Series: Hercule Poirot #14Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Pub Date: 2007, Black Dog & Leventhal
Format: Hardcover, 284 pages
Source/FTC Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book. I was in no way compensated for this review and my opinions are my own.
Something has terrified Louise Leidner. In fact, she is so frightened and acting so delusional that her husband, archaeologist Dr. Eric Leidner, hires Amy Leatheran, a young nurse and the book's narrator, to look after his wife while they're on a dig in the Persian desert. Soon Louise tells Amy that she's been receiving threatening letters from her ex-husband--who died years earlier. The nurse assumes this is just an example of the woman's paranoia--until Louise is murdered. Clues are few and far between, but suspects and moties abound. It is up to Hercule Poirot to put together the pieces of this seemingly unsolvable puzzle.
MY THOUGHTS
Oh how I love Agatha Christie and the famous Hercule Poirot. Murder In Mesopotamia is now officially one of my favorite Agatha Christie mysteries. Why? Because I just simply didn't see the ending coming. Christie was so talented at leading you to look everywhere but at the actual perpetrator. Of course, by saying this I may give something away, but trust me, if you read this you will not be disappointed.
In typical fashion, Hercule Poirot just happens to be passing through when the latest murder happens, and naturally he is called upon to try to solve the mystery. Initially Amy Leatheran is skeptical of his abilities, but in his usual way, Poirot is able to convince her that despite his silly appearance and tendencies towards arrogance at times, he does indeed know what he's doing.
One of the things I love about Agatha Christie is that she always sets the stage for the crime to occur. We see the characters before the murder actually takes place and start to form opinions about who might have a motive and a means. Next, she adeptly leads us through Poirot's questionings of all of the possible suspects, leaving it up to us to try to decipher clues that she subtly drops. I think I have yet to solve one of her mysteries for myself. I have come close, but never quite dead-on. This particular mystery ranks right up there with The Murder of Roger Akroyd, for me.
Posts
I LOVE Agatha Christie, but would you believe I've never read any of the Hercule Poirot ones?
ReplyDeleteI've read all of the Tommy and Tuppence books (LOVE Tommy and Tuppunce) and at least one stand alone, but no HP or Miss Marples!
Shame on me. I need to get on that.
That's funny, I've ONLY read HP and Miss Marple--and until a few months ago hadn't even read any with her! :-) Sounds like I need to check out some other Agatha Christies, too!
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe I have NEVER read an Agatha Christie book! I'll have to keep this one in mind for when I finally seek her out. Have you read And Then There Were None? I have that on my list also.
ReplyDeleteI love the Poirot mysteries, and I really enjoyed this one. Orient Express and Roger Ackroyd are my favorites, though.
ReplyDeleteI saw this on the Agatha Christie Blog Carnival. I'm in the challenge also but have not read this one yet. It sounds excellent. I love the author also. I always get that warm 'I love to read' feeling.
ReplyDeleteLove your reviews on here!
ReplyDeleteThis one is definitely one of her best - the characters are so well drawn, and the place so well described, you just feel the heat and hear those Arabs talking to each other at the dig and the mill creaking. I think I can even feel the smell of those unusual surroundings. It's a bit like a fairy tale - and no, I never guessed the murderer's name either.
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