn't mortal. For me, I was truely surprised at who the real culprit was. What I really enjoyed most about this story was that some characters stated interesting beliefs about human nature. The whole book to me seemed to be more than a mystery; it seemed to be a book of how certain people react to different situations, and how greed is evil. I absolutely enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing, intriguing mystery
Review: I felt Christie really succeeded with this mystery. Her setting, ancient egypt, is delightfully rendered and her descriptions of life really serve to pull the reader into the story. Like her best novels, "Death Comes as the End" serves as a psychological study of her characters. If I have one complaint, it might be that it's not too hard to guess the murderer at the end. In any case the end is still chilling and well-done. Christie changed the ending for her editor and later wished she hadn't, but I find this mystery intriguing nonetheless.

Rating:
Summary: The best Christie book I have ever read.
Review: I have read Agatha Christie books since I was a teenager, some I couldn't get interested in and some I could not put down. This is definitely one of the ones I couldn't put down. Mrs. Christie's description of the setting in ancient Egypt was fantastic and coupled with the multiple murders in the story -- I can't say enough about this book. It is a must read for every Christie fan.

Rating:
Summary: A great mystery, but the ending was a bit obvious
Review: I liked this unique Agatha Christie mystery set in Ancient Egypt, unlike all her other mysterious set in murderous bloodly modern England, and I even liked it without her omniprescent detectives Hercule Poirot & Miss Marple. This book has an excellent plot and its depictions of family strife in Ancient Egypt sound just as real as they would today. The murder of family members in this book is enthralling as well, as it kept me on my toes, waiting to find out about who was the murderer of Imhotep's large family. The only fault that I can credit to this book is the rather obvious ending. There are not enough suspects and the ending, and, of course, the heroine (Renisenb) cannot be the culprit, that leaves practically two or three suspects to be the murderer. Even suspects that have been suspected for a long time are killed. In the end, it is rather obvious who the culprit is. I won't spoil it for you here but I'm pretty sure that whoever reads this book will find that the culprit is quite easy to guess.

Rating:
Summary: #1"An ancient setting. An age-old crime. A timeless mystery"
Review: I own and have read, every single one of her 80+ books and short story collections, and this one, possibly her most unique, is her best.

Set in Ancient Egypt, this is probably THE original historical crime novel. I can think of no other published before this. And none published after which equal it in it's brilliance. With this book, Agatha Christie outdoes more modern historical crime novelists such as Paul DOherty, Alys Clare, and Ellis Peters, with a single blow. She suceeds at everything she turned her hand to.

Fuelled by extensive background knowledge and research, this books hits just the right tone in historical detail, and all of it rings true. (I dont know whether it is, and nor do i care. All i care about is the fact that it seems authentic.)

This book retains all the things which make her modern fiction so good. The back-stabbing and terse depictions of family life, and the tensions and emotions which rise out of family, and love. (Often misguided, frequently adulterous). All her books are excellent at bringing out descriptions of families, and how the murder affects them. this one is no different. As well as that, there is a cracking plot, and some particularly bloodthristy murders to fit right in with the bloodthristy time period.

The setting is evoked well, as is the time period. The book is suspenseful and thrilling. Also, a tiny bit frightening.

I did not find the solution as easy to guess as other people appear to have. Mind you, i dont usually bother with trying to figure out who did it. Often, i get it right and find i have spoiled the book for myself. So i see no real point in bothering.) I found the resolution brilliant.

The setting, the strong plot, the characters, the seething bitterness of the emotion, all serve to rank this as number one of all Agatha Christie's many novels.

Rating:
Summary: amazing plot
Review: I own each and every book written by Agatha Christie- this one happens to be one of my favourites..I thought that i'd guessed the murderer... was totally taken by surprise towards the end! Don't think twice before buying this book!

Rating:
Summary: This wont be the end
Review: I own pretty much all 70 - 80 of Agatha Christie's books, and this one is one of the best. Set in Egypt, this book brings myth to mystery. Of course, every one of her books is a treasure, and once you begin reading, she'll hook you too, and there will be no end to your facination with the world's best mystery writer.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, Hori
Review: I read this book with reluctance at first, probably it being my first book by Agatha Christie, but it sure was a page turner. I don't know about how accurate this historical fiction really is with it's plot revolving around a widowed daughter from a broken family in Egypt. The family is close to crumbling with the father's sudden arrival of his concubine who is immediately rejected by the family and is left out in all their affairs, not that she really cared. But she's soon killed after the father, who's a burial priest, leaves for Upper Egypt on yet another financial concerning trip. Deaths soon start to occur, targetting mainly the direct members of the joined family, and Renisenb, the widowed daughter, is convinced that the source of evil is from her own house.

Subplots are also added in this story such as Renisenb's dilemma of marrying again and the secret taking over of the family by her young step-brother.

I recommend this book, as for once, it doesn't have her signature detectives like Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, who were starting to get pretty predictable anyway and their absence allows a whole new perspective of the story.

Rating:
Summary: Country house mystery, though not a party, in 2000 BC
Review: Life on the estate of the ka-priest Imhotep doesn't seem to have changed at all in the eight years of Renisenb's marriage; returning to her father's house upon her husband's death, its stability comforts her, even though it isn't entirely peaceful. But how much of the impression of changelessness is wishful thinking?

Her eldest brother, Yahmose, gentle, conscientious, reliable, is still henpecked by his strident wife Satipy, urging him to demand that Imhotep create a legal agreement giving Yahmose formal administrative status. The middle brother, Sobek, is a womanizer given to high living, who fancies himself a great man; his wife, Kait, may seem solid and stupid, but she's devoted to her children, and won't let him abandon their heritage however piqued he is with his father. Young Ipy, at sixteen, is no longer a pretty sight after being spoiled for so long.

Then middle-aged Imhotep returns from a trip to Memphis and puts a cat among the pigeons: he introduces his new 19-year-old concubine, Nofret. She's unhappy at being tied to this fussy old tyrant on his backwater estate, after Memphis, but works to ensnare his affection - and facing the family's hostile reaction (except the amusement of Imhotep's aged mother, Esa), begins undermining them with him. (Christie gradually, skillfully illuminates Nofret's character; she's no cardboard evil temptress, and not really evil at all.)

During another of Imhotep's trips, the cold war between Satipy, Kait, and Nofret comes to a head when Kait slaps Nofret - who then reports the truth and nothing but the truth in a letter to Imhotep, supported by testimony from the staff. Imhotep's reply falls like a boulder into a pool: Yahmose and Sobek are to be disinherited, while Imhotep will marry his concubine. But soon after the message arrives, Nofret is found dead, fallen from the cliff path near the tomb (the entire estate is an endowment, supporting the family in exchange for their maintenance of the tomb, hence Imhotep's job description as a ka-priest).

This isn't a group of modern people set in an Egyptian background; the different culture is apparent. (Christie's 2nd husband, of course, was the archeologist Max Mallowan). The family (regardless of their suspicions) is content for this first death to pass as an accident, but as the death toll rises, some attribute it to Nofret's angry ghost while others, including Renisenb, wise old grandmother Esa, and the steward, Hori, look for a more immediate agent. (I believe I counted 8 deaths - I won't say if they were all murders - through the course of the book.)

A novel in ancient Egypt, when well written, is always a pleasure, and Christie (particularly when not hogtied by formulae required by some of her more famous characters) is of course great at designing puzzles with human touches. The combination here is very good.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Plot
Review: One of Christie's best reads..the setting, plot and characters are truly amazing. I've read all of Christie's books- this one ranks among my top 10.