Mystery

Write your mystery review here. 'DEATH COMES AS THE END' Mystery Novel by Agatha Christie Egypt, 2000 B.C. The house and property of a wealthy priest on the banks of the Nile. A household full of men, women, children and servants - not unusual. Only, the number of deaths is unusual. When Inhotep brings his new concubine from the north the his manor, his adult children immediately decide they don't want her. Nofret is catty, malicious and a trouble-maker and someone takes it upon themselves to dispose of her, causing the previously turbulent household to erupt. The killer does not stop there, though. In a matter of months another six people killed by the physco maniac who always looked like such a committed, loving son, brother, husband and father. Eventually he is caught in his seventh and final attempt at murder when his identity and true nature is revealed. As always, Agatha Christie has obscured the true situation and effectively hinted at driving undercurrents until the very last pages in her book. She has obviously reasearched deeply and efficiently, recreating ancient Egypt honestly and unbashfully. Nothing really stood out to me about this novel. Agatha Christie has written some very praise-worthy mysteries in her time but this seemed to me not up to her usual standard. At times the story became dull, often repeating itself and retracing the same ground as though the autor was just trying to fill in space until the next event. My feeling is that first-time-readers of Agatha Christie will not be encouraged by this book to read more and that they will most likely come away with the general impression that She is obsessed with killing her characters. I will forever defend Agatha Christie's novels as the essence of true who-done-its, however, I must admit, this book was certainly not impressive. //Ruth Bateson//
 * Countless Corpses for Christie Cravers**