Murder in Mesopotamia

I love most of Agatha Christie’s books. She draws me in and I feel like I really am in mud compound with several other people in the desert. I feel the stillness, even in today’s modern world. As for the story itself, she obviously drew very fully on the historical Katherine Woolley for the victim. The story is told from the point of view of Nurse Leatheren, brought on by Dr. Liedner to assist his wife, Louise, who’s been having fancies of seeing things, like a head floating in midair. Louise has a reputation of being a drama master. She doesn’t have disputes, she causes them. There’s also a Husband and wife team, the Mercado’s, and two people who’ve been coworkers with Dr. Liedner for years, Mr. Carey and Miss Johnson. Nurse soon settles in and determines Louise is the least nervous person in the world. But Louise is scared of something. She soon disclosed to Nurse that she’d been married before, but that her husband was dead. Or was he? She kept getting letters saying she shouldn’t ever get remarried, and now that she has it’s been sheer terror waiting to die. The next day, Louise is murdered. The only people who could have done it were the inmates of the compound, but all of them have alibis. Enter Poirot. Nurse is his Hastings in this story. Of course, there is the usual person who doesn’t tell what they know, and so die because of it. But Poirot knows who the killer is, of course. Not only is it the person I’d least suspected, but it’s the person that seemingly has the least reason to do so. Overall, I love this book. I come back to it again and again, trying to spot the clues now that I know who did it. Alas, I’m no Poirot, so I always miss something.

I recently got into Agatha Christie and I adore the Poirot series. I love the formats in which Poirot is the annoying mentor, and you feel like he is trying to give you everything you need to solve the mystery yourself. This particular mystery was tough, and as always, Agatha Christie is way too smart for me and I was stumped, but once the antagonist was revealed it made perfect sense. There are a lot of murder mysteries where the author just tries to make the killer the most \”unexpected\” person just because, with poor logical reason for the motive. This is not the case here, it is a compelling mystery and Christie does a good job of getting the readers invested with not only the characters surrounding the mystery but also with Poirot. The character relationships are complex and their personalities have the right amount of depth to where you are not weighed down by unnecessary details; rather, you have just enough detail to solve the mystery yourself if you use your \”little grey cells\”, as Poirot puts it. Christie also creates a fantastic landscape and describes it in enough detail to allow you to immerse yourself in the environment. Her writing style is truly unique and I really appreciate her creativity as someone who loves murder mysteries. This was a lovely treat, and I can\’t wait to read the rest of her work in the Poirot collection.

Agatha Christie\’s 1936 novel \” Murder in Mesopotamia: A Hercule Poirot Mystery (Hercule Poirot series Book 14) \” suffers from two big faults and one modest one. The biggest (and the one that seems to appear in a lot of Christie\’s novels) is that Poirot has no evidence for what he comes up with at the end. At the start of his reveal, he specifically says \”I have no material proof of it.\” Then, at the end, he says \”But there is no proof… No proof at all….\” The next biggest problem is that his theory is basically insane. It just couldn\’t happen. And, the modest problem is the pacing. Since we don\’t even know what the book is about until the 28% point, and Poirot doesn\’t make an appearance until the 33% point, the first quarter of the book could (and should) have been cut. But, once Poirot appears, he takes charge and things move along nicely (the sole good thing in the book). So, I\’m rating the book at a Not Very Good 2 stars out of 5.

Murder in Mesopotamia An archaeology expedition is the setting for this Agatha Christie mystery. Louise Leidner is the victim in this mystery. She was a woman who enjoyed having power over others but she could also be kind. Her past is complicated because her first husband was a German spy who was believed to be killed but letters that show up may show that he is alive. The supporting characters are great I like Mrs. Leidner\’s second husband the leader of the expedition. The only complaint I have with this book is the narrator Nurse Leatheran. Her opinionated and stubborn attitude gets on my nerves. I found myself hoping it was going to be another one of Mrs. Christie\’s books where the narrator is unreliable and also the killer. The outcome of the mystery was sad and I found myself sympathizing with the murderer. Of course, Nurse Leatheran had to give a few more remarks at the end. I am not sure why but her personality is grating.

Always a fan of Agatha Christie, I enjoyed the diversion and twists of this mystery tale. My only disappointment was in the final chapter that although was not critical to the story or the ending, seemed flat and a bit trite. Perhaps I needed the wise counsel of Poirot adding some meaningful wisdom or life perspectives that tied everything together. I know that Christie grew tired of creating Poirot mysteries and continued only to please her fans, and perhaps that resentment first emerged in this work where Poirot\’s witty comments and perspectives seemed duller and less insightful. I read the book after viewing the BBC\’s likewise disappointing presentation, hoping to find more hidden pearls in the original work, only to find myself pushing forward to reach the end. I\’m so glad this was not my first Christie read, but I am still glad I completed it so as to value her outstanding works even more. Perhaps too, great success is difficult to always achieve.

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