Death on the Nile
Dust-jacket illustration of the first UK edition
|
|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Robin Macartney |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Collins Crime Club |
|
Publication date
|
1 November 1937 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| Preceded by | Dumb Witness |
| Followed by | Appointment with Death |
Death on the Nile is a book of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence (7/6) and the US edition at $2.00. The full length novel was preceded (1937) by a short story with the same title, but with Parker Pyne as the detective. The details of the short story's plot are substantially different, though the settings and some of the characters are very similar.
The book features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The action takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River.
While dining out in London one evening, Hercule Poirot sees a young woman, Jacqueline de Bellefort ("Jackie"), dining and dancing with her fiancé, Simon Doyle. He also notices that Jackie is passionately in love with Simon, perhaps too much. Jackie's father was a French Count, the Count de Bellefort, and her mother was American. Her father had an affair and ultimately ran away with his mistress. Her mother lost all her money in the Wall Street Crash, leaving Jackie penniless. The next day, Jacqueline takes Simon to meet her best friend, wealthy heiress Linnet Ridgeway, in the hopes that Linnet will offer Simon a job. Three months later, Simon has broken off his engagement to Jacqueline and has married Linnet instead.
Poirot happens to encounter the couple on their honeymoon to Egypt, where he himself is on holiday. At their shared hotel in Cairo, Poirot sees an apparent chance meeting between the Doyles and Jacqueline. During the encounter, the Doyles seem very much on edge. Afterwards, Linnet approaches Poirot and confides that Jacqueline has been stalking them since the wedding and antagonising both of them. While Simon was originally with Jacqueline, he fell in love with Linnet upon meeting her. Linnet and Simon are growing increasingly distressed, wishing Jacqueline would leave them alone. Poirot says the Doyles have no legal recourse, but tries to reason with Jacqueline in private, urging her to let go of her attachment to Simon and not "open [her] heart to evil." She refuses to listen, saying that Linnet stole Simon from her by dazzling him with her wealth. Jacqueline confides that she has been dreaming of killing Linnet and she even brings a small pistol out of her purse to show Poirot.
...
Wikipedia